Kayla Herrera was unstoppable Tuesday, and she carried the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team to a road win it desperately needed.
FLC (20-7, 14-7 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) rolled to a 78-64 win Tuesday night in Alamosa against Adams State University. Herrera, a sophomore from Santa Fe, made 11-of-15 shots including 5-of-6 from behind the 3-point line to score 36 points. She also had a team-high five rebounds, one assist and one steal in only 27 minutes of action.
Herrera came within four points of the FLC single-game record for scoring. She stands alone with the fourth-most points in a single game in FLC history. The record of 40 points was set Valentine’s Day 1994 by Jennine McWilliams in a home game against New Mexico Highlands. Herrera’s 36 points were the second-most ever scored in a road game by an FLC woman behind the 39 points of Celeste King exactly 19 years ago at Adams State.
“I guess in the first quarter I felt it,” Herrera said. “I have been putting in extra time on my shot the past few days and it’s been feeling good. I started letting it fly.”
Herrera’s previous career high was 27 points, which she had accomplished twice during her freshman season last year. She reached 27 points late in the third quarter.
The win snapped a two-game losing skid for FLC, which had lost three of its last four games and five of its last seven road games.
“We needed this big time to give our team some confidence,” Herrera said.
The Skyhawks were without star freshman Vivian Gray, the RMAC’s leading scorer, for a fourth consecutive game. Herrera made up for the absence in a big way, as she scored eight of FLC’s first 12 points to help FLC claim a 12-5 lead. FLC closed the first quarter on a 17-4 run helped by nine bench points from Jordan Carter. With a 24-8 lead after one quarter, the Skyhawks never looked back.
FLC took a 48-23 lead at halftime behind a 54.8-percent shooting performance from the field that included a 4-of-6 showing from behind the 3-point line. Herrera had 21 points and also led the team with four rebounds in the first half, as FLC had a 23-13 rebound advantage thanks to seven offensive rebounds. One game after being mightily outrebounded by Colorado Mines in a 57-53 loss, FLC responded by outrebounding the Grizzlies 37-33 for the game.
“The first quarter, we got entrenched in the game with a lead,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said. “We were able to take it from there.
“Kayla, what a great game, and she was efficient, too. Her 36 points didn’t come off 30 shots. She got it on 15 field-goal attempts. That’s outstanding.”
Carter finished the game with 16 points and four rebounds for FLC. Sydney Candelaria also was big off the bench with 11 points. Astrea Reed finished with eight points, two assists and zero turnovers.
Adams State (5-18, 3-18 RMAC) received 19 points each from Lejla Hadzialijagic and Stephanie Ruiz. Brooke Neal added 12 points. FLC was outscored 41-30 in the second half and 27-18 in the third quarter.
“Life is tough on the road,” Flores said. “It just is. We can’t give up a 27-point third quarter like we did, but other than that everything was pretty good tonight.”
FLC currently is fifth in the RMAC with one game to play at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at home against Westminster. FLC has clinched a place in the RMAC tournament but would need to climb to at least fourth to earn a right to host one game of the tournament. CSU-Pueblo (20-6, 18-2 RMAC) has clinched the right to host the semifinals and finals.
FLC is two games behind Metro State for second place and one behind Black Hills State and Colorado Mines for third, though both Black Hills and Mines own tiebreakers against the Skyhawks. FLC also is tied in the loss column with Regis and one game ahead of Colorado Mesa, meaning seeds two through eight are still up for grabs.
“It’s a huge game Saturday,” Flores said. “Westminster, look at what they’ve done and their scores. They went on the road and beat Regis. They were on the road at Pueblo in a three-point game with two minutes to go. They’re playing great basketball. It’s going to be a fun and exciting game that we really have to play well in.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
