Fort Lewis women’s basketball sophomore guard Trista Hoobler brought her A-game on Friday afternoon against nationally ranked UT Tyler. She showed her outside shooting touch, attacked closeouts well, finished inside and got to the free-throw line. The problem was the rest of the Skyhawks shot poorly.
UT Tyler showed why it’s a top-25 team in Division II and had four double-digit scorers in its 63-51 win against FLC inside Whalen Gymnasium at FLC.
“I was very proud of their effort and togetherness today,” FLC acting head coach Maggie Espnmiller-McGraw said. “There were a lot of things thrown at them last minute, like a coaching adjustment. They prepared themselves very well this morning and executed a lot of the things we wanted them to execute in the game plan. UT Tyler made a few more shots than us in the end.”
Espenmiller-McGraw, usually an assistant, took over the head coaching duties with head coach Lauren Zuniga out with an illness.
FLC ended its nonconference portion of its schedule 2-4 overall after it shot 35% from the field, 26% from the 3-point line and 57% from the free-throw line against UT Tyler.
UT Tyler moved to 5-0 overall after it shot 40% from the field, 26% from 3-point range and 64% from the free-throw line in the win.
Hoobler finished with a career-high 18 points on 6-8 shooting from the field, 3-3 from 3-point range, 3-4 from the free-throw line and six rebounds.
“That’s the Trista we’ve all been waiting to see,” Espenmiller-McGraw said. “We see that every day in practice. She’s by far one of our hardest workers and that’s why she gets the minutes she does. The scoring is an extra bonus that we’re excited to see her come out of her shell. We know she can score, she does it in practice and for her it’s more of a confidence thing.”
Senior forward Darla Hernandez had 12 points on 6-13 shooting from the field and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Starting guard freshman Claudia Palacio Gámez and junior Deniece Ryan struggled to shoot the ball along with junior forward Kate Gallery. The trio combined to shoot 2-23 from the field.
“Sometimes you’re going to have those off nights shooting,” Espenmiller-McGraw said. “A lot of our missed shots came from taking too many dribbles inside. There were quite a few missed layups that we can’t have. They’re (UT Tyler) a good defensive team; they scouted us well and knew what to take away.”
UT Tyler’s Polina Latysheva and Ella Bradley each had 14 points to lead the Patriots. Meagan Mendazona and Mileina Sablinskaite each had 12 points for UT Tyler.
FLC got off to a 14-10 lead after the first quarter thanks to a strong start by senior guard Livia Knapp. She hit two 3-pointers and had eight of the first 14 points.
The Skyhawks implemented a zone defense against UT Tyler but the Patriots started penetrating with some good ball movement. A layup by Tianna Knighton gave UT Tyler a 20-15 lead with 5:30 to go in the second.
UT Tyler kept a lot of possessions alive thanks to long offensive rebounds off outside shots. Sablinskaite hit a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound with 30 seconds left to put UT Tyler up 29-21 at halftime.
The Patriots extended their lead to start the third quarter thanks to good ball movement against the Skyhawks zone. Latysheva hit a 3-pointer to put UT Tyler up 34-22. FLC responded with a corner 3-pointer by Gallery and a 3-pointer by Hoobler to cut the deficit to 34-30 with 3:10 to go in the third.
Ryan was all over the court on offense, keeping multiple possessions alive with good hustle around the basket. Her speed was on display on the glass and with how UT Tyler was defending her. The Patriots were going under screens, daring Ryan to shoot.
The Skyhawks did a great job on the offensive glass in the third quarter with Ryan’s hustle looking like it was contagious. Unfortunately, FLC turned it over a few times after those boards.
FLC ended the quarter strong thanks to a contested jumper by Knapp as the shot clock expired. Freshman guard Katie Lamb also hit a prayer as the shot clock expired from downtown to cut UT Tyler’s lead to 38-35 going into the fourth quarter.
UT Tyler had great looks throughout the third quarter but missed most of them. To begin the fourth, UT Tyler hit its first three 3-pointers, all wide open, to make it 47-39. Espnmiller-McGraw had to call timeout after a layup by Mendazona pushed UT Tyler’s lead to 49-39 with seven minutes to go.
“They’re super well coached,” Espenmiller-McGraw said about UT Tyler. “They have weapons from all over the court. Their five (center) can shoot the three which is pretty hard to guard. They’re just a big team so we were a little undersized tonight. They run a well-rounded offense.”
The Skyhawks continued to battle with some timely outside shots but the Patriots’ ball movement consistently generated good looks to keep FLC at bay. The margin could’ve been larger, but UT Tyler missed some easy layups.
FLC is back at home to begin Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play against MSU Denver on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
