Fort Lewis College simply had no answer for Sarah McGinley in the second half Saturday at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood.
McGinley scored 21 of her game-high 27 points in the second half for the host Cougars, while Davenport Brantley iced the game at the foul line with four free throws in the final eight seconds to give Colorado Christian a 70-66 win against the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team.
“She played great,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said of McGinley. “She hit some really tough shots. Credit to her for really stepping up and having a big-time game.”
FLC (8-11, 4-9 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) couldn’t back up its defensive effort from a night earlier at Regis. The Skyhawks led 34-28 at halftime, but an 18-10 third quarter for the Cougars (9-10, 7-6 RMAC) gave the home team a 46-44 lead going into the fourth quarter.
FLC trailed 60-55 with four minutes to play but came back with layups from Sydney Candelaria and Kayla Herrera. McGinley and Kaitlyn Romero then exchanged layups before a Candelaria 3-pointer fell for FLC to tie the game at 64-64 with 1:09 to play.
But Jordan Baer made a hook shot from in front of the basket to give Colorado Christian a 66-64 lead with 43 seconds to play. On FLC’s next trip down the floor, Romero missed a corner 3-pointer. Both teams fought for the rebound, but it went out to Colorado Christian with 13 seconds to play. Brantley made four free throws around a Herrera layup to secure the 70-66 win.
“It was huge, but another contested shot,” Flores said of Baer’s hook shot. “It was all a matter of a player stepping up and making a play. She’s their best player, a leading scorer and senior, and she just scored over our young kids. We had a redshirt freshman and three sophomores on the floor, and the senior made a big play.
“Again, it shows there’s no quit in us. We got down, and we keep having these moments where we can lay down and fold or we can step up, and we answered the bell again in the fourth quarter. We tied the game, but they hit a tough shot.”
FLC shot 53.2 percent from the floor in the first half and 50.9 percent for the game. One night after they held Regis to 27 percent shooting, the Skyhawks allowed the Cougars to shoot 47.2 percent. The Cougars also went a perfect 14-of-14 at the foul line compared to 6-of-11 for Fort Lewis. After an 0-of-5 start shooting from 3, the Cougars made 5-of-12 long-range shots in the second half, all from McGinley on eight attempts.
Herrera and Jordan Carter each had 14 points for FLC, while Alyssa Yocky had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Flores pointed to the poor free-throw shooting and more turnovers than assists to a trend when his team loses games.
Baer finished with 16 for the Cougars to go with six rebounds. McGinley’s 27 points came on 10-of-15 shooting overall.
“Four of those 3s were highly contested,” Flores said of McGinley. “Almost to the point of fouling. Still, the scout was not to allow her to even get a 3 off. We had to run her off the line and make her drive, and we didn’t do that.”
FLC will stay on the road next week to face Westminster College (14-3, 12-1 RMAC) and Dixie State (9-7, 5-7 RMAC) in Utah. Westminster played Colorado Mesa University (16-1, 13-0 RMAC) on Saturday night in Grand Junction in a matchup of the top-two teams in the RMAC and lost 57-49.
“There’s no part of our program that’s ever gonna just lay down,” Flores said. “The coaches are going to prepare like it’s the biggest game of the year. The players have to come and prepare the same way. The end result is that we’re going to have success. There’s no lay down in this group or program.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
