The Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team hit the road for its first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game of the season against Colorado State University-Pueblo, and, after a good start, the Skyhawks struggled to find the basket and fell 63-48 Friday night in Pueblo.
The Skyhawks’ struggles in the game could be summed up with one word: careless.
“We were careless with the ball. That’s a good way to describe it,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said.
Fort Lewis, ranked No. 11 in Division II, jumped out to a 13-2 lead with less than two minutes to play in the first quarter, but the ThunderWolves, who were ranked No. 5 in the nation in the preseason poll but were unranked going into Friday’s game, found their rhythm and went on a 21-4 run to build a 23-17 lead midway through the second quarter.
“We started turning the ball over, and that was huge. We started off in a good rhythm and were doing the right things, but we need to learn that the things we do well, we can’t get away from that,” Flores said.
“For whatever reason, we were careless with the ball and let the momentum swing back in their favor, and you can’t do that on the road. Against a good team on their court, you can’t keep giving them opportunities.”
The Skyhawks closed the first half by outscoring CSU-Pueblo 10-4 to send the game to halftime tied at 27.
On paper, FLC controlled the first half. The Skyhawks (5-1, 0-1 RMAC) shot 46 percent from the field and outrebounded CSU-Pueblo 20-10. But they committed 13 turnovers to help keep the ThunderWolves (3-4, 1-0 RMAC) in the game.
The Skyhawks’ defense was solid for most of the first half, but in the second half, their frustrations began to build, which led to defensive breakdowns and silly fouls.
“In the second half, I didn’t think (the defense) was good at all. It was noncommunicative, and we gave up some easy baskets,” Flores said.
“We got frustrated and let it affect us. We became disjointed. We were frustrated with calls and all of the above. ... You have to be mentally tougher and fight through that.”
FLC was outscored 16-9 in the third quarter and trailed 43-36 to start the fourth.
The Skyhawks had a quick start to the fourth quarter, as Astrea Reed got a quick bucket and drew a charge on the defensive end.
Vivian Gray scored on the Skyhawks’ ensuing possession to cut the deficit to 44-40, but that was as close as FLC could get to the ThunderWolves.
CSU-Pueblo lived at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and scored its first eight points of the stanza at the stripe to build back its lead to 51-40 with about six minutes remaining.
Free throws were a big difference in the game, as the ThunderWolves made 21 of their 27 attempts while the Skyhawks were a mere 6-for-12 despite both teams committing 17 fouls each.
FLC shot 37.5 percent from the field, which was identical to CSU-Pueblo, but the Skyhawks were 0-for-10 from beyond the 3-point line.
Gray led FLC with 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Reed added 13 points. No other FLC player score more than four points.
Molly Rohrer led the ThunderWolves with 16 points while going 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. Tuileisu Anderson and Jennah Knafelc scored 15 and 10 points, respectively.
The Skyhawks outrebounded the ThunderWolves 37-29 with nine offensive boards and scored 30 points in the paint compared to 22 for CSU-Pueblo.
FLC will close out this weekend’s road swing against New Mexico Highlands University (3-3, 1-0 RMAC) at 5 p.m. Saturday in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
kschneider@durangoherald.com
