Colorado School of Mines is the top rebounding team in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, but the Orediggers’ dominance on the boards Friday night against the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team could be credited to the Skyhawks’ lack of effort as much as Mines’ skill.
In the game, Mines won the battle on the boards 50-43 and had 20 offensive rebounds that led to 22 second-chance points to help push the Orediggers to a 57-53 victory in Golden.
“If we aren’t an abomination on the boards and just fight a little bit harder, maybe it’s different,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said. “And it came from all over the place, I think everyone was at fault. I think everyone gave up an offensive rebound to who they were guarding. On the road, you can’t give a good team that many second-chance and third-chance opportunities. That lost us the game.”
FLC held a 52-44 lead with 3 minutes, 25 seconds remaining in the game. Mines scored seven points in a row to get the deficit to 52-51 with less than two minutes remaining, and Mikaela Moore made her first 3-pointer of the season to beat the shot clock and give Mines a 54-52 lead with 1:20 to go. The Orediggers would never trail from there.
Friday marked the third game in a row the Skyhawks were without standout freshman Vivian Gray, who has been out with an undisclosed injury. In 22 games this season, Gray has averaged 18.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and two blocked shots per game.
Flores said Gray’s absence has had an impact on the team, but ultimately the Skyhawks collectively need to step up in her absence.
“Obviously we miss the rebounding and points and overall play (from Gray), but we need our other players to get it done – that’s part of being a team,” Flores said.
FLC didn’t miss Gray, the RMAC’s leading scorer, offensively in the first quarter, as the Skyhawks took a 21-16 lead behind a 64 percent shooting clip in the opening 10 minutes.
But the Skyhawks (19-7, 13-7 RMAC) went cold in the second quarter. They had long stretches without a made basket and were held to eight points on 23 percent shooting in the quarter.
The Orediggers (16-9, 13-6 RMAC) held a 30-29 advantage at halftime.
The Skyhawks took control back in the third quarter and limited the Orediggers to eight points for a 44-38 lead to start the fourth.
But, in the fourth quarter, the inconsistency of the first half returned for the Skyhawks, who were outscored 19-9 in the final 10 minutes.
“Offensively, yeah, we need to finish better; we need all our players to finish better,” Flores said. “We can’t have players shoot 25 percent. Our players need to shoot better and score better. They need to take better shots, attack harder and finish.”
Fort Lewis finished the night 18-for-59 from the floor and shot 30.5 percent. The Skyhawks were 6-for-23 from 3-point land and 11-of-19 at the free-throw line.
Astrea Reed led FLC with 16 points. The senior guard also had six rebounds, two assists and three blocked shots. Briana Clah added nine points and seven rebounds, and Alyssa Yocky had seven points and seven boards.
Mines was 19-for-66 from the field, 4-for-18 from long range and hit 15-of-24 free throws.
Nicole Archambeau paced the Orediggers with 10 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.
Emily Bailey led Mines with 17 points, and Raven Herrera Williams had 11 points.
FLC will get a few days off before hitting the road again to play Adams State University (5-17, 3-17 RMAC) at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in Alamosa. The Skyhawks were ranked seventh in the first South Central Region poll released Wednesday. The top eight teams in the region will make the NCAA tournament. With only two games remaining in the regular season before the conference tournament, FLC will need to right the ship quickly.
kschneider@durangoherald.com
