A huge rebounding advantage helped send the Skyhawks to their first road win of the season Monday.
The Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team picked up a 77-64 victory against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe New Mexico Highlands in a non-conference game Monday afternoon in Las Vegas, New Mexico. FLC (3-2) finished the game with a 43-29 advantage on the boards with 12 offensive rebounds compared to only one for the Cowgirls (2-3).
FLC turned those 12 offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points.
“We definitely had a size advantage,” said FLC head coach Jason Flores. “On the road, you want to outrebound the team and do the little things, and we did that for the most part.”
After FLC led 36-21 at halftime, the Skyhawks put the pedal down in the third quarter and stormed out to a 58-34 lead. The Cowgirls chipped into the big FLC advantage in the final minutes, and Flores was a bit unhappy to see the final score get as close as it did.
“We played well for a stretch, and that was the name of the game,” he said. “Our bench kind of coasted. In the fourth quarter, there were way too many easy scores given up. We went into neutral, and you never want to do that. You want to finish stronger, but it’s a road win, and we will see those things on film and make adjustments to that. It’s a good road win.”
FLC had four women score in double figures. Freshman Alyssa Adams, sophomore Jordan Carter and senior Alysaa Yocky all scored 11 points, while Carter and Yocky added five rebounds each. Sophomore guard Tanisha Begay had 10 points, including a 3-pointer right before the third-quarter buzzer. Junior guard Kayla Herrera had a big game with eight points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
Flores was happy to see the Skyhawks finish with only 11 turnovers while they totaled 17 assists as a team. The 3-point shooting was also a plus, as the Skyhawks made 10.
“There were times in the game where we did the right things defensively, and they struggled scoring at times,” Flores said. “We were in a good rhythm offensively hitting shots and sharing the ball well, and those are things we can take and move forward with.”
Former FLC player Jordyn Lewis led the Cowgirls with 20 points. Brianna Stewart added 11 points, and Allyah George had 10 points and four rebounds in the Cowgirls’ first home loss of the year.
Flores saw his team make a big stride in the last two weeks since a pair of season-opening losses on the road in New Mexico in which FLC lost fourth-quarter leads in both games to Eastern New Mexico and Western New Mexico. While those two losses sting, he said the team made the necessary progression in its next three games to be prepared for the start of conference play Dec. 1 at Adams State.
“You still can’t overlook our opening weekend,” Flores said. “We learned a lot from that. We’ve been better the last couple weeks, but the key for us is to come back and we gotta make that same jump again. We have to go into conference where things get tough and really come together to take that next leap.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
