Four points in the final 3.2 seconds of the first half helped the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team go into the halftime locker room feeling positive. A balanced offensive performance in the second half allowed the Skyhawks to win and leave the gym eager for a bigger showdown Saturday.
FLC (5-1, 1-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) opened up the conference schedule with a 79-66 victory Friday night against New Mexico Highlands inside Whalen Gymnasium in Durango. It was the second double-digit victory of the young season for the Skyhawks against the Cowgirls (1-5, 0-1 RMAC).
“Our girls hung in there,” FLC head coach Orland Griego said. “We answered just about everything they could throw at us, and we answered back and came out with a victory.”
FLC outrebounded the Cowgirls 54-34 thanks to a 22-8 edge in offensive rebounds. Freshman forward Jordan Vasquez grabbed 10 offensive boards. She finished with nine points and 14 total rebounds. Jordan Carter added 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Herrera-Flores had nine points and 11 rebounds.
“I knew I needed to do something to step up and be present,” Vasquez said. “I thought I would be aggressive trying to go get rebounds.”
After FLC had raced out to a 14-4 lead in the opening minutes and stretched the advantage to 26-13 at the end of the first quarter, the Cowgirls cut the Skyhawks lead down to 29-23. It was 40-32 in favor of FLC in the final minute of the second quarter, but FLC closed on a 6-0 run.
When Maiah Rivas of New Mexico Highlands tried to drive for a running jump shot, two FLC players got their hands on the ball to block the shot. A jump ball was called, and possession went to the Skyhawks. Rivas said something to draw the ire of the referees and get a technical foul with 3.2 seconds to go in the first half. That allowed FLC’s Kayla Herrera-Flores to score two points at the foul line. FLC had the ball, too. Kaitlyn Romero received an inbounds pass and was fouled shooting with 0.1 seconds before the buzzer. She made a pair of free throws, and FLC carried a 46-32 lead into halftime.
Highlands would cut the Skyhawks’ lead to 46-39 in the opening moments of the third quarter, but FLC quickly answered back with a 12-0 run of its own behind a couple of 3s from Romero. Highlands responded with a 9-0 run with some young Skyhawks on the floor, but Eve Kulovitz brought an end to that run with a 3 to give FLC a 61-48 lead with two minutes to go in the quarter. When Carter, Chandler and Herrera-Flores checked back into the game, FLC would use the Kulovitz 3 to spark a 7-0 FLC run to end the third quarter. Carter made a jump shot at the buzzer to give FLC a 65-48 lead going into the final 10 minutes.
“It felt great. It gets everyone on the floor excited and put a damper on the other team’s momentum,” Carter said of her buzzer-beater. “It stopped their momentum and gave us the energy we needed going into that next quarter.”
Jordyn Lewis of Highlands, a second-year Cowgirl who transferred away from Fort Lewis College after the 2017-18 season, continued her red-hot shooting in the fourth quarter. She cut the Skyhawks’ lead to 65-57 with 7:30 to play. The junior finished with a game-high 29 points for the Cowgirls. She shot 9-of-15 and 7-of-12 from 3-point range. She missed her last three shots.
“Credit to her, she’s a great player,” Griego said of Lewis. “She lit us up for 29 points. Their coach did a great job running her off screens. She felt it early that third quarter, really getting the ball up. She has a natural ability to put the ball in the hole. It’s a challenge.”
With the FLC lead down to 72-65 with two minutes to play, Herrera-Flores would block a 3-point attempt from Lewis. On the offensive side of the floor, Carter would get an offensive rebound, score a layup and draw a foul. She missed the free throw, but Vasquez grabbed her 10th offensive rebound of the game and scored a layup of her own, and the Skyhawks’ lead was comfortable once more at 76-65.
FLC also received 11 points each from Bailey Osmer and Romero, and Sydney Candelaria scored 10 and dished out five assists. FLC shot only 12-of-24 from the foul line compared to 17-of-19 for Highlands.
After a shaky performance in the conference opener, FLC’s first game in 10 days, the Skyhawks will host CSU-Pueblo (2-4, 1-0 RMAC) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
“It feels really nice to get the jitters out,” Carter said. “Big game tomorrow, so it’s nice coming off this with momentum.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
