Consecutive three-point plays for Abigail Jensen and Sydney Candelaria quickly turned the tide of a 38-38 game Friday night in Whalen Gymnasium.
Behind two tough layups and ensuing free throws from Jensen and Candelaria followed by a coast-to-coast layup from Kayla Herrera, the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team built a 49-40 lead with less than three minutes to go in the third quarter.
The 3-point shooting of Adams State wouldn’t allow the Skyhawks to completely run away with the game until late, but the Skyhawks kept the Grizzlies at bay for a 73-54 home win to close out the 2018-19 season.
FLC won four of its final five games of the year and sent seniors MorningRose Tobey and Alyssa Yocky off the home floor with a win against a regional rival that had beat FLC Dec. 1 in the first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game of the season.
“It was awesome. The environment was great,” Yocky said. “Ending the fourth quarter the way we did was amazing. Everyone was gelling together and hitting open shots. It was great to be out there.”
Tobey and Yocky helped put the Grizzlies (2-24, 2-20 RMAC) away to open the fourth quarter. After FLC (13-15, 9-13 RMAC) led 51-43 at halftime, Tobey had a strong drive to the rim for a layup to open the fourth quarter, and Yocky followed with a reverse layup through contact and finished the three-point play at the foul line to give the Skyhawks a 13-point edge.
Yocky finished with a game-high 17 points to go along with 12 rebounds and four steals to end her four-year FLC career in style with yet another double-double.
“Three-point plays are always great,” Yocky said. “We had three or four in the fourth quarter, itself. Every single time it would build up our energy. It’s so much fun being able to be strong out there, finish and get those three-point plays.”
Aubre Fortner added 12 points for FLC to go with five rebounds. Tanisha Begay had 11 points in her third career start and first at home. She hit a pair of big 3-pointers in the second quarter.
Adams State cut the FLC lead to 58-51 with 6:30 to play in the fourth quarter, but Candelaria answered back with a 3-point bucket followed by a steal that eventually led to another layup for the sophomore guard to push the lead back to double-digits at 63-51 with 5:35 to play.
Candelaria finished with 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
Kayla Herrera returned to the lineup after she missed two games with a sprained ankle. She came off the bench and had seven points and six rebounds.
“We were all really excited to play for each other,” Tobey said. “I told everyone out there to be aggressive and keep driving.”
Sentreal Gregory led the Grizzlies with 13 points, while Stephanie Ruiz added 12. Marshell Hollins had seven assists and six rebounds, while Brooke Neal had eight points and seven rebounds.
FLC will return a large nucleus of the team for next season, with many underclassmen set to come back after seeing plenty of playing time during the season. FLC head coach Jason Flores wasn’t looking ahead to the 2019-20 season after the game, though.
“We will look forward somewhere here soon,” he said. “I just know we aren’t where we are as a whole with leadership and personnel-wise without these two seniors. I couldn’t be happier they get to walk out of here with a win. That’s all I care about.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
