The Skyhawks couldn’t quite find their offensive rhythm Friday, and it ended up their first loss of the regular season.
The Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team couldn’t get going early, and Tarleton State put enough distance between itself and FLC for an eventual 81-62 victory Friday in Stephenville, Texas, at the Texann Tip-Off Classic.
“We had an opportunity early,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said. “We just missed shots that we normally put away. We held them at the beginning, and we missed probably four or five wide-open shots that we ... would normally score.”
Ashley Kuchar paced the Skyhawks (1-1) with 18 points. Christie Groh scored 15 for FLC, while Erika Richards added 13 points and six rebounds.
The Skyhawks rebounded with a couple of runs and ended up shooting a respectable 41 percent from the field, but they connected on an unusually low 57 percent of their free throws, letting chances to get back into the game with the clock stopped go by the wayside. And FLC managed just 23 total field goals.
“We’ve got shooters that are better than that,” Flores said. “To shoot 57 percent was not us.”
Add to that some second-half foul trouble, and the door was open for the Texanns (2-0) to walk to victory.
“The way it is on the road sometimes. We got into foul trouble, and that got us playing a little bit tentative,” Flores said.
FLC will finish up the weekend in Stephenville with another nonconference game at noon Saturday against Texas Woman’s College.
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