Fort Lewis eniors Kelsey Sorenson and Ember Cervantes did not get the storybook ending of winning their final game inside Whalen Gymnasium.
The Skyhawks struggled to score and faced a big deficit in the first quarter. South Dakota Mines dominated inside and on the glass to win 73-60 Saturday afternoon.
Fort Lewis fell to 12-14 overall and 9-11 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after shooting 39% from the field, 25% from 3-point range and 75% from the free-throw line.
The Skyhawks are now two games behind CSU Pueblo for the eighth and final spot in the RMAC tournament with two games to go.
South Dakota Mines improved to 6-20 overall and 6-14 in the RMAC after shooting 44% from the field, 39% from 3-point range and 80% from the foul line.
Junior forward Samantha Wattawa led the Skyhawks with 16 points after she shot 6 of 8 from the field, 1 of 1 from deep and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line along with seven rebounds.
Sorenson finished with 11 points on 3 of 7 shooting from the field, a season-high 2 of 3 from 3-point range and 3 of 6 from the free-throw line along with a team-high nine rebounds.
Sophomore forward Kate Gallery and junior guard Avery Evans each finished with 10 points.
Sophomore guard and leading scorer Lanae Billy had a season-low two points. Skyhawks coach Taylor Harris said the Hardrockers sold out to faceguard Billy and that he needs to do a better job of creating actions to get her looks.
South Dakota Mines guard Piper Bauer finished with 27 points on 10 of 16 shooting from the field and 7 of 11 from 3-point range along with eight rebounds. Forward Naomi Hidalgo finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.
“(Bauer) kicks our butt every time we play them,” Harris said. “She’s a really good player, one of the best shooters in the league. We made a focus of not giving her those open looks but it’s really tough because we take away those 3-pointers but she’s one of the best in the RMAC at hitting pull up jumpers.”
Fort Lewis struggled in the first quarter and shot 1 of 11 from the field. It was a close contest to start the game, but South Dakota Mines went on an 11-0 run to finish the quarter and go up 17-6.
The Skyhawks started the second quarter with a more efficient offense. Freshman guard Natalie Guanella had one of her better stretches of the season with a 3-pointer and two driving layups to start the second quarter. She played under control and tied the game at 23 with 6:23 left.
“It’s absolutely outstanding,” Harris said about Guanella’s play. “There’s games she plays three minutes, five minutes, some games she plays no minutes. She goes hard every day in practice. She’s a perfect example of anyone on any team to always prepare … Her moment came, she was aggressive and she played fearless.”
But Fort Lewis’ lack of size started to rear its ugly head. Hidalgo had a size and speed advantage over Sorenson. Hidalgo either got to the rim with ease or was fouled, tallying 11 points and five rebounds in the first half.
South Dakota Mines went on an 11-2 run to push the lead to 34-25 with 3:24 left in the second quarter with paint touches and baseline jump shots. Sorenson found her touch from outside for only her fourth 3-pointer of the season at the end of the quarter to cut the Hardrockers’ lead to 41-32 at halftime.
The Hardrockers started the third quarter attacking the basket aggressively once again. The Skyhawks initially struggled to get good shots but started getting to the foul line, especially Sorenson.
The Skyhawks started causing turnovers toward the end of the third quarter. A bucket plus the foul for junior guard Avery Evans cut the Hardrockers’ lead to 53-48 with 1:30 left in the game.
However, South Dakota Mines finished the quarter up 58-48 after Harris became livid with the officials over a few questionable no-calls by the referees.
With Billy struggling to score, the Skyhawks’ offense struggled to generate good looks and had no chance for any offensive rebounds. Alexus Backhaus and Piper Bauer both hit 3-pointers for South Dakota Mines to push the lead to 66-50 with 5:50 left.
Sorenson goes into her last two games averaging 12 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game in 71 games as a Skyhawk.
“Having a coach who cares so deeply about us and our success in life and not just on the basketball court has been life-changing for all of us,” Sorenson said.
Cervantes goes into her last two games as a Skyhawk averaging 2.1 points per game in 72 games played.
“To come in and be here for the past three years, it’s been the greatest blessing I’ve ever asked for,” Cervantes said. “I’ve grown as a person, teammate and friend.”
Fort Lewis will play at 5 p.m. next Friday at Metropolitan State University of Denver.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
