FLC’s shooting struggles continued Thursday night at Western Colorado. The Skyhawks struggled to make open and contested shots as they shot 34% from the field and lost 75-57.
The Skyhawks were outrebounded 45-27, the worst rebounding margin of the season for FLC. Poor shooting and rebounding meant that a season-low nine turnovers for the Skyhawks were all for nothing.
“I’m obviously super disappointed with the loss and it’s not the outcome we wanted,” FLC head coach Lauren Zuniga said. “The biggest difference is they made shots and we didn’t. We weren't super efficient from the field or from three and Western was … We played really hard; we got more field goal attempts than them and scored 19 times off their turnovers. We shot well from the free-throw line, but when it came down to it they just had a better offensive night than us.”
The Skyhawks fell to 4-9 overall and 1-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after they also shot 30% from the 3-point line and 75% from the free-throw line.
Junior guard Deniece Ryan led FLC with 14 points on 6-14 shooting from the field, 1-3 from 3-point range and 1-2 from the free-throw line. Freshman guard Katie Lamb had a strong showing with 12 points off the bench on 3-6 shooting from the field, 3-5 from 3-point range and 3-3 from the free-throw line.
Senior forward Darla Hernandez struggled against the size of Western Colorado; she finished with eight points on 4-16 shooting from the field and 0-4 from the 3-point line.
The Mountaineers improved to 9-3 overall and 4-1 in the RMAC after it shot 48% from the field, 40% from 3-point range and 79% from the free-throw line.
Western Colorado finished with five players in double-figures. Senior center Rachel Cockman led the Mountaineers with 16 points on 4-8 shooting from the field and 8-9 shooting from the free-throw line; she also had a team-high 10 rebounds.
“So we knew that Cockman would be great rebounding and we knew she'd be great offensively,” Zuniga said. “We wanted to limit some of their other good players and we didn't do a good enough job of that.”
Western Colorado immediately jumped out to a 9-2 lead as the Mountaineers found some success inside. Ryan penetrated for FLC and started to create some offense. But Western Colorado continued to score and increased its lead to 21-9 with 1:11 left. FLC ended the quarter down 21-12 thanks to three free throws from Katie Lamb. She had six points in the first quarter for FLC.
The Skyhawks got to the free-throw line to start the second quarter and cut their deficit to 21-15. But Western Colorado continued to score with good ball movement and from the free-throw line. FLC missed some shots from close range and trailed 29-18 with five minutes left.
Western Colorado showed its size advantage over FLC in the middle of the quarter. At 6-feet-2-inches, Cockman had a big size advantage that allowed her to finish easily and contest the Skyhawks’ shots on the other end. She had 10 points and six rebounds in the first half. Western Colorado finished the quarter with three 3-pointers in the last two minutes to lead 42-27 at half.
The Mountaineers kept their lead throughout the first half the third quarter with a lot of production in the paint. FLC switched up its defense in the quarter between a matchup zone and man-to-man. Western Colorado continued to find open looks from the 3-point line against the zone and crashed the offensive glass easily, but it didn’t convert a lot of offensive looks.
This allowed FLC to make a little run at the end of the third quarter. The Skyhawks caused some turnovers and got out into transition. They stopped settling for 3-pointers and finished inside. FLC sophomore guard Natalie Guanella hit two layups late and Ryan finished one before the end of the quarter to cut Western Colorado’s lead to 53-45.
Western Colorado started the fourth quarter on a quick 5-0 run before sophomore forward Trista Hoobler hit a 3-pointer off some great penetration from Ryan to make it 58-48 with eight minutes left.
The Skyhawks struggled to finish in the fourth. They didn’t execute many sets, chucked up contested shots, or turned the ball over.
“We had some open looks; we just didn’t make them,” Zuniga said. “The urgency maybe wasn't necessarily where it needed to be.”
Western Colorado took advantage of those turnovers and finished in transition. The Mountaineers also finished well in the midrange and the paint in the half-court in the fourth to put them up 71-52 with two minutes left.
FLC plays at Westminster on Saturday at 1 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
