Poise in the face of adversity carried a young Skyhawks team to its biggest win of the season.
The Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team fought back to take Metro State into overtime on the road at the Auraria Event Center in Denver. Turnovers haunted the Roadrunners late, as the high-defensive energy from FLC helped the Skyhawks push the game into overtime.
In overtime, FLC junior forward Mary Brinton of Pagosa Springs took over the game, scoring six of her game-high 22 points to help send the Skyhawks (9-6, 6-5 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) to a 65-61 win.
“It was pretty exciting; the joys of being a coach,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said. “It was a huge gut-check game for our team. We played hard, we played disciplined, and that’s hard to do coming off a loss on the road and turning around to play a really good program.”
It was the second time in two years the Skyhawks have come from behind to beat the Roadrunners in overtime on the road.
The Skyhawks battled to get the game into overtime. After going down 29-26 at halftime, the FLC stuck right with the Roadrunners (10-5, 7-4 RMAC) the entire second half.
The game seemed as if it might slip away from FLC with 4 minutes, 23 seconds to play in regulation, when the Roadrunners collected four offensive rebounds on one possession that ended with a 3-pointer by Kendra Jesik. That bucket put Metro State up 55-50.
“It was crazy, but we forced the shots we wanted to that possession. There were long rebounds that were tough,” Flores said. “That was a big thing to come back from that. Usually, that can be pretty deflating to give them five possessions and they hit a 3. But we attacked and got to the free-throw line and never panicked.”
FLC wouldn’t go away in a frantic final 2 minutes of action, as the FLC defense flustered the Roadrunners into several turnovers. Michelle Turner, who finished with 11 points and two key steals, stole the ball with 37 seconds to play, setting up a pair of Kate Bayes free throws for a 57-56 FLC deficit.
Metro State turned it over again on back-court violation with 17 seconds to play, and Brinton hit 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game at 57 with 6 seconds to play.
Kylie Santos put FLC up 60-59 with 1-of-2 free throws with 1:31 to play in overtime, and another Turner steal set up Brinton for two more free throws to give FLC a 62-59 lead. Free-throw shooting took care of the game from there.
FLC went to the line 31 times in the game and made 23, compared to 10-of-13 for the Roadrunners.
“I give credit to our players for having the fortitude to do that,” Flores said. “We came in here, laid it all on the line and played a better game.”
Though FLC was outrebounded drastically – 42-25 – the Skyhawks made up for it in the turnover department. Metro State turned it over 26 times, leading directly to 24 FLC points. The Skyhawks had 14 steals, led by six from Bayes, who also had 14 points and four assists.
Kaile Magazzeni also had a big game for FLC with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots.
Brinton added five rebounds to go with her 22 points.
“Having four players in double figures, that’s a huge key for us,” Flores said. “We play well defensively, and once we get production from multiple players, we’re dangerous.”
Metro State was led by Deni Jacobs’ 13 points, and Hannah Stipanovich scored another 12.
FLC led for only 3 minutes, 11 seconds of the game and shot 35.8 percent from the floor compared to 45.3 percent for Metro State. But the defensive intensity and execution down the stretch was enough to overcome another poor shooting night.
FLC began the game shooting only 16.8 percent through 10 minutes, a common theme for FLC this season. But the ability to dig in and make the game close at halftime helped spark the Skyhawks.
With five teams in the RMAC standings all vying for the fifth and sixth seeds in the season-ending conference tournament, every win is big for the Skyhawks. FLC will return home next weekend to host Colorado Christian and Colorado Mines on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
“This game is done. Unfortunately, that’s all it is. Yes, it gives you a good feeling for 24 hours, but Monday we are right back at it,” Flores said. “Our conference is too tough. If we rest on this game, we’ll get beat next game.
“The thing this win does give us is experience. Our players need to be in a tough game, execute, hit shots and all the things involved in being a tough game. This was great experience.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
