The Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team entered the fourth quarter on Friday tied with the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, 45-45. UCCS, however, won the fourth quarter, 20-11, to win the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference contest inside Whalen Gymnasium, 65-56.
“We have to give credit to UCCS, they came in and did what they do well while playing really hard,” said head coach Taylor Harris. “This is a game that we can learn from. We can look at this being our first home loss and other things like that, but this is a chance for us to look in the mirror and see how we can get better.”
FLC dropped to 6-7 overall and 3-4 in RMAC play while UCCS improved to 5-9, 4-4.
The Skyhawks shot 34% (16-of-47) from the field versus a 40% (26-of-65) clip for the Mountain Lions. FLC dropped in seven shots from beyond the arc compared to zero from UCCS. The visitors, however, took advantage of 16 offensive rebounds and 27 turnovers.
Freshman Lanae Billy established a new career-high with 26 points in the effort, leading all players. Billy shot 5-of-7 from three.
Junior Kelsey Sorenson followed with 10 points and five rebounds while graduate student Kaitlyn Bell had nine points and seven boards. Jessica Nation’s 18 points led UCCS, followed by Maison White (15) and Gracie Haneborg (10).
The first quarter had a trio of tied scores in the opening minutes, including a 7-7 score off a Bell layup. The Mountain Lions took control on the following three possessions to open a gap, but a pair of threes from Billy closed out the quarter with FLC trailing 18-17.
Sophomore Avery Evans and Billy sunk free throws to begin the second quarter and tie the game at 20 apiece. Billy then connected on her third three of the half to give the Skyhawks their first lead, 23-22. The Mountain Lions quickly tacked on three to go ahead again, but lead didn't last long though. Another pair of threes from Billy put FLC ahead 30-25 with 3:30 to go. The teams played tough down the stretch, but a late three-point play put the visitors up 37-35 at halftime.
Sorenson made two from the charity stripe early in the third quarter, resulting in another tied score before UCCS went ahead 43-37 with six minutes remaining. The score eventually moved to 45-40 and stayed that way for several minutes. FLC, however, regrouped and ended the quarter on a 5-0 run, all from Sorenson, to tie the game back at 45-45 heading into the final quarter.
FLC took the lead early in the fourth quarter behind a pair of free throws by Billy, but an 8-0 UCCS run put the visitors firmly ahead 53-47 with 5:27 on the clock. The Skyhawks kept fighting and were able to tie it up at 55-55 with two minutes to go, but the UCCS defense held strong from there. FLC scored just one point down the stretch as the visiting Mountain Lions escaped with a 65-56 win.
“Sometimes it seems like you are using so much energy to fight to stay in the game, and you just run out of gas down the stretch,” Harris said. “We trailed for nearly 30 minutes tonight and couldn’t find that late burst to finish out the game.”
FLC (6-7, 3-4 RMAC) is back home tonight for a 5 p.m. tipoff against Regis University (7-5, 4-2 RMAC), followed by the men at 7 p.m. All first responders and veterans will receive free admission to the doubleheader.
