The only thing that has slowed down Fort Lewis College sophomore Jordan Vasquez during the 2020-21 season is game postponements.
Opponents, themselves, haven’t been able to keep the 6-foot forward from Farmington in check. After a 15-point, 14-rebound game in a 51-50 win Friday against Colorado Christian University, Vasquez was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
Of her 14 rebounds, six came on the offensive end of the floor. It was the first game this season Vasquez hasn’t scored 20 or more points.
Vasquez ranks second in the RMAC in scoring with 20.8 points per game. She is the only underclassmen in the top five of RMAC scoring this year, and she has maintained her elite efficiency at 57.1% shooting, which is the third-best mark in the league.
Her 9.6 rebounds per game also rank second in the league, and her 25 offensive rebounds through five games are the most of any player in the 15-team conference.
Vasquez and the Skyhawks (2-4, 2-4 RMAC) will travel to face Chadron State College at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. A previously postponed game at Regis has also been scheduled for FLC at 2 p.m. Monday in Denver. FLC will then hit the road again for a set of games at Colorado State University-Pueblo and Adams State University on Jan. 22-23.
The Fort Lewis College men’s basketball team, which was placed in a mandatory seven-day quarantine Jan. 7 because of positive COVID-19 cases within the team, will not travel to play Chadron State College this weekend.
Even if the Skyhawks (2-3, 1-3 RMAC) are cleared to play, it would not come in time for the team to practice before the road trip.
FLC will now turn its attention to a trip to CSU-Pueblo at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 22 as its next scheduled game.
For the second time in program history, Colorado School of Mines has the top-ranked NCAA Division II men’s basketball team in the country.
The Orediggers (8-0, 7-0 RMAC) jumped four places in the National Association of Basketball Coaches poll Tuesday to take over the top spot, as five of the top-six teams in the nation all lost last week.
Northwest Missouri State, which still earned three first-place votes, fell 84-82 in overtime to Washburn to drop from first to third with a 6-1 overall record.
Mines received 13 first-place votes in the poll and is 29 points ahead of Northern State (4-0) for first place.
Also in the RMAC, Colorado Mesa University (7-0, 7-0 RMAC) is ninth in the NABC Division II poll. The Mavericks and Orediggers will clash Jan. 22 in Grand Junction.
Mines held on to beat FLC 79-73 on Dec. 19.
The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Division II coaches poll has not yet been conducted this year.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
