The Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team struggled in head coach Lauren Zuniga’s first year and finished 6-22 overall. Zuniga and the Skyhawks hope to improve with reinforcements they’ve picked up from high school and the transfer portal this offseason.
Zuniga and her staff have signed four players for next season to go with the eight returning players from last year’s squad.
“I'm feeling really excited for my second season,” Zuniga said. “I feel like I have a good feel just for the community, my team, just everything. I feel more confident for next season. I’m really excited about our returners; they're the heart and soul of the program and helping us lay the foundation for what we want to do … So, feeling really excited from a returner standpoint and for our newcomers, super excited about them too.”
Zuniga has signed three freshmen and one transfer to her 2025-2026 squad. Two of those incoming freshmen have been committed for a few months.
One of those incoming freshmen is guard Josie Davis. The 5-foot-8-inch point guard went to Owyhee High School in Meridian, Idaho, and was also a track and field star during her high school career.
She led Owyhee to a 6A state title last season and was the second-leading scorer on the team with 9.9 points per game and led the team with 3.6 assists per game and 3.0 steals per game.
Zuniga is excited about the intangibles Davis will bring as a leader. She likes Davis’ speed on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor and her athleticism overall. Zuniga said she wants her team to run more this year and play faster so Davis should help with that. Davis excelled at getting to the basket on offense.
“She played point guard for them, so she was definitely a floor general,” Zuniga said. “Her leadership abilities were key, coming off ball screens, and her midrange game was really good. So those were definitely things that she excelled at in high school and I think she'll be able to transfer over here.”
Another freshman Zuniga has had signed for a little while is guard Savanna Dotray. At nearly 6 feet, Dotray is a strong guard who can score and get downhill, according to Zuniga. She likes how Dotray’s size will bring something a little different to FLC’s guard rotation. Dotray can post up smaller guards and shoot from outside.
Dotray went to Sunrise Mountain High School in Peoria, Arizona. The Mustangs went 23-6 overall last season and Dotray was second on the team in scoring with 10.7 PPG, second in RPG with 5.4 and first on the team with 3.6 APG and 1.8 SPG.
Zuniga said strength and conditioning will be key for all of FLC’s freshmen, as well as understanding the speed of the college game. Specifically for Davis and Dotray, Zuniga would love to increase their confidence from the 3-point line.
FLC has recently signed two more players. Ashten Martinez is a senior transfer from Division II Delta State and freshman Antía Gonzalez Docampo from Vigo, Spain.
“We wanted more athleticism so that way, we can play a little bit faster,” Zuniga said. “Then defensively, it would really help us. So we were looking for just some more athleticism to add to the roster, and then also looking to add some more size; we needed to get a couple of posts. Then also really looking for scoring abilities in the guard position whether that was from three or being able to get downhill. We wanted to add some size to our guard position as well.”
Martinez is a 5-foot-11-inch forward who’s originally from Santa Fe. She started her college career at Scottsdale Community College before playing for Delta State last season.
She averaged 1.5 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 10.3 minutes per game in 23 games at Delta State last season.
Zuniga thinks Martinez can fit better in FLC’s system with her floor spacing and the Skyhawks will let her work in space. Martinez will be a tough matchup with her ability to score with her shooting and her back to the basket.
Gonzalez Docampo is a 5-foot-4-inch point guard and becomes the second Spanish player on the roster after Zuniga signed Claudia Palacio Gámez from Spain last year.
Zuniga has a contact in Spain who introduced both Spanish players to her. She trusts her contact’s judgment and watched a lot of film on Gonzalez Docampo as she played in a high-level Spanish league.
Gonzalez Docampo’s motor, playmaking and ability to get downhill and score stood out to Zuniga.
Zuniga expects to add three or four more players to a roster and said she’s looking at high school and college transfers. She expects the roster to be done in a few weeks and is targeting players with athleticism and scoring ability.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
