DURANGO, CO - January 12, 2008 - The Fort Lewis College women's basketball team defeated the visiting UC-Colorado Springs Mountain Lions 82-44 Saturday night as they completed their sweep of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) East Division for the first time in program history. The Skyhawks improve to 14-1 on the season and 7-0 in the RMAC, while the Mountain Lions fall to 8-10 overall and 2-5 in conference play.
After a first half where they led by as many as 12 in the final minutes, Lauren Redfern (Carbondale, CO/Basalt) hit a lay-up just two minutes and 52 seconds into the second period to give the Skyhawks an 11-point lead, the double digit lead that they would never relinquish. The Skyhawks went on to hit 54.8% of their second half shots enroot to their seven RMAC win of the season.
With a perfect start to their conference season, the Skyhawks become quite possibly the only RMAC West Division team to ever sweep all seven RMAC East Division teams since the RMAC split into two division in 1996. The RMAC record books to not keep this statistic, but many believe Fort Lewis to be the first.
A 7-0 run by the Skyhawks midway through the second half put them up by 21 points with 10:18 remaining. They continued to improve their lead as the night wore on. A 22-0 run between the 9:35 mark and 3:53 mark on the second period gave them their biggest lead of the night, 40 (78-38). In that run they hit four three pointers and went 8-for-12 from the floor and held the Mountain Lions to 0-for-5 with four turnovers. The teams exchanged baskets the remainder of the nearly four minutes.
For the second-straight night Katie Mackey (Eaton, CO/Eaton) led the Skyhawks with 16 points on 5-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line. The sophomore added four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Redfern scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Allison Rosel (Colorado Springs, CO/Doherty) netted 13 points and seven boards. Katie Bodaness (Englewood, CO/Cherry Creek) was the final Skyhawk in double figures with 11 points. Erin Kerr (Buckeye, AZ/Buckeye Union) led the team with five assists, while Audrey Goerge (Longmont, CO/Niwot) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
The Skyhawks shot 50.0% from the floor on 29-of-58 in the win. They scored 36 points off turnovers and 40 points off the bench. The caused 27 Mountain Lion turnovers and held them to just 28.8% shooting.
Fort Lewis takes on Mesa State on 6:00 p.m. Tuesday night in their next contest. They open their RMAC West Division schedule at home on "PACK THE WAC" night. Skyhawk fans should flock to the Whalen Athletic Center (WAC) to support the Skyhawks as they attempt to continue their winning streak. If you can't make the game it can be heard live on KIUP 930 AM in Durango or online at www.radiodurango.com. Live stats will also be available at http://livestats.internetconsult.com/fortlewis/wbball/.
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