Fort Lewis 91, New Mexico Highlands 36
The Skyhawk Women's basketball ended up having their custom pink jerseys for “Think Pink” night shipped to Mexico opposed to Colorado, but not a whole lot hampered the team on Saturday night as the rolled by New Mexico Highlands, 91-36.
With their second 55 point win in just over a week, the number two ranked Skyhawks now have attained 23 victories for the season, with four more games left to play. Fort Lewis has compiled a 22-1 record (15-0 in RMAC play).
Fueling the emotions of the contest, the Skyhawks donned pink appearal in honor of those who have faced breast cancer. After the win, survivors and present fighters against breast cancer gathered at center court for a ceremony before the 1100 fans in attendance.
And now the not so good news, with around 10 minutes remaining in the game, Fort Lewis forward Laura Haugen went down near the baseline in twisted her ankle. The resulting injury turned out to be a deep ankle sprain and Haugen is expected to miss a week or two according to head coach Mark Kellogg.
“As they say, the great ones have to adjust. I don't know who will step up yet, but I know someone will take this opportunity” said Kellogg. “Depth has always been one of our strengths, and I thought Claire (Janusz) showed that tonight” Kellogg said.
Forward Claire Janusz was able to knock in 12 points in nine minutes of action, while the game time was distributed evenly throughout the team. The Fort Lewis bench accumulated for 34 points on the evening, while the Cowgirls scored eight from the bench.
Scoring points off of Highland turnovers also helped bolster the Skyhawk margin of victory, nabbing 30 points off turnovers, while the Cowgirls scored 10 off of turnovers.
Kaitie Mackey led the way in scoring for the Skyhawks, running off 22 points in the game, shooting 6 of 11 from the field, all six of her makes for three.
“She has been shooting well, another weapon for our team. She worked really hard towards tonight” Kellogg said. Mackey's performance on Saturday night was a career high for points scored in a game.
As for the remaining four games remaining in the regular season, the Skyhawks will travel for three of them, then finishing off at Waylen Gymnasium on February 24th, against Adams State.
