Box Score
DURANGO, Colo. — No. 12 Fort Lewis College (2-0 overall) dominated the second half to cruise to a 93-69 win over No. 7 West Texas A&M tonight in a battle of NCAA Division II women's basketball heavyweights in Whalen Gymnasium.
Dana Schreibvogel led the Skyhawks with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Ashley Kuchar had 20 points and six assists and Mary Rose Paiz added 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
“I thought our effort and energy was great both halves,” said sixth-year FLC head coach Mark Kellogg. “In the second half, we capitalized on a few of their mistakes that led to easy baskets.”
Trailing 39-37 at intermission and tied at 48-48 early in the second frame, FLC started a 12-0 with a three-pointer by Abby Jackson 4:37 into the period. A trey by Andrea Owens and two bombs from Kuchar put the game out of reach. The Lady Buffs trimmed the lead to 10 points on a pair of free throws by Megan McLain 7:10 into the half, but that was as close as WTAMU would get.
Kellogg used all 11 players on his roster with eight logging 10 or more minutes. That played no small part in wearing down the Lady Buffs.
“We wanted to keep the pace a little faster against those guys and to do that you need depth,” he said. “The whole team did a great job in the second half.”
Fort Lewis outrebounded West Texas A&M 38-30 and forced 26 turnovers. The Skyhawks also had 18 steals, including four each by Santistevan and Schreibvogel.
They also turned the shooting fortunes for the Lady Buffs, who blistered the nets for a .538 shooting percentage in the first half (14 of 26 from the field and four of 7 from behind the arc). WTAMU went just .370 from the field in the second stanza (10 of 27).
West Texas A&M was led by Joni Unruh, who had 21 points and four assists. Jamie Simmons added 17 points and eight rebounds, while Casey Land came off the bench to score 10.
Kellogg said that Schreibvogel and Santistevan — key reserves on FLC's 35-4 team that advanced to the NCAA Division II championship game last season — are doing exactly what he expected them to do this season.
“We've always known they're capable of this,” he said. “It's their time to break out and they're going to do that a lot this year.”
He also thought that Kuchar, a freshman who won a starting spot after FLC's three exhibition games against NCAA Division I competition, had an exceptional game. “Obviously Ashley had her breaking out party tonight.”
Fort Lewis' trademark unselfishness was evident throughout, as assists led to 28 of the team's 35 field goals.
“We were giving up good shots to get great shots — unselfish basketball,” said Kellogg. “We're used to seeing that.”
Fort Lewis returns to action over Thanksgiving break, when it plays three games in three nights at the Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational, hosted by Alaska Fairbanks from Nov. 25-27. FLC will face Mercyhurst (7:15 p.m. MST Thursday), Dominican (7:15 p.m. MST Friday) and Alaska Fairbanks (9:30 p.m. MST Saturday) at the tournament.
“It sure makes the trip up there a lot easier,” he said of how tonight's win over a Top 10 team will affect his team morale. The Skyhawks depart Monday night for Alaska.
