Written By: Durango Herald Sports Staff

February 14, 2010.  Pueblo, CO. - For the first time in quite a while, the Fort Lewis College women's basketball team found itself trailing for most of the evening during Saturday's road game at CSU-Pueblo.

But, for the 11th consecutive game, the Skyhawks found a way to come out on top.

Katie Mackey and Allison Rosel scored 22 points apiece, and the No. 6 Skyhawks escaped CSU-Pueblo with a 64-59 victory.

Fort Lewis coach Mark Kellogg said that while the blowouts his team has accrued recently are nice, he prefers tight contests like Saturday's game.

“I'd much rather play them like this than (Friday) night (an 83-55 victory over New Mexico Highlands)," he said, “especially if we come out on top."

The Skyhawks used a pair of free throws by Mackey and a pair of layups by Rosel to erase a one-point deficit and take a 57-52 lead after trailing for most of the second half.

The Thunderwolves would get within two on Rachel Espinoza's three-point play with 2:02 remaining, but FLC would respond with the first of two daggers to the heart of Pueblo.

Mackey hit a 3-pointer from the corner to balloon the lead to 60-55 with 1:05 remaining.

The Thunderwolves would respond with a Katrina Selsor basket to cut the lead to three, but FLC would answer again when Laura Haugen stepped into a 3-pointer when her defender ducked under a screen.

The Skyhawks were able to weather the storm thanks in large part to an offensive rebounding advantage of 22-9, which allowed them to make up for what Kellogg deemed a poor start shooting the basketball.

The win capped a perfect 4-0 road trip for Fort Lewis, who improved to 24-2 and 14-1 in the RMAC. Road victories, according to Kellogg, separate the good teams from great ones.

“If you want to win conference championships, you've got to win games on the road," he said.   FLC returns home to take on Western State on Friday and Mesa State on Saturday.

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