By Ryan Owens

Herald Sports Writer

March 12, 2010.  Durango, CO.  - While the starts could use a little work, the Fort Lewis College women's basketball team undoubtedly knows how to finish games.

The early going was a bit uneasy for the top-seeded Skyhawks, who fell behind by as many as 10 points in the first half, but the nation's No. 6 team used an aggressive second half offensive attack to hold off pesky Colorado School of Mines 63-54 in Friday's opening round of the Central Region Tournament of the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championships at Whalen Gymnasium.

Late in the first half and for the entirety of the second, the host Skyhawks used the Orediggers aggressive shot blocking tendencies against the underdogs. (Mines led the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in the regular season with 156 blocks.) The resulting free throws kept FLC in the game in the first half, as the Skyhawks were a perfect 14-for-14 from the line, and they finished the game 28-for-31 from the stripe. The freebies helped FLC overcome a first half in which it shot a ghastly 6-for-22 , 27.3 percent from the field, and a game in which the usually solid 3-point shooting team hit just 1-for-15 attempts.

“The free throws kept us in it completely in the first half, FLC coach Mark Kellogg said.”

Mines, which led 29-26 at the half, only shot 11 free throws all night, making just five. Coach Paula Krueger refused to place the disparity on the officiating, instead crediting the Skyhawks attack.

“Fort Lewis is a good team, they got to the free throw line,” Krueger said.

The strategy was effective in terms of taking Mines best players off the floor for extended periods. CSM's second-leading shot blocker, Savannah Afoa, picked up her fourth foul 9 seconds into the second half, and the team's leading rebounder, Brecca Gaffney, picked up her fourth with more than 10 minutes left.

“It took me 15 seconds (to pick up a fourth foul),” Afoa deadpanned after the game.

Fort Lewis' stalwart post, Allison Rosel, both caused the foul trouble and benefited directly from it, scoring a game-high 25 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Eleven of her points came via free throw, and seven of her rebounds came in the second half.

“I mean, their bigs were in foul trouble, so I was just battling inside and got rebounds when I could,” Rosel said of her efforts on the glass.

Laura Haugen and Katie Mackey each chipped in 17 in the victory.

“Haugen said it was nice to get back on track after an up-and-down performance in the RMAC Shootout. Our outside shots weren't falling, and the paint was open, so I attacked it,” Haugen said. “I'm glad to be back doing that, I guess.”

Senior forward Audrey George returned to action for the first time since spraining her right ankle on March 2 against Western State. George played 36 minutes, pulled down eight rebounds and scored two points.

Fort Lewis took their first lead, 30-29, with 18:50 left in the second half, and after losing it momentarily on a Katie Carty bucket, Rosel gave the Skyhawks a lead it never would relinquish, 32-31, with a layup with 18:33 left.

FLC would push the lead to as much as 55-43 with 4:05 left, but Mines refused to go quietly, pulling as close as five on a Gaffney bucket with 2:19 remaining, cutting the FLC lead to 55-50. But Fort Lewis would score once more from the field and hit six of seven free throws to seal it.

While it was the finish the home crowd hoped for, the start may have left many of the Skyhawk faithful shaking their heads in disbelief.

Mines roared to an 18-8 lead in the first half of its first tournament game in school history, after falling behind 17-0 to start the teams' January 16 matchup.

“I don't think for a second until the final horn sounded did we think we were not going to win,” Krueger said of her team's effort.

FLC chipped away but still trailed at the half. Kellogg said his team cannot afford many more sluggish starts if its dream of playing in the tournament's second weekend is to come to fruition.

“We've got to get past this slow-start thing, because at some point it's probably going to bite us where we can't come back from it,” he said.

Box Score

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