Box Score

DURANGO, Colo. — Jenna Santistevan scored a career-high 26 points to lead No. 6 Fort Lewis (1-0 overall) to an 84-74 win at Eastern New Mexico (0-1) last night at Greyhound Arena.

Santistevan — who obliterated her previous career high of 17 points (vs. Colorado State-Pueblo, Feb. 11, 2011) — also matched her career high of 11 rebounds while adding two assists and two points. She went 10-of-14 from the field and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.

“Jenna was obviously phenomenal,” said seventh-year FLC head coach Mark Kellogg. “It was her best game ever as a Skyhawk.”

A coach who places great emphasis on defense, Kellogg was disappointed on his team's efforts defending the Zias, who shot 50 percent from the field (28 of 56) and behind the arc (six of 12).

“We really had to battle for that one here on the road,” he said. “Eastern is much improved team, a lot better, and much more organized. They shot it really well, but our defense was really bad. We've kind of known that to start the year and have tried to work on it and change that mentality. Thank goodness we have so many kids who can score. It was just a score-fest that we came out on top.”

Santistevan received plenty of help offensively. Mary Rose Paiz notched 13 points and 10 rebounds, Ashley Kuchar had 16 points, and preseason All-American Dana Schreibvogel added 14.

“Mary had a double-double,” said Kellogg. “Dana couldn't get anything going, but she still had 14 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Ashley was great in the first half when she scored most of her points. Kat (Katerina Garcia) hit a pretty big three late to ice the game. We did some good stuff offensively.”

Fort Lewis shot 51.8 percent from the field (29 of 56), 42.9 percent from three-point range (nine of 21), and 70.8 percent from the line (17 of 24).

Kuchar did most of her damage from long range, going 5-for-6 in the opening frame when she scored 14 of her 16 points. She finished 5-for-8 from behind the arc.

As a team, the Skyhawks had 23 assists and 12 turnovers. Schreibvogel led the way with five helpers, while Paiz, Garcia, and Alex Easterbrook each had four.

The Skyhawks outrebounded the Zias 34-27.

“It's a road win, so we'll take it,” said Kellogg. “We've just got to get a whole lot better collectively as a team.”

Fort Lewis doesn't play next week before heading to Southern California over Thanksgiving break. The Skyhawks play at Point Loma Nazarene at 8 p.m. (MST) on Monday, Nov. 21 before facing California State-San Bernardino at 6 p.m. (MST) on Friday, Nov. 25, and No. 13 UC-San Diego at 8 p.m. (MST) on Saturday, Nov. 26. The latter two games are part of the UC-San Diego Thanksgiving Classic.