Box Score

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. — The fourth-ranked Fort Lewis women's basketball team was outdone by 16 points at the free throw line. The Skyhawks lost Saturday's game at No. 8 UC-San Diego by 15 points.

Too many fouls by Fort Lewis (3-1) and superb play by UC-San Diego (6-0) guards Chelsea Carlisle, Daisy Feder and Emily Osga pushed the Tritons to an 80-65 victory over the Skyhawks in the finale of the UC-San Diego Thanksgiving Classic.

“Interesting officiating, but that's neither here nor there. We didn't get to the (free throw line) enough,” seventh-year FLC head coach Mark Kellogg said.

The trio of UCSD guards did the damage the free throws didn't.

Carlisle scored a game-high 29 points, while Osga added 15 and Feder 14.

All told, the trio in the Tritons' backcourt combined for 58 of UC-San Diego's 80 total points.

“The guards were the difference in the game, for sure,” Kellogg said. “One guard (Carlisle) did everything she wanted to against us offensively.”

Fort Lewis trailed just 34-33 at halftime before being outscored 46-32 after intermission.

Kellogg said the problem defensively was UC-San Diego's ability to get baskets in transition, something the Skyhawks pride themselves on not allowing.

“They got so much off easy baskets, and that doesn't happen to us at all … That's the best team we've played in a couple of years,” Kellogg said.

Erika Richards, Jamie Simmons and Dana Schreibvogel tied for the scoring lead for the Skyhawks with 13 points apiece. Simmons was the lone Skyhawk to be named to the all-tournament team.

Kellogg said, while his bench has played well to this point, he expects more out of his starters going forward.

“I don't know. I guess it's a confidence-type thing, probably,” he said. “I think a few of them physically got whipped (Saturday) and didn't rise to the occasion.”

The Skyhawks were outrebounded by the Tritons 36-31, and although UC-San Diego turned the ball over 16 times, they forced the FLC into 21 turnovers.

Despite the early-season loss — FLC won its first 14 games last season — Kellogg said he'd rather falter and learn from it now than take a more critical conference loss down the line.

“We've got to get better as a group … Hopefully this is a bit of a wake-up call,” he said.

Fort Lewis opens Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference next weekend when they host UC-Colorado Springs (4-1) Friday and Colorado State-Pueblo (3-1) Saturday. Both games start at 5:30 p.m. in Whalen Gymnasium.

Additional contribution to this story by Fort Lewis College Assistant Director of Athletics Chris Aaland.