Box Score

DURANGO, Colo. — On a day that saw them slip from No. 3 to No. 6 in the NCAA Division II rankings, Fort Lewis (26-2) put last Saturday's loss behind them to defeat Nebraska-Kearney (13-14) 85-59 in the quarterfinals of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout.

Led by starting guards Abby Jackson and Ashley Kuchar, the Skyhawks built big leads in both halves and weathered two Loper rallies runs to eventually win going away.

“I'm glad we got the win and got back to playing a little bit of the Fort Lewis women's basketball that we're accustomed to seeing,” said sixth-year head coach Mark Kellogg, who has now led his troops to Pueblo for the RMAC Shootout Final Four in five of his six years at the helm of the Skyhawk program.

He had the highest praise for his backcourt tandem, one a senior playing in what might be her final home game, the other a true freshman who has started all 28 games this year for FLC. Before the contest was five minutes old, the duo had staked the Fort to a 10-point lead thanks to four long-range bombs (three by Jackson, one by Kuchar).

“I thought in the first half Abby and Ashley played really well and kept us in it,” said Kellogg. “That was the best game [Kuchar] played in a long time.”

Jackson led the Skyhawks with 19 points, while Kuchar added 14. The RMAC's leading scorer and nation's ninth best shooter, Dana Schreibvogel (18.6 points per game), struggled from the field (6-of-13) but battled her way to 16 points.

Nebraska-Kearney proved to be a stubborn foe, twice rallying from double-digit deficits to tighten the game. In the first frame, the Lopers went on a 9-2 run to trim a 30-20 deficit to a three-point margin. Kim Rickels nailed two treys while Sarah Hix added another long bomb during the initial comeback.

In the second stanza, UNK went on an 11-0 run to nearly erase a 14-point FLC edge. Three field goals by Debbie Johnson, a fastbreak layup by Vanessa Leeper and another trey from Hix forced Kellogg to burn a timeout with a 47-44 lead just 3:38 into the half.

“I was a little disappointed that we let them back into it twice — once in the first half and once in the second when we had some double digit leads,” he said. “Turnovers and poor shots on our part allowed them to get back into it.”

Sophomore guard Katerina Garcia came off the bench to spark a 7-0 Fort Lewis run that extended the lead to 54-44. Garcia assisted on a pair of fastbreak layups by Kuchar and Jenna Santistevan and a three-pointer by Mary Rose Paiz in 39-second burst.

“Kat, during that big run in the second half, made every right decision that she needed to with the basketball to get everyone some open looks,” said Kellogg. Garcia finished with nine points and a game-high four helpers.

From that point on, the Skyhawks could do little wrong.

“The last 16 minutes of the second half, I just thought we were in complete control,” said Kellogg. “We were able to get some good, easy baskets.”

Reserve center Christine Groh added well-needed muscle, grabbing five boards, scoring four points and notching two steals, two assists and a blocked shot in 15 minutes of action.

“I thought Christy Groh's minutes were really quality minutes and we needed her tonight,” the Skyhawk skipper said.

The Lopers were led by Johnson (19 points) and Leeper (14 points, nine rebounds, three steals, three assists and two blocks).

Kellogg thought the game served as a building block for a team eager to rebound from the emotion of seeing its three-year stranglehold on the RMAC regular season championship come to an end in a 57-51 loss at Mesa State last Saturday.

He also saw room for improvement.

“We have to get that sense of urgency this time of year and make sure we people away when we can,” he said.

Fort Lewis will face third-seeded Colorado Christian (18-9) at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals of the RMAC Shootout in Pueblo. The Cougars defeated the sixth seed, Colorado State-Pueblo, (16-11) 95-76 tonight in Lakewood, Colo.

The other RMAC semifinal will pit league champion and top-seeded Metro State (26-1), currently ranked No. 10 in the NCAA Division II, against fourth-seeded Adams State (21-8) at 1:00 p.m.

The Roadrunners defeated eight-seeded Western State (11-16) 70-50 tonight in Denver; the Grizzlies ousted fifth-seeded Mesa State (17-10) 77-57 tonight in Alamosa, Colo.

Fort Lewis can accomplish something that no other women's basketball team in school history has: win the RMAC postseason tournament. FLC won a total of six RMAC league titles (1982-83, 1985-86, 1988-89 and three straight years from 2007-08 to 2009-10), but has yet to hoist the RMAC Shootout trophy.

Visit http://www.rmacsports.org/sports/shootout/2011/index for up-to-date information on the RMAC Shootout, including brackets, ticket prices, statistics and more.