Box score

DURANGO, Colo. — Fort Lewis (7-6 overall, 6-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) jumped out to an 18-2 lead en route to an easy, 66-37 win over Western New Mexico (2-12, 1-9) tonight in a lifeless Whalen Gymnasium.
 
Competing directly with the Denver Broncos' overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens for spectators, the Skyhawks committed an uncharacteristically-high 21 turnovers before a sparse home crowd.
 
“At least we did what we had to do coming off last weekend's road sweep,” said first-year FLC head coach Jason Flores. “This puts us in position for a good test next weekend on the road (at Regis and Metro State). We've got a shot to be right in the middle of things.”
 
Katerina Garcia scored 14 points while notching five assists and five steals to lead the Skyhawks to their fifth straight RMAC victory and sixth in the last seven games.
 
Erika Richards added 12 points, including the first five of the second half to stretch FLC's lead to 42-18.
 
Ashley Kuchar added 10 points, three assists and a pair of blocks.
 
Christie Groh struggled offensively, scoring just five points on 2-of-10 shooting, but grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds (eight defensive) as the Skyhawks outrebounded the Mustangs 56-38. Richards added nine boards, while Mary Brinton had seven (six offensive).
 
The lack of energy in the stands certainly found its way onto the court. The Skyhawks shot just 36.8 percent from the field (25 of 68) and were an icy 29.4 percent in the second half (10 of 34).
 
The Mustangs shot an atrocious 14.8 percent (8 of 54) from the field and 6.7 percent (1 of 15) from behind the arc. Had it not been for free throws — WNMU scored 20 of its 37 points from the line and buried 80 percent of its charity shots (20 of 25) — the Mustangs would have flirted with FLC's school record for fewest points allowed to an NCAA Division II opponent (27 by Western New Mexico on Jan. 8, 2011).
 
Jelesia Gray led the Mustangs with 18 points and five rebounds and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the line.
 
Fort Lewis travels to Denver next weekend, where it faces Regis (6-7, 5-4) and Metro State (9-5, 7-2) at 5 p.m. next Saturday and Sunday.
 
After starting the season 1-3 in league games, the Skyhawks have reeled off five straight wins and sit just a game out of second place in the RMAC standings.
 
“We've come a long way since the beginning of the year,” said Flores. “I give credit to the players. If we continue to make improvements then we're going to be pretty tough.”