Box score
DURANGO, Colo. — Colorado Christian's defense and three-point shooting helped the Cougars (10-6 overall, 7-5 in the
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) beat Fort Lewis 79-69 tonight in Whalen Gymnasium, handing the Skyhawks (8-8, 7-5) their second straight league loss.
In the process, the Cougars picked up their first victory in Whalen in 12 years. The last time CCU won on FLC's home court was an 83-74 win on Jan. 6, 2001. They'd gone 0-9 since — 0-8 against the Skyhawks and a 78-73 loss to Wayne State (Neb.) in the 2010-11 NCAA Division II playoffs in regional quarterfinal action hosted by FLC.
The Skyhawks were ultimately undone by poor shooting from behind the arc. Fort Lewis made just four of 27 long-range attempts (14.8 percent), and the trio of
Katerina Garcia,
Ashley Kuchar and
Erika Richards went a combined 0-for-16 from behind the arc. All three rank among FLC's top 20 career leaders in three-pointers made.
The lone FLC player to hit a trey was
Alex Easterbrook, who knocked down four three-pointers while exploding for a career-high 23 points. The senior guard also dished off for five assists, grabbed five rebounds and had two steals.
Christie Groh notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Richards was the only other Skyhawk in double digits with 10 points to go along with seven caroms.
Though held to seven points, Garcia was effective in other areas, grabbing eight rebounds and passing for a game-high seven assists.
The Cougars, on the other hand, used a balanced attack — Bre McBeth (14 points), Kayla Fakelman (12), Mariah Metoyer (11 points, 12 rebounds) and Taylor Torres (11 ) — all scored in double figures. The Cougars shot a workmanlike 40.7 percent from the field (24 of 59) and 41.2 percent from behind the arc (seven of 17) and were efficient from the charity stripe (82.8 percent, 24 of 29).
The Skyhawks blistered the nets for 86.7 percent on free throws, making 13 of 15 from the charity stripe. But the free throw differential of 11 points was difficult for FLC to overcome.
Fort Lewis had a 46-40 rebounding advantage. The Skyhawks grabbed 20 offensive rebounds and had one first-half possession in which they missed their first four shots but grabbed each offensive rebound before Richards knocked down a jumper in the paint. All totaled, the rebounding advantage helped the Skyhawks launch 75 field goal attempts — 16 more than CCU. The trouble was, FLC only made two more baskets than the Cougars.
Pressure defense accounted to much of FLC's shooting woes on the night, as the Skyhawks shot just 34.7 percent from the field (26 of 75).
The Cougars led 37-31 at halftime. The Skyhawks tied the score on two occasions in the second stanza, the last coming at 53-53 with 9:02 remaining. A 7-0 run by CCU gave them a lead they'd never relinquish, though, as FLC would never trim the lead to less than five.
The Skyhawks host Colorado Mines (11-7, 8-4) at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow night. The Orediggers defeated Adams State 58-46 tonight.
