Box score
CHADRON, Neb. – The Fort Lewis women's basketball team opened up the 2013 half of its campaign in style tonight, beating Chadron State 78-66 in Armstrong Gymnasium in a game that wasn't as close as the final score indicated.
“Coming back off the break and getting a road win is great,” said first-year FLC head coach
Jason Flores, whose squad improved to 4-6 overall and 3-3 in the
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Skyhawks are now 3-1 in their last four league games.
“The whole team got to play, so I'm happy about that,” said Flores.
One player who made the most of increased playing time was sophomore forward
Kaile Magazzeni, who scored a career-high 16 points in 18 minutes of action.
“She was pretty efficient,” Flores said of Magazzeni, who went 5-of-7 from the field and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe. “She gave us a good spark off the bench.”
“We had four people in double figure scoring,” Flores added.
Ashley Kuchar and
Erika Richards each chipped in 15, while Katarina Garcia added 11.
Alex Easterbrook recorded a career-high seven thefts, while
Christie Groh added eight points and eight rebounds.
The Eagles (1-10, 1-6) were led by Kattie Ranta, who finished with a game-high 22 points and seven rebounds. Kate Simonton added 15 points.
Free throw and three-point shooting factored heavily into FLC's favor. The Skyhawks shot 70 percent from the line (21-of-30) and 25 percent (5-of-20) from behind the arc, with Kuchar knocking down three treys.
The Eagles shot just 63 percent from the line (17-of-27) and 21.4 percent from long distance (3-of-14).
Turnovers were about the only thing the Skyhawk skipper had to complain about.
“We had a few too many turnovers, although a lot of those came towards the end of the game,” Flores said of FLC's 18 miscues. He was pleased with the defensive intensity, though. “We caused a lot of turnovers, forcing 27.”
The Skyhawks hope to stretch their winning streak to three games when they travel to Black Hills State (3-8, 2-5) at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow against the RMAC's newest member. The Yellow Jackets beat Adams State 61-38 tonight.
“We've got to turn around tomorrow, head a little farther north and hopefully get another one,” said Flores.
