Box Score
Watch the FLC post-game press conference
 
DURANGO, Colo. — The red-hot Fort Lewis College women's basketball team (16-8 overall, 155 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) defeated Regis (10-14, 9-11) 84-60 Saturday night in Whalen Gymnasium to finish the month of February a perfect 7-0.
 
The Skyhawks have now won eight straight games and 14 of their last 16 to move into a three-way tie for second place in the RMAC standings entering the season's final week.
 
“I'm happy with the win coming off of last night,” said first-year FLC head coach Jason Flores. “But it was tough. We started a little bit slow, but I think it was more a credit to Regis and how they played. They played that extended zone and we had to get used to that. We were able to start exploiting some things once we got into a good rhythm.”
 
Fort Lewis found its rhythm midway through the first half. Trailing 13-7 after shooting poorly in the first eight minutes, the Skyhawks went on 15-4 run over the next four minutes to grab a commanding 24-17 lead. The game was never in doubt from that point on.
 
“We had 27 assists and not too many turnovers (15), which is always a good stat for us,” said Flores. “A lot of our scores came off of assists.”
 
FLC's two senior guards — Alex Easterbrook and Katerina Garcia — combined for 17 points and 14 assists in their final regular season home game. Garcia scored 13 of those points, many of which came off of steals and coast-to-coast layups.
 
The junior shooting guard tandem of Ashley Kuchar and Erika Richards provided much of the ammo for the Skyhawks. Kuchar scored 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting from three-point range while passing off for seven assists. Richards went a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc to finish with 11 points.
 
Junior forward Christie Groh scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds for FLC.
 
The Skyhawk bench even chipped in 17 points, with redshirt freshman Katie Ellerman leading the way with six points on 2-of-3 shooting from long range in seven minutes of action.
 
“We were OK defensively,” said Flores.
 
The Skyhawks forced 26 turnovers in the game, recorded 13 steals and blocked a pair of Regis shots.
 
The Rangers were led by Tae'lor Purdy (15 points) and Miranda Martine (10 points).
 
Fort Lewis blistered the nets at a 51.6 percent clip (32-of-62). The Skyhawks were even deadlier from long range, shooting 57.1 percent (12-of-21) from behind the arc.
 
Regis shot just 39.2 percent from the field (20-of-51) and 38.9 percent (7-of-18) from three-point range.
 
After falling behind by double digits in the rebounding battle early, the Skyhawks managed to eventually outrebound Regis 33-32. Richards and Groh each collected five caroms.
 
FLC's win, coupled with losses by UC-Colorado Springs (18-6, 15-5) and Metro State (17-8, 15-5), vaulted Fort Lewis into a three-way tie for second place in the RMAC standings heading into the final week of regular season play. Fifth-place Colorado State-Pueblo (17-7, 14-6) sits a game back. No. 4 Colorado Mesa (23-1, 19-1) clinched the RMAC regular season crown — its first league title since 2001-02.
 
Finishing in the top four is important, as it ensures a home game in the first round of the RMAC Shootout, which begins on Tuesday, March 5. Finishing second or third is even better, as allowing those to avoid the powerful Mavericks until the RMAC championship game.
 
Fort Lewis now takes to the road to finish the season. The Skyhawks travel to Western State Colorado (4-20, 4-16) at 5:30 p.m. next Friday and to Colorado Mesa at 5:30 p.m. next Saturday.
 
The Skyhawks defeated the Mountaineers 59-49 in Durango on Dec. 17, but lost to the Mavs 77-62 on Dec. 16.
 
In addition to Saturday being Senior Night, it was also Hall of Fame Day at Fort Lewis. Former FLC Raiders forward Barbara Culmer (1986-90), who is one of just four women in school history to score 1,000 points and grab 700 rebounds during her career, became the 11th women's basketball alumna to be enshrined. She was joined by men's soccer alumnus Curt Slaughter (1997-2001) and President Emeritus Joel M. Jones (1988-98) in the Hall of Fame Class of 2013.
 
The trio was inducted yesterday morning at the Henry Strater Theatre and recognized with other Hall of Famers in attendance at halftime of Saturday's men's game. Among the 15 Hall of Famers in attendance was Alfonso Garcia (football, 1986-89), who had the dual pleasure of watching his daughter finish her Skyhawk basketball regular season home career in Saturday's win over Regis.