Box score
GUNNISON, Colo. — Mary Brinton came off the bench to score a career-high 25 points on a perfect 9-of-9 night from the field to spark Fort Lewis (17-8 overall, 16-5 in the
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) to a 90-81 win over Western State Colorado (4-21, 4-17) tonight, securing a first-round home game in the first round of the RMAC Shootout next Tuesday.
“It was a different kind of game,” said first-year head coach
Jason Flores, whose team has reeled off nine straight wins. “The style was obviously up-and-down tempo. We put up 90 points on the road, which is a big number.
“But giving up 81 – I'm not really happy about that,” he said. “It's kind of the way that they play. They take a lot of threes, they take a lot of early shots and they drive and throw up a lot of running layups. To their credit, they were hitting a lot of those. We really had to come right back at them.”
Brinton's 25 points set a new high-water mark for the Skyhawks in 2012-13. Her 9-of-9 shooting marked the first time in school history a player was perfect from the field with nine or more field goal attempts.
“It was both her finishing and us setting her up because of their style of play,” said Flores. “They try to lock you up on the perimeter. We were able to turn the ball with great ball movement and then find her with seals on the inside. That really helped us offensively.”
The inside game opened up outside shots for the Skyhawks, who shot 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from behind the arc, making six of their bombs in the second half.
“We played well (shooting the ball),” said Flores, whose troops shot 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the field for the game and 55.6 percent (15-of-27) in the second half. “We did what we had to do, winning this game on the road tonight.”
The Skyhawks came out of the gate slowly, falling behind 14-5 in the opening minutes. The Mountaineers kept the pressure on throughout most of the first half and last led by nine at 29-20 with six minutes left in the first frame.
A 22-8 run to close the half put FLC in control of the game and sent the Skyhawks into the locker room with a 42-37 lead at intermission. Fort Lewis never trailed in the second stanza and had a double-digit lead for most of the half.
Aside from Brinton's big night, the Skyhawks spread the wealth around.
Ashley Kuchar had 17 points and six assists.
Erika Richards had 13, going 3-of-5 from behind the arc.
Alex Easterbrook chipped in 11.
Christie Groh had 10 points and nine rebounds.
“Having 21 assists is where we'd like to be,” Flores said of his team's passing, but he was displeased with 18 turnovers. “We were a little reckless with the ball. We need to shore that up tomorrow.”
Western State Colorado was led by Natalie Markovich's 20-point, 7-of-11 shooting night. Raven Taylor added 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds while going 8-of-11 from the field. Jade McIntosh (16) and Desiree Smith (13) also scored in double figures.
The Skyhawks clinched a first-round home playoff game in the RMAC Shootout, which begins Tuesday on the home court of the four highest seeds. Tipoff will be 5:30 p.m., followed by a home playoff game for the FLC men's team.
Fort Lewis remains in a three-way tie for second place in the league standings with UC-Colorado Springs (19-6, 16-5) and Metro State (18-8, 16-5). The Mountain Lions won 72-66 at Regis tonight, while the Roadrunners beat Colorado State-Pueblo 42-32 in Denver. The Metro State and FLC wins relegated CSUP to a fifth place finish and a road trip next Tuesday.
The Skyhawks try to secure a second place finish at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow when they face the nation's fourth-ranked team at Colorado Mesa (24-1, 20-1).
“It will be a different type of game with a different style,” Flores said of the meeting with the Mavs. “Mesa is a very, very good team. Hopefully we'll play our best basketball.”
