SPEARFISH, S.D. – January 3, 2015 – The Fort Lewis College women's basketball team entered the Donald E. Young Center Saturday afternoon facing a Black Hills State University squad that was undefeated at home.  The Skyhawks bid to hand the Yellow Jackets their first home loss fell short by five points, 59-52.
 
Fort Lewis moves to 6-5 overall and 3-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.  Black Hills State improves to 5-0 at home, 7-4 on the year and 6-2 in the RMAC.
 
"They're a good team," said Fort Lewis College head women's basketball coach Jason Flores.  "They're talented and they play well at home.  Our effort, intensity and defensive play were great tonight.  We just didn't put the ball in the hole.  We missed a lot of easy inside shots in the first half.  In the second half we had some good looks at three's and we needed to make those to get us over the hump, but we couldn't knock them down.  We played hard, we just need to get better offensively."
 
The Skyhawks trailed by six at halftime (28-22) after shooting 29.6 percent from the floor (8-of-27).  The Yellow Jackets lead extended to 12 in the second half but Fort Lewis went on a 13-5 run to cut the lead down to four, 51-47, with 2:53 left in regulation.
 
Fort Lewis was held to only two three-point field goals, netting 2-of-16 attempts (12.5 percent). They finished the game making 16-of-51 field goals (31.4 percent), and they were solid from the charity stripe, making 18-of-22 (81.8 percent).
 
Three Skyhawks scored in double figures led by junior forward Mary Brinton's game high 14 points.  Brinton made 3-of-8 field goals and 8-of-10 free throws.  She recorded her second double-double of the season with 12 rebounds to go with her 14 points.  She also blocked two shots and stole the ball twice.
 
Michelle Turner and Ande Lampert each came off the bench to score 10 points each.  Kate Bayes finished with seven points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals.  All six of Kaile Magazzeni's points came from the free throw line where she was a perfect 6-for-6.  She also added three rebounds, one steals, one blocked shots and one assist.
 
Fort Lewis will return home to Whalen Gymnasium Jan. 9-10 when they play host to New Mexico Highlands University and Western New Mexico University.  Both games will tip off at 5:30 p.m. each night.