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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Kayla Herrera-Flores 11.15
Peyton Rutkowski
FLC senior Kayla Herrera-Flores had 13 points in Friday's victory over New Mexico Highlands.
48
N.M. Highlands NMH 0-4,0-0 RMAC
77
Winner Fort Lewis FLC 2-1,0-0 RMAC
N.M. Highlands NMH
0-4,0-0 RMAC
48
Final
77
Fort Lewis FLC
2-1,0-0 RMAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
N.M. Highlands NMH 7 18 7 16 48
Fort Lewis FLC 18 14 12 33 77

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Skyhawks have 14 players score in Nike N7 win over New Mexico Highlands

DURANGO, Colorado — A fast start and dominating finish created all the separation the Fort Lewis College women's basketball team would need Friday evening, rolling to a 77-48 victory over New Mexico Highlands University to tip-off the Nike N7 Games.

Fort Lewis (2-1 overall), dawning the Nike N7 turquoise jerseys honoring Native American Heritage Month, opened the night on an 11-0 run through the first 3:45 of game time, jumpstarted by a steal and layup from senior guard Kayla Herrera-Flores and capped on a jumper from junior guard Katrina Chandler.

"It was a great game, it was fun and the girls came in with great energy and we executed," said Fort Lewis head women's basketball coach, Orlando Griego. "We shot the ball well to begin the game. Then being able to get everyone in at the end, a lot of people scored, it was awesome. Everyone was celebrating and I told the girls at the end that 'I'm just so proud of the girls who came in at the end and scored the ball; our bench just went crazy and they celebrated it.'"

The Skyhawks gave a packed Whalen Gymnasium plenty to cheer about as they never trailed Friday, then busted open the non-conference game against their RMAC counterparts with a 33-point fourth quarter.

A total of 14 different players scored at least one basket for the Skyhawks, led by a game-high 17 points from freshman forward Jordan Vasquez off the bench.

Vasquez, who has averaged 16 points over her last two games, added seven rebounds and two steals as the Farmington native continues her strong start to her collegiate career.

After checking into the game with 3:39 remaining in the third quarter, and the visiting Cowgirls (0-4 overall) back within five points at 37-32, Vasquez scored the final seven points of the quarter to bump the FLC lead back up to 44-32 entering the fourth.

"I think we needed energy and a boost," said Vasquez about her role in the third quarter. "I just wanted to really rebound, try to get the ball and be aggressive."

Herrera-Flores and junior forward Jordan Carter joined Vasquez in double-figures with 13 points and 10 points, respectively. Both were early season-highs for two of the key cogs in the Skyhawks' offense.

As a team, FLC finished the evening shooting an even 46% from the floor (29-of-63) and broke out from beyond the 3-point line, posting a 12-of-27 mark (44%) from beyond the arc after shooting 6-of-47 through the first two games of the season.

True freshmen Helen Gover and Marieka Dent, redshirt freshman Ilyssa Galindo, and sophomore Alyssa Adams, playing in her first game back since suffering a season-ending injury in 2018-19, all splashed home 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Skyhawks dominated New Mexico Highlands in bench points, 47-2.

"You could feel the energy in the gym," said Herrera-Flores, who helped steady the ship late in the fourth when the Skyhawks brought in their underclassmen. "It's good to know we can stretch the bench and we can play all 15-16 of us and utilize all of our players… It's so exciting to know that your (teammates) are confident enough to put the ball in the hoop and they all got that opportunity."

As well as the Skyhawks performed on offense, they also produced their best defensive performance of the young season on Friday as the 48 points for New Mexico Highlands was a season-low in points allowed.

FLC limited the Cowgirls to a woeful 17-of-56 shooting (30%) and just 9-of-29 (31%) from 3-point distance.

"Our game plan was to try to take that (3-point shooting) away or at least be there on the catch and really challenge the shot," Griego said. "Credit to our guards, we had a good game plan. Coach (Cydney) McHenry did a really good job scouting and her and I sat down and really tried to figure out what we needed to do. Our girls did a great job responding."

Fort Lewis will now get a chance to rest up and get back in the gym before it continues its seven-game home stand at 3:30 p.m. next Saturday against Northern New Mexico College.
 
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