Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Jordan Vasquez 2.1
Bob Bonnar, FLC Athletics
FLC freshman Jordan Vasquez poured in a career-high 21 points in Saturday's win over No. 21 Westminster.
72
Westminster (UT) WC-UT 17-4,12-3 RMAC
74
Winner Fort Lewis FLC 15-5,10-4 RMAC
Westminster (UT) WC-UT
17-4,12-3 RMAC
72
Final
74
Fort Lewis FLC
15-5,10-4 RMAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 OT 1 F
Westminster (UT) WC-UT 26 18 17 6 5 72
Fort Lewis FLC 21 13 19 14 7 74

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

Skyhawks upset No. 21 Westminster in overtime, extend win streak to four

Candelaria hits game-winner, Vasquez pours in career-high 21

DURANGO, Colorado — A stutter-step and finish to her left by junior guard Sydney Candelaria sent the home crowd inside Whalen Gymnasium into a frenzy on Saturday, providing the cherry on top of a statement win by the Fort Lewis College women's basketball team as the Skyhawks upended No. 21 ranked Westminster College, 74-72, in overtime.

With eight seconds remaining, Candelaria received a dribble-handoff on the right wing, penetrated to her left, and rocked her defender to sleep with a hesitation move and finish that would put the Skyhawks ahead for good with 1.7 seconds remaining.

It was the second game-winner cashed in this season by Candelaria, who was one of four Skyhawks in double-figures Saturday with 12 points and a team-high seven assists. Her first game-winner came back on Jan. 4 against Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her second has lifted FLC into a three-way tie for third place in the RMAC standings at 15-5 overall, 11-4 in conference with seven games remaining.

Westminster (17-4 overall, 12-3 RMAC) remains in second place in the RMAC standings just a game up on FLC with one meeting remaining between the two teams on Feb. 14.

"When we have enough time to run an on-ball screen to get (Sydney) going downhill, I don't think there are many people who can keep up with her speed," said Fort Lewis head coach Orlando Griego. "We had all the confidence in the world in her to take that shot. Make or miss, it didn't matter. We were going to let her do her thing."

Candelaria's heroics rewarded a furious second-half comeback by the Skyhawks, who trailed by as many as 13 points at 48-35 with 8:57 remaining in the third quarter, and again at 52-39 at the 5:33 mark.

FLC trimmed that deficit to eight entering the fourth quarter and continued to press the pace against a Griffins team that uses a tight rotation with only seven players that average more than five minutes played per game.

"Part of our strategy was to really run them, get them into a marathon," Griego said. "I kept telling the team, even though we were down 10, 'It's not a sprint, it's a marathon.' Coach (Cydney) McHenry did a good job of telling me that to enforce it with our team. That was the biggest thing, just continue to chip at the lead and continue to be aggressive."

The Griffins' fatigue began to show in the fourth quarter as the Skyhawks' defense forced 10 turnovers by Westminster compared to just one for FLC. The Skyhawks produced six steals, two each from Candelaria and junior Bailey Osmer, who had a team-high four steals, while taking three charges in the quarter.

"We really emphasize getting deflections, really getting our hands up and in the passing lanes," Griego said. "I thought (Westminster) was a little tired, so we were able to expose that a little bit."

Offensively, senior guard Kayla Herrera-Flores produced 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting, none bigger than her layup with 33 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 67-67. Junior point guard Katrina Chandler chipped in eight points on the perimeter, while the forward duo of Jordan Carter and Jordan Vasquez took their turns dominating the painted area.

Vasquez scored a career-high 21 and grabbed six rebounds in her 25 minutes off the bench, 16 points of which came in the first half. Carter took the baton in the second half, scoring six of her 12 points and adding two assists in the fourth quarter.

As a team, Fort Lewis finished 31-of-74 from the field (42%) compared to 29-of-54 (54%) for Westminster, but dominated the offensive rebound category, 16-6, and committed just six turnovers compared to the 21 for the Griffins.

The Skyhawks will look to ride the momentum of their current four-game winning streak into a big four-game road swing, which begins next Friday out in Lakewood against Colorado Christian University (6-15 overall, 6-9 RMAC).

With just seven games remaining, FLC is locked in a six-team race for a top-four finish in the RMAC standings and the right to a home playoff game with second place through sixth place in the conference standings separated by just 2.5 games.

"We've been telling our team that we're going to focus on the team ahead of us. Obviously, we'd love to host a game for playoffs, but it's going to be one game at a time," Griego said. "We have a lot of confidence moving forward as we hit the road and we're playing our best basketball. This is the right time to be playing your best basketball."
 
Print Friendly Version