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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Aubre Fortner 2.14
Maureen Pasley, FLC Athletics
Senior forward Aubre Fortner scored nine points in Friday's loss to Westminster (File photo).
61
Fort Lewis FLC 15-8,10-7 RMAC
63
Winner Westminster (UT) WC-UT 18-6,13-5 RMAC
Fort Lewis FLC
15-8,10-7 RMAC
61
Final
63
Westminster (UT) WC-UT
18-6,13-5 RMAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Fort Lewis FLC 14 19 12 16 61
Westminster (UT) WC-UT 24 18 9 12 63

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

Skyhawks rally, but fall shy in 63-61 road loss to Westminster

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The Fort Lewis College women's basketball team erased a 15-point, first-half deficit, but were unfortunately on the short-end of a 63-61 final Friday evening against Westminster College out in Salt Lake City.

For the Skyhawks (15-8 overall, 11-7 RMAC), it was their four straight game decided by one possession; a streak that started back on Saturday, Feb. 1 when they upended the then nationally ranked Griffins (18-6 overall, 13-5 RMAC) in Durango, 74-72.

"These road games have been tough. Our girls are competing and really fighting to put ourselves in positions to win basketball games," said Fort Lewis head coach, Orlando Griego, whose team is amid a four-game road swing. "It really comes down to the little things and executing those little things, whether that's rebounding or limiting our turnovers. There's been a lot of learning lessons for us over the past couple weeks."

Freshman forward Jordan Vasquez led all Skyhawks with 13 points, adding seven rebounds and four assists off the bench in her 25 minutes, while senior forward Aubre Fortner and junior forward Jordan Carter each tallied nine points.

The nine points were a season-high for Fortner, who scored seven of her nine points in the third quarter to help bring the Skyhawks within six at 51-45 entering the fourth quarter.

"She was huge. When I put her in the game, I told her we really needed her leadership," Griego said of Fortner. "She did a really nice job of stepping up when her name and number was called. She played really good defense and did all the things we asked her to."

The Skyhawks completed their march back into the ballgame with 3:53 remaining when junior guard Sydney Candelaria, who hit the game-winner in the first game between the two RMAC foes, canned a mid-range jumper to tie the score at 55-55.

Fort Lewis tied the score again at 59-59 with 59 ticks remaining on a pair of free throws from Jordan Vasquez, but were never able to take the lead.

Westminster went back in front 61-59 on a layup by Hunter Krebs with 42 seconds remaining and delivered the back-breaker with nine seconds left when two FLC players closed out on a player, leaving a layup open for Kaitlin Toluono to make it a 63-59 lead.

"We had two people running at one person and Westminster was able to score. I do believe we played really good defense most of the nigh, stopping them when we needed to and were able to disrupt them. But that possession really sticks out to me," Griego said. "When it comes down to the last minutes in a one-possession game, it's really important we take care of those little things, being efficient and communicating on defense."

Tuluono finished with 18 points and game-high 12 rebounds and was the X-Factor on Friday in Griego's opinion.

"I think the biggest difference between the two games was their rebounding," Griego said. "Getting out-rebounded 46-36, I thought (Toluono) did a really nice job for them crashing the glass, keeping balls alive. She was hard to contain."

Junior point guard Katrina Chandler scored eight points, adding four assists and four rebounds, while Candelaria and senior Kayla Herrera-Flores each had seven points to round out the Skyhawks' top performers.

Fort Lewis will look to bounce back at 5:30 p.m. Saturday when it concludes its four-game road trip against Dixie State University, a team FLC beat 65-56 back on Jan. 31.

The Skyhawks currently are in a tie for fifth in the RMAC standings with one game separating fifth through nine place. The top-eight make the RMAC Tournament and jockeying for playoff position will remain a tight race over the final four regular season games.

"It's a huge game," Griego said of Saturday's matchup against Dixie State. "It's a close race in the RMAC and there are a lot of good teams competing for a spot in the RMAC Tournament and we're one of them. Every game is important moving forward. Our players and coaching staff know that. It'll be a big game tomorrow."
 
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