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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Jordan Vasquez 2.21
Bob Bonnar, FLC Athletics
Freshman Jordan Vasquez recorded her fourth career double-double Friday with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
63
Winner Colorado Mesa CMU 22-4,18-2 RMAC
60
Fort Lewis FLC 15-10,10-9 RMAC
Winner
Colorado Mesa CMU
22-4,18-2 RMAC
63
Final
60
Fort Lewis FLC
15-10,10-9 RMAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Colorado Mesa CMU 16 12 11 24 63
Fort Lewis FLC 12 14 13 21 60

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

Skyhawks edged by No. 24 Colorado Mesa to open final home stand

DURANGO, Colorado — Inside a packed and rowdy Whalen Gymnasium for Whiteout Night, the Fort Lewis College women's basketball team once again found itself in a position to knock our rival, and No. 24 nationally ranked, Colorado Mesa University.

Unfortunately for the Skyhawks, their string of tough luck continued Friday as they fell by a 63-60 final to the Mavericks. It marked the fifth time in the last six games for FLC that has decided by one possession.

"We knew it was going to be a fight and it was going to really come down to the little things, executing down the stretch, and who was going to fight for that win," said FLC head coach, Orlando Griego. "That game could have gone either way, I really do believe that."

It was the second time this season that Fort Lewis (15-10 overall, 11-9 RMAC) took a game down to the wire against the RMAC leading Mavericks (22-4 overall, 18-2 RMAC) after CMU edged out the Skyhawks, 38-35, back on Jan. 18.

Fort Lewis lead by as many as four points in the fourth quarter following back-to-back baskets from senior guards Kayla Herrera-Flores and Kaitlyn Romero.

Romero found a cutting Herrera-Flores for a layup that put FLC up 41-40, then Herrera-Flores found Romero for a 3-pointer in transition the ensuing possession to make it a 44-40 game and force a Mavericks timeout with 8:42 remaining.

CMU would respond, though, as guard Daniella Turner caught fire from the mid-range for the Mavericks, scoring 11 of her 15 points over the final eight minutes of the quarter.

"She was going off. She's a really good player and good shooter," Griego said of Turner. "Once good shooters see that ball go into the hoop, she felt it. It was really hard to guard her because she's tall, she has a really nice high release on her shot and the biggest thing for us was trying to challenge her shots."

Despite the shooting from Turner, the Skyhawks were able to recapture the lead at 61-60 when freshman forward Jordan Vasquez muscled in a layup at the 1:09 mark for two of her team-high 17 points.

Unfortunately, the lead would be short-lived as CMU forward Kelsey Siemens, who was held in check most of the night to the tune of 16 points on just 5-of-17 shooting, connected on a 3-pointer with 55 seconds left that put the Mavericks back on top at 62-60.

"She shot 16 3-pointers and we knew, if she caught it, we were going to challenge her shot and I lot we did that on a lot of her shots. But at some point, she is going to make some shots," Griego said. "Unfortunately for us, it was at the end of the game."

FLC had three chances to tie in the final minute, but did not receive the benefit of a whistle or get a bucket to fall on layup attempts from junior Sydney Candelaria and Vasquez, or the last second 3-point attempt from Candelaria just before the final horn.

Candelaria and Herrera Flores each scored six points on the evening, while junior Chloe Warrington tallied seven and junior guard Katrina Chandler — a transfer from Colorado Mesa — joined Vasquez in double-figures with 12 points to go with four rebounds.

Vasquez recorded her fourth double-double of the season as she added a team-high 11 rebounds to go with her 17 points and shot a spotless 7-of-7 from the free throw line as she continues to improve upon a standout freshman season.

"The consistency of her working extremely hard is definitely a credit to that," Griego said of Vasquez's improvement. "She continues to get better, wants to learn and continue to get in the gym. She's very physical and I think that's very hard for other people to stop. She's only going to continue to grow."

With two games remaining in the regular season, and the Skyhawks tied for the eighth and final playoff spot with Metro State Denver, Saturday's home finale against Western Colorado University is one Griego said the Skyhawks need to go get.

"It does (feel like a must-win) and our girls, I feel horrible for them because we're righting really hard and we're just losing these games by 2-3 points. Those are the hardest losses," Griego said. "We know we have another tough game (Saturday). Western is tied for second place in our conference, so it doesn't get any easier. They're playing for something and we're playing for something. Every game moving forward is going to be tough."

Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. inside Whalen Gymnasium.
 
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