DURANGO, Colo. – The Fort Lewis College women's basketball team started hot and remained poised down the stretch en route to an exhilarating 67-66 win over Colorado Christian University in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play. Fort Lewis improves to 2-8 overall and 1-3 in RMAC play while Colorado Christian drops to 3-6, 0-3 RMAC.
"I think our key tonight was that we out-believed from start to finish," said head coach
Taylor Harris. "The game was up and down and all over the place, but we stayed positive and that has been a theme for us all year.
The Skyhawks shot 39.7 percent (25-of-58) from the field compared to 32.8 percent (22-of-67) for the Cougars. FLC dropped in seven three pointers for the contest at a 29.2 percent clip, and CCU mimicked those numbers with seven threes at a 29.2 percent mark. The Skyhawks held an edge in rebounds with 33 versus 31 for the Cougars.
Redshirt senior
Sydney Candelaria continued her offensive prowess with 24 points to lead all players. Following the senior was redshirt junior
Alyssa Adams at 18 points to go along with eight rebounds. Freshman
Piper Terry was a difference-maker on the defensive side of things, coming away with a career-high 11 rebounds while chipping in eight points.
The Skyhawks saw their hottest start of the season, going up 16-1 in the opening seven minutes. The run saw a pair of three pointers from Adams as well as a three by Terry. The Cougars snapped the run with a layup to see the score at 16-3. CCU had a pair of free throws, followed by a jumper to narrow the FLC lead further. Redshirt sophomore
Kelsey Sorenson had a layup drop in with :15 to go, moving the score to 22-9, and the Cougars responded with two free throws to bring the score to 22-11 heading into the second quarter.
The Cougars continued to chip away at the lead, going on a 10-0 scoring run to make the score to 24-21 with 7:36 remaining in the second quarter. Candelaria and Terry teamed up for four points to bring the lead back to a comfortable seven points. It was Candelaria again, this time from beyond the arc, bringing the score to 33-24 with 4:44 to go. FLC saw a 6-0 run to close out the half, holding a 45-29 lead over the Cougars.
CCU had another hot start, this time in the third quarter, as the team pulled within eight points after a three pointer with 6:47 on the clock. The lead dwindled to three points late in the quarter before a layup from redshirt freshman
Claudia Vidal got FLC back on track. The Cougars converted on an FLC turnover, dropping in a jumper to :15 to go to bring things to 57-53 in favor of the Skyhawks. Candelaria extended the lead to five points with a free throw to close out the third.
It was back and forth to start the third with a layup pulling CCU within one at 63-62 as the clock ran down to 4:40. The following three minutes were defense-heavy with neither team finding a way to score. From there, it was a battled on both sides of the ball with the Cougars finding their first lead of the night at 66-64 with :39 left in the contest. Candelaria stepped up big in the following possession with another layup to knot things up at 66-66 while being fouled on the drive. Candelaria hit the biggest shot of the game with :27 to go, guiding her free throw opportunity in for a 67-66 lead. The lead stood as CCU's final shot fell short.
Fort Lewis (2-8, 1-3 RMAC) will remain home for its final two games of the 2021 calendar year. Action kicks off on Friday, December 17 with a 6:00 p.m. tipoff versus Regis University. Saturday will mark the year's finale, this time with a 5:00 p.m. start against Colorado School of Mines.
