Fort Lewis FLC 4-5,1-2 RMAC

N.M. Highlands NMH 5-2,2-1 RMAC

Fort Lewis FLC

4-5,1-2 RMAC

Final

Dec. 09, 2022

N.M. Highlands NMH

5-2,2-1 RMAC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Fort Lewis FLC	14	17	11	14	56
N.M. Highlands NMH	24	19	19	16	78

Summary
Box Score

JoJo Lutz, Fort Lewis Athletic Communications

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 12/9/2022 7:05:00 PM | Angela Roberts, Assistant AD - Communications

Fort Lewis falls to NMHU, 78-56

LAS VEGAS, N.M. – Hot shooting from three was the decider in a 78-56 loss for the Fort Lewis College women's basketball team on Friday night. The Skyhawks were the victims of 12 makes from beyond the arc which propelled New Mexico Highlands University to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference win.

Fort Lewis falls to 4-5 overall and 1-2 in RMAC play while NMHU improves to 8-1 on the year and 2-1 in league play.

The Skyhawks struggled to find a groove offensively, shooting just 32.8 percent (19-of-58) from the field compared to a mark of 48.3 percent (29-of-60) for the Cowgirls. NMHU was even more impressive from three, shooting 50 percent (12-of-24) versus 28.6 percent (6-of-21) for Fort Lewis. The Cowgirls outrebounded the Skyhawks 39-29 for the game.

Junior Kelsey Sorenson led the team with 10 points despite playing just 14 minutes after suffering an injury early in the second quarter. Sophomores Avery Evans and Ava Strange each contributed nine points in the effort. Grad student Kaitlyn Bell led the season with six rebounds, three offensive, to go along with four points. Freshman Lanae Billy turned in eight points and four steals.

The teams matched blow for blow over the opening two minutes of play, taking a narrow 6-4 lead thanks to a pair of free throws by Evans. The Cowgirls came back with a pair of threes, followed up by a driving layup to go ahead 12-6. Billy got the Skyhawks back on the scoring side of things with a jumper out of the timeout, followed by a three-point play from the home team to make it 15-8. Sorenson padded the score with a trio of free throws, and Ava Strange knocked down a three at the buzzer to close the quarter in a 24-14 score.

Senior Tayla Nez took over to begin the second quarter and hit a pair of corner threes to pull Fort Lewis within four points. NMHU followed that up with buckets on three-straight possessions to build the lead back to 32-20 with 6:31 remaining. Sorenson continued to dominate the offensive side of the ball for Fort Lewis and pulled her team within nine after another three-point play. The opening half ended with five-straight points from the Cowgirls to make it 43-31 heading into the break.

Despite points from Bell and Strange, the Cowgirls continued to connect from deep as the lead grew to 50-36 after four minutes of play in the third quarter. That score stood over the following minutes until Evans connected on two from the stripe to bring the score to 52-38. The Cowgirls followed that up with back-to-back threes, bringing their total to 10 for the game, to bring the score to 62-42 after three-quarters of play.

Evans dropped in her first three of the evening to begin the fourth quarter, but the Cowgirls responded with seven-straight points to make it 71-45 with five minutes to go. The freshman duo of Kate Gallery and Avery Evans combined for four points down the stretch to cut the lead, but each attempt was answered by NMHU to maintain a sizable lead. Strange closed out the scoring for the Skyhawks with her third three-pointer of the contest as time expired on the road contest.

"When you go on the road, sometime the ball doesn't go in, but your defense has to travel with you," said head coach Taylor Harris. "Tonight we will focus as a group, watch the film, and see where we can grow defensively going into tomorrow night. All credit to New Mexico Highlands. They had a tremendous shooting night and they deserve the credit.

Fort Lewis (4-5, 1-2 RMAC) will play tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. versus CSU Pueblo (4-4, 1-1 RMAC). Fort Lewis is 9-14 all-time against CSU Pueblo and holds a 4-8 record on the road. The Skyhawks dropped a 65-61 game at home and a 69-52 road game last season.

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