Skyhawks women’s basketball debuts at home in Conference Crossover

11/7/2024 1:14:00 PM

By: Angela Roberts, Associate AD-Communications

DURANGO, Colo. – Hoops season is back inside of Whalen Gymnasium this week with the Conference Crossover, and the women's basketball team is set to face Western New Mexico and Eastern New Mexico.

Looking Back
The 2023-24 campaign saw highs and lows, ending in a 12-16 overall record and a 9-13 mark in conference play. The Skyhawks were 9-6 at home. Early success led to late struggles as the team went 1-8 in its final nine contests to close out the season. The Skyhawks missed out on the RMAC Tournament after placing ninth in the league.

The duo of Lanae Billy and Kelsey Sorenson, both gone from the 2024-25 roster, were named to the All-RMAC teams. Billy earned a spot on the Second Team while Sorenson was an Honorable Mention selection. Statistically, Fort Lewis averaged 65.8 points per game compared to 66.7 per game from the opposition. They were -9 on rebounds but averaged 17.5 free throws per game with a FT % of 76.1 to rank fourth in the conference.

RMAC Preseason Rankings
Fort Lewis was selected to finish 12^th in the conference in the preseason coaches' poll. The Skyhawks pulled 52 votes to come in ahead of Chadron State (45), New Mexico Highlands (36), and Westminster (29). Colorado Mesa was tabbed to take home to conference crown with seven first-place votes, followed by UCCS, CSU Pueblo, and Adams State—each team earning at least one first-place vote.

Last year, the foursome of Adams State, Colorado Mesa, Regis, and UCCS shared the conference title with records of 18-4. Regis won the RMAC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament alongside Adams State, Colorado Mesa, and Colorado School of Mines.

Redshirt junior Sydney Bevington was tabbed as the Skyhawks' Player to Watch by the league. Bevington was a force early in the season last year before bowing out due to injury after six games. She recorded a notable 18 rebound game at home versus Northern New Mexico and ultimately averaged 8.7 rebounds and 5.7 points per game through six games.

New RMAC Scheduling Format
The league slate has been reduced from 22 games to 20 games with each league team playing six league members twice and eight other opponents once. There has also been an adjustment to game days with an additional rest day being added between conference games. Now, the teams will play a Thursday-Saturday format compared to the previous Friday-Saturday model.

Scouting Western New Mexico
The Mustangs are coming off a 9-18 season that saw them go 4-18 in Lone Star Conference games. They ended the year with back-to-back losses against Eastern New Mexico. WNMU did take a 69-60 win over Fort Lewis in last year's conference challenge in Portales.

WNMU is under the guidance of first year head coach, Brenda Nichols. Nichols joins the Mustangs after stops at the high school level, as well as 12 years at Sam Houston State. The Lone Star Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll has WNMU slotted second to last at 15^th.

Steph Da Silva was picked as the team's player to watch after transferring in this season from Chandler-Gilbert Community College. She was named an Honorable Mention All-American by the WBCA during her two years at Chandler-Gilbert CC. As a team, the Mustangs averaged 56.8 points per game last year compared to 62.9 for their opponents. The shot .373 from the floor, .274 from three, and .651 at the stripe. They averaged 34.7 rebounds, 16 turnovers, and 6.4 steals per game.

Fort Lewis is 21-4 all-time against WNMU with an unblemished 11-0 record at home. The Skyhawks are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings against the Mustangs, falling last year but earning a 66-57 win the year prior.

Scouting Eastern New Mexico
The Greyhounds are coming off an 11-17 season that saw them go 7-15 in Lone Star Conference play. They owned a winning record of 7-6 at home. Despite the overall losing record, the Greyhounds ended the season on a three-game winning streak with victories over Arkansas Fort Smith and Western New Mexico.

ENMU is under the guidance of Blake Huber in his second season. The Lone Star Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll has ENMU slotted in 10^th out of 16 teams.

Ishuana Hunter was tabbed as the team's player to watch in the LSC release after earning Third Team All-Conference honors last season. Hunter averaged 14.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in her first season as a Greyhound. As a team, the Greyhounds averaged 59.2 points per game last year compared to 62.5 for their opponents. The shot .389 from the floor, .290 from three, and .732 at the stripe. They averaged 32.4 rebounds, 17 turnovers, and 9.3 steals per game.

Fort Lewis is 9-5 all-time against ENMU with a 5-1 record when playing at home. Despite the advantage in the series history, the Skyhawks have lost the last five meetings.

New to the Nest
Coach Zuniga and her staff went to work to complete the 20-player roster. Fort Lewis will have its first look at six freshmen, four junior transfers, and three senior transfers when they tip off at home next week. The three senior newcomers, Livia Knapp, Darla Hernandez, and Eva Kingston come from DII and DI programs. Knapp spent the 2023-24 season at Utah State (NCAA DI) where she played in 29 games. Hernandez comes to Fort Lewis after playing at MSU Denver and Kingston is from Western Colorado.

Transfer juniors include Amya Winfrey (Northeastern), Laisha Armendariz (Illinois Central), Kayde Strauss (Western Wyoming), and Deniece Ryan (North Idaho). The true freshman after Caitlyn Benally, Bree Johnson, Reagan Lentell, Claudia Palacio Gamez, Katie Lamb, and Jaila Childress. The roster boasts players from Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, California, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Wyoming, and Spain. The shortest play stands at 5-2 while the tallest is 6-1.

Up Next
Fort Lewis will play an exhibition game against Northern Arizona University (NCAA DI) on Monday at 4:00 p.m. in Flagstaff, Arizona.

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Skyhawks women’s basketball debuts at home in Conference Crossover