by ALAMOSA, Colo. – Junior Kelsey Sorenson collected a season-high 18 points, but her biggest make came on a go-ahead free throw with just over one second remaining to give the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team a 73-72 win over Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Ariz.) inside of Plachy Hall on Saturday afternoon.
The win gives the Skyhawks three in a row to improve their overall record to 3-1—the team’s best start since the 2019-2020 season.
“I’m proud of our resiliency tonight. This road trip was designed to test us for the RMAC road trips,” said head coach Taylor Harris. “We left Whalen Gymnasium at 11:00 p.m. last night, came back at 8:30 a.m., and hit the road to play a well-coached team that was rested. That’s every road trip in the RMAC, and this prepared us well.”
Fort Lewis shot 43.9 percent (25-of-57) from the field versus a 36.5 percent (23-of-63) mark for Embry-Riddle. The Skyhawks sunk five three-pointers compared to nine for the Eagles. Fort Lewis out-rebounded Embry-Riddle at a 45-31 clip—the team’s best rebounding performance of the season.
“We came in with the agenda to prove that we can be a great rebounding team. While there were possessions where we gave up a less than ideal amount of offensive rebounds, overall we did a great job of controlling the rebounds,” recognized head coach Taylor Harris.
Freshman Lanae Billy and Sorenson each turned in 18 points to lead the team. Billy has earned double-digit points in each of the team’s four games this season, and her 18 points tied a season-high set in yesterday’s win over Northern New Mexico College. Senior Kaitlyn Bell had her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 15 rebounds—the most rebounds since a 17-board outing from Sorenson last February. Sophomore Avery Evans rounded out double-figures with 10 points to go along with three rebounds and two assists.
The Eagles struck first with a three, but Bell quickly responded with a driving layup to open the game. Fort Lewis tied the game at seven apiece after two minutes of play when Billy connected on her first three of the game off the feed from Cervantes. Embry-Riddle came back with five points before Brooke McGee slowed it down on her first make of the game.
The teams traded three-pointers, Fort Lewis’ off the hand of Sadie Misner to make it 15-14 with five minutes to play. The Eagles built the lead to 20-14 with 2:11 remaining, and that score held true as time expired in the first quarter of play. The difference-maker in the quarter came from beyond the arc where Embry-Riddle was 4-of-7 versus a 2-of-6 mark for Fort Lewis.
Facing a deficit after the opening 10 minutes of play, Sorenson jump-started a comeback with the opening bucket in the second quarter. Bell and Billy went back-to-back with a pair of layups to tie the score at 20’s after two minutes of play, and the teams traded threes to see another tie moments later. Sorenson went on to turn her third rebound of the afternoon into her third made basket, giving her team the 25-23 lead with 6:25 to go.
The lead remained with Fort Lewis into the final two minutes of the half, growing to 36-28 behind a pair of free throws from Evans. The Skyhawks saw their largest lead of the half when McGee corralled an errant pass to set up Cervantes from beyond the arc or a 39-28 score. Embry-Riddle scored on its final possession of the half to make it a 41-33 Skyhawks lead at the half.
The third quarter was a defensive display as the teams combined for just four points through the opening four minutes of play. Both sides collected out of a time-out and dropped in shots to move the score to 48-40 in favor of the Skyhawks. Offense picked up in the final three minutes of the quarter as Bell and Ruby Sweeney-Spitzeck teamed up to bring it to 52-44 with 1:55 to go.
Billy made it a 10-point game yet again, dropping in a pair of free throws to put 16 points on her stat line with one minute on the clock. Sorenson made her sixth basket of the game with 32 seconds to go, bringing the score to 56-48, but Embry-Riddle had the last word with a last-second shot to bring the score to 50-56 as time expired.
Baskets fell both ways in the early goings before a three from the Eagles tied it up 69-60 with 6:58 remaining. The score would tie again at 62’s when Sorenson connected for her 14th point of the afternoon. Embry-Riddle went on to find the 64-62 lead with a pair of free throws and extended it to four points with a layup. The Eagles extended it to a 68-62 lead before free throws by Sorenson and Nez made it 68-64 with 3:04 to go.
Cervantes went two-for-two from the charity stripe to tie it up 68-68 with under two minutes to play. Bell grabbed her 15th rebound out of a timeout which resulted in a Sorenson make from the left side of the lane to give Fort Lewis a narrow 70-68 lead. The Eagles responded with their ninth three-pointer of the contest to reclaim the lead with just 22 seconds remaining.
With ice in her veins, Billy hit a jumper with six seconds on the clock, tying the game 72-72 and forcing a timeout. Sorenson followed that up with her biggest rebound of the night, her ninth while drawing a foul to send her to the line. The junior drained her first attempt to make it a 73-72 score with just over one second to go, and the score held true as the Eagles were unable to get a shot off.
“I’m proud of Lanae (Billy) and Kelsey (Sorenson) in the courageous moments, and I was happy to see Kaitlyn (Bell) and her great effort in what she does,” said Harris. “Overall I’m proud of our fight, strength, and courage to pull out this exciting win.”
