by By Angela Roberts
DURANGO, Colo. – Guided by a 12-point, 10-rebound outing from redshirt junior Lilly Pepper, the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team earned an explosive win over Lincoln University on Monday, coming away with an 85-40 victory.
The Skyhawks complimented their diverse offense with smothering defense, forcing 34 turnovers and scoring nearly half of their points via the turnover. The Oaks were limited to shooting 30.4 percent (14-of-46) for the contest. Fort Lewis shot 34.5 percent (29-of-84) from the field and connected on a season-best 13 three-pointers.
Pepper’s double-double was instrumental in the team’s win, and she was backed up by four additional players who reached double-digit points. Sophomore Lanae Billy led all players with 18 points to go along with a career-high eight steals—a mark that ranks second in single-game program history. Sophomore Kate Gallery followed with 15 points and six rebounds while junior Luisa Chavez and freshman Natalie Guanella each contributed 10 points.
In the first quarter, the Oaks built an early lead with a pair of makes through one minute of play. Junior Sadie Misner got the Skyhawks started with a jumper, and back-to-back threes from Gallery and Billy saw an 8-7 lead with 5:26 to go. The teams traded the lead before a run by junior Avery Evans and Pepper extended the lead to 17-11. Billy capped off the late success with a three-pointer to see a 20-11 lead heading into the second quarter.
Lincoln cut into the lead with a three to open the second quarter, but juniors Samantha Wattawa and Luisa Chavez countered with shots of their own to make it 29-14. Turnovers by the Oaks led to another scoring run for Fort Lewis midway through the quarter as a jumper from Pepper made it 42-22. Wattawa and Gallery combined down the stretch, and another late three sent the game into halftime with Fort Lewis ahead 49-24.
Out of halftime, the Oaks got on board with an early layup. Then, Fort Lewis went on a 12-0 scoring surge that spanned over five minutes to extend the lead to 61-26. Lincoln briefly slowed the momentum with a layup out of a media timeout and followed it up with four more points to see a 61-32 score. Fort Lewis dropped in a late free throw as the quarter ended with the score resting at 62-34.
In the final quarter, the Skyhawks kicked it off with nine-straight points to grow the lead to 71-34. Turnovers continued to plague the Oaks who committed three midway through to bring the Skyhawks’ lead to 82-38. Lincoln scored with a jumper in the final minute of play, but it would be Guanella who capped off the game, hitting a three to close out scoring at 85-40.
