by By Angela Roberts
DURANGO, Colo. – Guided by 28 points from sophomore Lanae Billy, the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team earned a 71-58 win over Chadron State in front of a packed crowd in Whalen Gymnasium. The Skyhawks are now 7-2 when playing at home this season—the most home wins since the 2019-20 season.
The win lifted Fort Lewis to 9-7 on the year and 6-4 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play. Chadron State dropped to 5-9 overall and 3-7 in league play.
Despite beginning the game 1-of-19 from the field, the Skyhawks came back with hot second-half shooting to end the game with a 32.8 percent mark from the field. The Skyhawks benefited from nine made threes versus just three from the Eagles. Fort Lewis forced 26 turnovers and scored 21 points via the turnover.
Billy led all players with 28 points, matching a season-high and establishing a career-high with six made three-pointers. Senior Kelsey Sorenson followed with 13 points, and sophomore Kate Gallery rounded out double-digit scorers with 10 points. Junior Samantha Wattawa led the team with nine rebounds.
The Skyhawks began the game with a 4-0 advantage, capped off by a Gallery three-pointer at the 7:39 mark. The Eagles came back with a six-point scoring run to take a narrow lead into the game’s first media timeout. Chadron State added three more points out of the break, and the teams played with a 9-4 score into the final minute of the quarter. The visitors found success on a jumper from the corner to close the quarter with an 11-4 advantage.
Misner broke the team’s scoreless stretch on the opening possession of the second quarter with a step-back three, and Billy added one of her own one minute later to make it 14-11 in favor of the Eagles. Billy’s success continued, tying the game at the 7:51 mark and then giving her team its first lead of the night at 6:27. Sorenson and Billy combined to extend the lead to seven points as the clock ticked under four minutes in the half. The teams ended the half at the free throw line to make it 27-20 in favor of Fort Lewis heading into the break.
Fort Lewis continued its hot streak early in the quarter, earning seven points out of the hands of Sorenson and Gallery for a 32-22 lead. Both sides spent time at the line over the following three minutes to play to make it 38-27 in favor of Fort Lewis. Fort Lewis turned on the heat midway through the quarter, converting on blocks and steals to extend the lead to a commanding 16 points. The Skyhawks maintained a sizeable lead heading into the final two minutes with a layup by freshman Trista Hoobler and Billy’s fifth three-pointer making it 53-38. Junior Avery Evans closed out the third quarter with a layup to send the Skyhawks into the final quarter with a 55-40 edge.
Billy scored five more points early in the fourth quarter, followed by a driving layup from Wattawa to make it 62-42 with under seven minutes on the clock. The Eagles snapped the streak with a pull-up jumper, but Billy immediately responded with her 25th point of the outing to maintain the 20-point advantage. Chadron State came back with six points to narrow the margin and make it 69-55 with 2:18 remaining in the contest. Senior Ember Cervantes kept the momentum on the Skyhawks’ side with a savvy driving layup to get her team to 71 points. The final minute saw the Eagles score twice at the stripe, securing a 71-58 Fort Lewis in Whalen.
