by Angela Roberts
PUEBLO, Colo. – The Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team closed out the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference road trip with a 61-46 loss to CSU Pueblo on Saturday night.
Fort Lewis dropped to 4-6 overall and 1-3 in the league while CSU Pueblo improved to 6-4, 3-1 RMAC.
“I’m proud of how we played with Kelsey (Sorenson) being out tonight,” said head coach Taylor Harris. “We focused on sticking together and staying positive, and I feel that we accomplished those goals. Our locker room is upbeat and positive, and I’m proud of how our group is staying together through adversity.”
The Skyhawks shot 32.7 percent (17-of-52) from the field and just 15.4 percent (4-of-26) from three for the contest. The Pack was more efficient from beyond the arc, connecting on 38.5 percent (10-of-26) of their attempts. Fort Lewis won the rebound battle with 38 compared to 35 for CSU Pueblo.
“Especially in the second half, you could see the effect that life on the road and playing back-to-back nights can have,” acknowledged Harris. “We got to Pueblo at 2:00 a.m. and it’s a learning experience on how we can get better for our next two-game road trip.”
Freshman Lanae Billy tied a career-high with 21 points to go along with a season-high nine rebounds—both marks leading the team. Graduate student Kaitlyn Bell was five-of-five from the field for 10 points and came away with eight boards. Sophomore Avery Evans had eight points in the effort.
It was a defensive battle to open the first quarter, but the Skyhawks persisted for a 5-0 lead thanks to baskets by Evans and Bell. Billy broke the game open moments later with her first three of the night to extend the lead to 8-0 after five minutes. The Pack finally got on the board in their following possession by knocking down a three on their sixth attempt from deep.
Out of a break, CSU Pueblo connected on back-to-back threes, followed by a layup to make it an 11-10 score. The teams went scoreless over the following three minutes before a layup by Sadie Misner broke the spell with under a minute to play. CSU Pueblo ended the opener with its first free throws of the evening to see the Skyhawks up 13-12.
Carrying over from the first quarter, the home team nailed two free throws to take their first lead of the game at 14-13. Bell got the lead right back after beating a pair of defenders inside for her second layup of the night. The Skyhawks were held scoreless for the next three minutes of play, but free throw makes by Ember Cervantes had the team back on track with 4:04 to go.
The scoreless streak was remedied through the final 2:47 of play as Fort Lewis enjoyed an 8-0 scoring run, in part to a pair of threes by Billy, to lead 27-25 at the half. The Skyhawks out-rebounded the Pack 24-18 in the first half, lending to a defensive effort that held the home team scoreless for the final five minutes of the second quarter.
The third quarter saw a pair of tied scores to kick things off before a Pack layup had the team up 31-29 at the media timeout. CSU Pueblo was stout defensively over the following five minutes, but a driving layup from Billy snapped a scoreless skid as the Skyhawks trailed 34-31 with 3:29 to go. The Pack responded with a 7-0 scoring run to close the third quarter ahead 41-31.
The offense shined at the beginning of the fourth quarter, both sides draining shots to bring the score to 47-36 with seven minutes remaining in the contest. From there, each pursuit from the Skyhawks was answered as the score shifted to 58-46 with one minute to go. The Pack had the last word, making their 10th three-pointer of the game to end things in a 61-46 final.
