by Angela Roberts
DURANGO, Colo. – Aided by a season-high shooting percentage and double-digit efforts from three Skyhawks, the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team earned a 72-53 win over CSU Pueblo in Friday night Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
Fort Lewis shot 55.3 percent (21-of-38) from the field to top the previous season high, a 50.9 percent mark versus South Dakota Mines on December 30. It was the most efficient shooting clip since December 31, 2018 when the team went for a 59.1 percent mark against Northern New Mexico College at home.
The win moves the Skyhawks to 8-13 overall and 5-10 in conference play while the ThunderWolves fell to 10-11, 7-8 RMAC. Fort Lewis now owns a 5-3 record on Bob Hofman Court and moves into a three-way tie for 10th in the league with seven regular-season games remaining.
The Skyhawks limited the Pack to shoot just 30.4 percent (17-of-56) from the field and 19.2 percent (5-of-26) from three. Fort Lewis took just nine shots from beyond the arc, but the team made them count with six makes on the night. The Skyhawks outrebounded the Pack at a 35-28 clip.
Individually, freshman Lanae Billy led all players with 23 points while going 9-of-9 from the charity stripe. The effort was Billy’s ninth 20-plus point outing of the season and puts her season points per game average at 17.4—second in the conference. Junior Kelsey Sorenson followed with 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Senior Alyssa Adams rounded out the double-figure scoring with 10 points while graduate student Kaitlyn Bell chipped in an eight-point, five-rebound night.
The game started slow for both teams with just a pair of Sorenson free throws making up the first four minutes of play. Adams snapped the scoreless streak with a jumper, followed by a similar shot from CSU Pueblo to get the visitors on the board. Billy went on to score four points to extend the lead to 12-2 with 2:23 remaining in the first quarter. Freshman Kate Gallery closed out the quarter with a layup to see Fort Lewis ahead 16-7 after 10 minutes of play.
Fort Lewis picked up right where it left off in quarter two, picking up seven-straight points from Sorenson, Bell, and Billy to make it a 23-7 advantage. The Pack rattled off three free throws to see double digits, but the Skyhawks earned another scoring run to extend the lead to 31-10 with under three minutes to go. The final minutes of the half saw just a pair of free throws from CSU Pueblo as the score sat at 31-12 heading into the break.
The third quarter opened in similar fashion to the second, but the Pack was able to regroup and see streaks of their own to bring the score to 37-21 midway through. Fort Lewis connected on three of its six threes in the quarter, including a make from senior Tayla Nez to make it 52-34 with 29 seconds on the clock. Sophomore Sadie Misner closed out the quarter with two makes from the charity stripe to make it an 18-point edge for Fort Lewis with one quarter to go.
Sorenson was intent on keeping the lead out of reach and knocked down her third three of the season to make it a 21-point lead with 7:30 left in the game. The Pack countered with a three, followed by a layup to cut into the deficit. Late effort from a slew of Skyhawks maintained the lead, capped off by two free throw makes from freshman Ruby Sweeny-Spitzeck to secure a 72-53 home win.
