by Angela Roberts
DURANGO, Colo. – The Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team saw its season come to an end in front of a packed Whalen Gymnasium on Saturday night, falling narrowly to No. 16/17 Colorado School of Mines by a final score of 78-75.
Fort Lewis ends the season with an overall record of 9-19 and a 6-16 record in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action. The loss marked the career end for seniors Alyssa Adams, Kaitlyn Bell, Brooke McGee, Tayla Nez, and student assistant coach Beck Hix.
The Skyhawks shot 39.3 percent (22-of-56) from the field compared to a 45.2 percent (28-of-62) efficiency for the Orediggers. The Skyhawks dropped in 24-of-29 free throws versus a 19-of-30 night for the Orediggers. Mines outrebounded Fort Lewis 43-32, while the Skyhawks cut their turnovers in half compared to last month’s meeting, committing 16 on the night.
Freshman Lanae Billy led the team with 14 points, her 22nd double-digit outing of the season to close out her first season with a 16-point-per-game average. Sophomore Avery Evans followed with 13 points for her fourth-straight game in double figures. Graduate student Kaitlyn Bell and junior Kelsey Sorenson followed with 11 points apiece while senior Alyssa Adams closed out her career with a 10-point night.
Mines was led by Megan Van de Graaf who recorded a career-high 31 points (12-of-17 FG) to go along with nine rebounds. Ashley Steffeck followed with a double-double at 25 points and 13 rebounds.
Steffeck opened the first quarter with a trio of threes as the Orediggers got ahead 11-2. Bell responded with a rare three to cut the lead with five minutes to go. Freshman Kate Gallery kicked off a mini-run with a corner three, followed by a Sorenson drive to make it a 17-14 game with 2:35 remaining in the quarter.
Steffeck nailed a jumper on the following possession to give Mines a five-point edge, but Gallery was gold again from three, leading to an eventual 19-19 deadlock. Evans ended the quarter with a three-point play to see a come-from-behind lead, 22-19, after 10 minutes of play.
The Orediggers dropped in seven straight to open the second before another bucket by Evans got the Skyhawks on the board. Mines managed to surge ahead by seven points midway through the quarter before to duo of Sorenson and Bell combined to see the score at 33-30. The Orediggers went on the extend the lead, but a push in the final minute, capped off by a buzzer-beater Billy three, saw Mines ahead 42-40 at the half.
Sorenson erased the deficit out of the break with a jumper to knot it up, and Adams followed with a clutch three to make it a 47-44 Fort Lewis advantage. The lead stayed in the grasp of the Skyhawks despite Van de Graaf’s best effort as a three-point play from the Mines leading scorer cut the lead to 54-54 with under three minutes to go.
Free throws became key in the quarter’s final minutes as a handful from freshman Audra Vine held Fort Lewis ahead by one. Mines took a brief lead with 12 seconds to go, but senior Brooke McGee nailed a huge buzzer three to make it 60-58 heading into the final quarter.
The Orediggers reclaimed the lead with a 6-0 scoring run in the opening two minutes of play before free throws from Evans got the Skyhawks on the board. From there, Mines enjoyed a short run to grab its largest lead of the game at eight points, but free throw shooting would make it a one-possession game with 1:40 remaining. Just when it seemed the lead was out of the reach of Fort Lewis, Billy connected on a contested three, pushing the score to 76-73 with 25 seconds remaining. Free throws made up to final seconds of action, including two by Evans, as time expired on the closely-contested 78-75 season finale. The game saw eight ties and eight lead changes throughout.
