The second night of the longest road trip of the year proved a difficult task.
Playing at Black Hills State in Spearfish, South Dakota, the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team fell short in an evenly played game. The Skyhawks couldn’t dig back from a halftime deficit and saw the Yellow Jackets take a 59-52 win.
“It was an equal game. A good game, other than the result,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said. “I can’t fault our effort, intensity or defensive effort. It came down to, again, we have to get better offensively and have to have players start putting the ball in the hole.”
FLC (6-5, 3-4 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) picked up a big road win a night earlier at Chadron State in Nebraska before traveling to South Dakota. The Skyhawks kept the game tight early but trailed 28-22 at the break while shooting only 29.6 percent.
FLC shot the ball better in the second half to finish at 31.4 percent in the game, but clutch 3-point shooting from the Yellow Jackets (7-4, 6-2 RMAC) helped the home team maintain a second-half lead the entire way. Black Hills State made 6-of-18 3s in the game, while FLC made only 2-of-16 from long range.
“We had a lot of good looks. There’s not a lot of tweaks that need to be made. Right now, the story of the team is when we shoot decently, we win games. When we don’t, we lose,” Flores said. “Right now, our defensive effort is really strong.”
Junior guard Mary Brinton of Pagosa Springs scored a game-high 14 points, with nine of those coming in the first half. Taylor Trohkimoinen led Black Hills State with 11 points, scoring all 11 in the first half. Five Yellow Jackets finished with eight points each.
Ande Lampert and Michelle Turner each finished with 10 points for FLC.
After going down 46-34 with 8 minutes, 34 seconds to play, the Skyhawks went on a run to get back within six points late. But Black Hills State had an answer for every FLC push.
“They don’t lose at home,” Flores said of the Yellow Jackets, who are 5-0 on their own floor. “They’ve been running over people here. It’s tough, but we had a chance and were right in the game the whole time.”
With the long road trip in the rear-view mirror, the Skyhawks will be anxious to get home for a doubleheader next Friday and Saturday against New Mexico Highlands and Western New Mexico, respectively. FLC is 3-1 at home this year.
“We had to get a split on this road trip. That’s always the rule. If you get splits on the road and win on your home court, you’ll be in good position,” Flores said. “We got a split on the longest trip of the year, and that’s tough. At a minimum, we did that, and now we get to go home and have a good week of practice and defend home court.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
