A painful loss at Adams State last weekend put the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team in playoff mode earlier than it wanted to be, but the Skyhawks responded with a big win Friday night.
Led by a career night from guard Kate Bayes, the Skyhawks (11-8, 8-7 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) led wire-to-wire in a 70-55 win at Western New Mexico (11-9, 8-8 RMAC) in a packed WNMU Fieldhouse in Silver City, New Mexico.
The win gave FLC a season sweep of the Mustangs. The Skyhawks beat them 64-52 at home earlier in the season.
“Last weekend’s loss really hurt. Credit to our kids, we came back. I felt good going into this game because of the way we practiced all week. They came back with a focus and mentality to get this done,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said. “We knew we were a game behind Western and knew if we won we had a tiebreaker over them if it came to it at the end.”
Bayes, a junior transfer from Nebraska-Omaha, scored a career-high 25 points while grabbing seven rebounds. She shot 7-of-15 from the field and made 11-of-13 free throw attempts. She scored 17 points in the first half.
“We were trying to get her in spots where she’s effective,” Flores said of Bayes. “We had good ball movement, and she was quicker than the player guarding her.”
FLC’s largest lead of the game was 19 with 8 minutes, 41 seconds to go. FLC had 19 fastbreak points and outrebounded the Mustangs 42-32.
Kaile Magazzeni had eight points and a team-high nine rebounds in 18 minutes of work, and Mary Brinton had 10 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots in 14 minutes as both FLC post players battled foul trouble.
Kylie Santos and Skylyn Webb each scored eight points for FLC.
The Mustangs were led by Stephanie Moore’s 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. She was the lone Mustang in double figures.
“It was a big game for them and they were promoting it well and had a big crowd,” Flores said of Western N.M. “This was their big chance to do good things. It was tough coming in here with that, but man, we played hard,” Flores said. “We played pretty good, disciplined and played well together.”
FLC will try to put together a winning streak Saturday at New Mexico Highlands (4-12).
“It will be tough against Highlands. They were in a fight last week against (UC-Colorado Springs) and they had players suspended (Friday night) but will plays us (Saturday),” Flores said. “Unfortunately, they will be rested and motivated to come back and play.
“We gotta drive eight hours, and that makes this trip hard. They play well at home, but we have to be ready. We’re in playoff mode right now. We put ourselves there, and now we have to play like it.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
