BY JOHN LIVINGSTON
HERALD SPORTS WRITER
It took the Skyhawks nearly 35 minutes to make a 3-pointer, but they made the most of their only three makes of the game.
Kylie Santos, a junior guard for the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team, ended the 0-for-12 drought from long range by making two 3s in a row with less than 6 minutes to play, and sophomore guard Skylyn Webb added one of her own. That resulted in a 20-6 run at a critical time to give the Skyhawks their largest lead of the night against the Metro State Roadrunners.
Strong defensive play helped FLC (14-9, 11-8 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) protect its lead the final 2 minutes of the game, as the Skyhawks picked up an 64-49 home win to complete a season sweep of the Roadrunners (13-10, 10-9 RMAC).
FLC’s stout defense has carried the team for much of the season, and it was on full display Friday night at Whalen Gymnasium. The Skyhawks held Metro State to 27.3 percent shooting from the field and forced 17 turnovers.
“We really felt we could guard this team,” FLC head coach Jason Flores said.
Santos led FLC in scoring with 16 points on a 4-of-16 shooting night. Though she didn’t make many of her shots, she made the big ones when they mattered most. Santos also hustled all over the floor defensively, picking up 11 rebounds for a double-double.
“I felt like a couple of mine were in-and-outs. If I was open, I was ready to take them,” Santos said of taking the late 3s after seeing so many early ones miss. “I always try to bring energy. I think people feed off that, and I just know I can get rebounds if I actually think about it, so I tried to focus on that.”
FLC junior forward Mary Brinton of Pagosa Springs added 15 points, largely thanks to a 9-of-15 night at the free-throw line. She also had seven rebounds and helped frustrate the interior players of Metro State.
“I think one of the big things was knowing we needed to get them in foul trouble,” Brinton said. “They have a post game, and that was a big focus going in; get them in foul trouble, get them out, and that helps us defensively. It’s easier if there backup posts are in.”
FLC junior guard Kate Bayes added 12 points and another seven rebounds off the bench.
Georgia Ohrdorf led Metro State with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting, mostly from inside the paint. Hannah Stipanovich added 11 points.
FLC won the rebounding battle 47-41, which helped FLC go on its late scoring run.
The Skyhawks finished only 3-of-15 from 3-point range and shot only 34.5 percent, but that’s been good enough this year when they turn it over fewer than 18 times and can play strong defense.
“For us, getting out in transition, kind of attacking the basket on some of their players, that was going to be a key,” Flores said. “We were able to do that. We went through that dryspell for awhile, but we weren’t taking bad shots out of it. I was hopeful as long as we kept getting those same shots, that’s going to turn around.”
It was only the fifth time this year FLC has earned two consecutive wins. They built momentum off a big overtime win last Saturday against UC-Colorado Springs and will look to keep it going in another crucial RMAC game at home Saturday night against Regis. It is the final home game of the regular season for FLC, and seniors Erin Curry and Kaile Magazzeni will be recognized before the game.
“We’ll have to defend well on the perimeter and rebound well with a lot of long rebounds,” Flores said of Regis, who plays more of an outside game than the post-heavy Roadrunners. “We’ll have to quickly get a defensive gameplan and stick to it.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
