The Fort Lewis women’s basketball has been on a steady upward trajectory over the last few years. Former Skyhawks head coach Taylor Harris improved in his last two years as FLC’s head coach. The Skyhawks finished 12-16 overall last season, 9-13 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference last season and ninth in the conference to just miss out on the RMAC tournament.
Harris is no longer the Skyhawks’ head coach and is an assistant at Colorado School of Mines. It’s Lauren Zuniga’s turn to lead the program back to the national relevancy FLC had in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
“Our ultimate goal is obviously to have a winning record,” Zuniga said. “That's key. Our goal is to make the RMAC tournament. But we just don't know, right? It's the first year, and something we talked to the team about all the time as a staff is just being the best team that this team can be, whatever that looks like down the road. We have big goals and big aspirations, but … growth is always the most important thing.”
Zuniga spent the last three seasons as the head coach at Northwest College, a junior college in Powell, Wyoming.
The Littleton, Colorado native compiled a 50-38 overall record in her three years highlighted by a 21-9 record in 2022-2023. In Zuniga’s first season, Northwest College went 14-14 which was more wins than the college had in the previous three years combined. Last season, Northwest College went 15-15 with 10 freshmen and numerous injuries, according to Zuniga.
Unlike first-year men’s basketball coach Jordan Mast, Zuniga has seven returning players from last year’s team. She also added 13 players to the roster to make a roster of 20 players.
The depth the Skyhawks have makes every player show up to work every day since there are plenty of players who want to play and only five spots on the court at a time. Practices are hard and intense since there’s constant subbing so no one gets tired, according to Zuniga.
“They're super hungry and excited for the season,” Zuniga said about her squad. “They're really motivated and super blue-collared. Our work ethic has been spectacular and I'm most excited to see all their hard work pay off.”
Zuniga’s ideal offensive style is playing fast, efficiently and having great ball movement while getting up and down the floor. The Skyhawks should play with four guards on the perimeter and one post player most of the time. Because of their depth, FLC could play five out depending on the lineup.
“We have the perfect group to do that,” Zuniga said. “We have a lot of athleticism one through five. So the ability to get up and down is definitely there. And I would say with our work ethic and just like our conditioning, we're able to play at that next level.”
FLC’s top returning scorer is junior forward Kate Gallery. She averaged 9.2 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game as a sophomore. At 6-foot-1-inches, Gallery can hit the outside shot and drive and finish inside. Zuniga acknowledged Gallery’s shooting ability and is excited to see her flourish in a new system.
Other than Gallery, versatile senior guard Avery Evans returns after averaging seven ppg and four rpg. Senior forward Samantha Wattawa returns after 7.9 ppg and 6.1 rpg. Redshirt junior Sydney Bevington is back after only playing six games last year due to injury.
The sophomore trio of Sarah Chick, Trista Hoobler and Natalie Guanella return after not getting many minutes as freshmen. Zuniga is excited for all three of these players to continue to grow. She was pleasantly surprised when she saw the three freshmen play since there wasn’t much film on them.
Zuniga brought in six freshmen and one that has stood out is guard Claudia Palacio Gámez. From, Malaga, Spain, Palacio Gámez could be a fan-favorite with her scoring ability and how hard she plays defense, according to Zuniga.
A few of the upperclassmen Zuniga has brought in have Division I experience. One of those players is senior guard Livia Knapp, who played at Utah State. Zuniga is excited for her and junior guard Deniece Ryan to play in the backcourt. Zuniga said Knapp is a great point guard, both she and Ryan are super fast and can both score the ball.
The Skyhawks were picked to finish 12th out of 15 schools in the RMAC. Zuniga said she wasn’t surprised and didn’t have any expectation of where they’d be picked since there’s a new coach and a lot of new players.
One of Zuniga’s big goals is to be really good at home. FLC will have plenty of opportunities with a plethora of games inside Whalen Gymnasium.
A lot of the Skyhawks’ success this season will likely come down to how well the mix of new players and returners can gel together.
“The chemistry has been great,” Zuniga said. “The good thing about all the young ladies is that they just have one goal in mind: They want to be good and they want to get Fort Lewis back to what it was in that 2009-2010 season (35-4 overall). They have a good grasp on that. Obviously, they know they have to work hard to achieve that, but that's the ultimate goal.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
