The Fort Lewis College Skyhawks women’s basketball team beat the Adams State University Grizzlies Tuesday night at Whalen Gymnasium 87-52.
The Skyhawks improve to 20-6, 15-6 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with the win, and drop the Grizzlies to 2-22, 1-20 in the RMAC.
FLC was on a mission to send their lone senior, Ande Lampert, off with a bang in her last regular season home game and that is exactly what they accomplished.
FLC came out of the gates on fire, shooting 11-17 from the field and only turning the ball over one time. Compared to Adams State who shot 7-13 from the field, but turned the ball over five times in the first quarter. The Skyhawks went into the second quarter holding a 30-17 lead over the Grizzlies.
“They play passively,” fifth year head coach Jason Flores said after the game. “They don’t play their man so it’s just that you aren’t used to that. We have had a couple of days to prepare and we knew that we could, you know, a lot of guard-cuts, a lot of post-ups, and kind of space em a little bit.”
Scoring slowed considerably in the first four minutes of the second quarter after a high scoring first with only five points being scored by each team. FLC picked up the pace quickly though going on an 18-2 run to end the second quarter. Briana Clah put the exclamation point on the quarter with a steal and a three-pointer as time expired to give the Skyhawks a 53-24 advantage at the half.
In the first half, the Skyhawks moved the ball tremendously against the Adams State zone defense with a zone breaking inside out game that seemed to work quite well. FLC would throw the ball inside to one of their bigs, draw in the defense and then kick the ball out to an open shooter or let their guards drive the basket. Kayla Herrera, who tied her career high with 27 points Friday against Mines, was the game’s leading scorer at the half with 14 points.
The second half was more of the same for the Skyhawks and the Grizzlies.
FLC dominated throughout the game. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around and the game was well in hand with a 35 point lead, Flores emptied his bench and was able to cruise to the victory.
The huge key to the game was the massive discrepancy in points. At halftime the Skyhawks advantage in this category was 22-2 and by the end of the game it was a whopping 42-6.
“The Skyhawks had a big size advantage and made a lot of easy shots,” sophomore forward Alyssa Yocky said.
Kayla Herrera had a game-high 17 points and Alyssa Yocky added her seventh double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds in the FLC victory.
The energy from teammates and the ball movement on offense really helped even though the defense needed some work, Yocky said.
Ande Lampert on played her final regular season home game after a spectacular four-year career at FLC. Lampert finished the game with seven points, six rebounds, and three blocks.
“It wasn’t sad, which I didn’t really expect,” Lampert said. “It was hopeful for the season. It’s hopeful for this program and I am just so happy that I am leaving this program where it is.”
The Skyhawks last game of the regular season is Friday night at Westminster College where they will look to wrap up a top four finish in the RMAC and continue to try to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2013.