Scott Kretzmann
ASC Sports Information
Four Adams Sate starters and the Grizzlies led by five at the break, but fourth-ranked Fort Lewis hit seven second-half 3-pointers and connected on nine free throws inside of the final two minutes to pull away from the Grizzlies and grab a 78-64 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) victory at Plachy Hall on Saturday night.
The loss, the second in a row against a ranked opponent for the Grizzlies, drops ASC to 12-8 this season and to 7-7 in RMAC play. Adams State remains seventh in the league standings with the loss, but now sit two wins back of Colorado St.-Pueblo and Mesa State who are tied are for fifth with 9-6 marks in league play.
Fort Lewis is now just one of two league teams with just a single RMAC loss after Colorado Christian lost their second league game to Chadron State on Saturday night.
The Skyhawks, at 18-1 overall and 13-1 in league play after topping the Grizzlies, are just a win back of 14th-ranked Metro State at 18-1 with a 14-1 RMAC record.
The Skyhawks entered the game as the most accurate team in the league from the field, but the Grizzlies used a first half advantage in field goal percentage to take a 32-27 lead into the break, shooting 43.3 percent (13-30) in the first half compared to 40.0 percent (12-30) for Fort Lewis.
But less than two minutes into the second half, FLC pulled even at 32-32 on a layup from RMAC leading scorer Dana Schreibvogel, who tallied 13 points Saturday.
Senior Crystal Loch, who scored 10 points in the effort for ASC, would exchange baskets with the Skyhawks on the next four possessions before Fort Lewis managed to pull ahead with 16 minutes and 31 seconds to play, taking their first lead since 14 seconds in at 2-0.
Junior Kelsie Kruger scored two of her game-high and career-best matching 21 points to even the score, 50-50, with 9:12 remaining.
Kruger, who was 6-of-6 from the charity stripe, would sink a pair to bring the game to a tie for the seventh time (57-57), with 5:15 to play, but FLC’s Erika Richards would hit 3-pointers on each of the Skyhawks next two possession, and Stephanie Beeman would make it three triples in as many possessions to give Fort Lewis a quick 9-point lead with just over four minutes remaining.
Richards led FLC with 15 points Saturday, hitting 3 triples, each during the final 5:02 of play, as the Skyhawkd would end up hitting 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) from long range in the second half while the Grizzlies went 2-of-9 (22.2 percent) from deep.
Facing a 9-point hole, Adams State sent the Skyhawks to the line 10 times during the last three minutes, and FLC countered by hitting nine of them and ended the contest on a 21-7 run to keep the Grizzlies at bay and secure a 14-point victory.
Behind Kruger’s 21, senior Vera Jo Bustos was 6-of-13 from the field and hit a trio of triples to en route to tallying 15 points.
Senior Kendra Coveal scored 11 points, reaching double-digits for the ninth straight game.
Adams State outscored Fort Lewis 26-24 in the paint, but was blocked a season high eight times. FLC made the most of 25 Grizzly turnovers, converting those into 26 points.
Saturday marked the second straight game that the ASC bench was held scoreless, while the Skyhawks bench accounted for 34.
Adams State will be back on the road next weekend before returning to Plachy Hall for four straight from Feb. 11-19.
The Grizzlies will New Mexico Highlands and Western New Mexico next weekend, both of whom they scored victories against during the first round of RMAC play, winning 79-66 over the Mustangs and topping the Cowgirls 82-70 in Plachy Hall.
New Mexico Highlands, 10-12 overall and now 6-9 in conference play after scoring a weekend sweep, is one spot behind Adams State in the league standings. Western New Mexico dropped games by 14 and 24 points against UC-Colorado Springs and Colorado St.-Pueblo, and are last in the RMAC at 1-18 overall and 1-14 in league play.
Fans unable to journey south to New Mexico next weekend can keep tabs on the Grizzlies by listening in at ww.kspk.com.
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