DENVER – The Regis University women's basketball team finally had its chance to host Fort Lewis after a month-long delay, and in the end, fell to the Skyhawks in a one-possession contest, 60-57, at Regis Field House on Monday.
 
"I thought our girls responded really well," said Regis University Women's Basketball Assistant Coach Katie Ziemnik. "We had off a few days. We only had two days to prepare for Fort Lewis, and I thought we were ready. It came down of course to one shot, and you can win or lose from that, and we're going to learn from this game.
 
"We have two games this weekend. We play Westmin[ster] and [Colorado] Mesa, which are two of the top teams in the conference, and we're ready for them."
 
How It Happened: With the Rangers down, 57-55, and only 1:04 to go in regulation, Fort Lewis junior guard Alyssa Adams sank a jumper to double FLC's advantage to four points, 59-55, and put the game out of Regis's reach.
 
An insurance free throw by senior guard Katrina Chandler with 38 seconds left marked the Skyhawks' final point in the game.
 
Sophomore forward Morgan L. Smith's pair of free throws with only 30 seconds remaining brought the contest to its final score.
 
The Skyhawks broke the game's scoreless tie, 2-0, on a layup from sophomore forward Jordan Vasquez just 1:05 into the contest.
 
RU responded with an 8-0 run, spearheaded by senior forward Whitney Jacob's successful trip to the free-throw line at the 8:22 mark of the first quarter and ended on Jacob's layup with 6:01 remaining in the opening frame to give the Rangers an 8-2 lead.
 
Fort Lewis then matched Regis with an 8-0 run of its own to retake the lead. Vasquez's layup with 5:18 left in the first started it off, while Vasquez capped it with a go-ahead layup at the first frame's 3:07 mark to make the score, 10-8.
 
After Smith tied the game with a jumper with 52 seconds to go in the first, 10-10, senior guard Bailey Osmer's fastbreak layup off a steal beat the buzzer with less than a second on the clock and gave FLC a 12-10 lead after 10 minutes of play.
 
Jacob proceeded to tie the game, 12-12, on a layup 54 seconds into the second, but the Skyhawks rolled off a 7-0 run in response. Senior guard Sydney Candelaria's layup at the second quarter's 8:08 mark commenced the run, which ended on Chandler's fastbreak layup with the clock reading 6:28 in the second. Chandler's basket gave Fort Lewis a 19-12 lead.
 
Once senior forward Chloe Warrington's trey expanded FLC's lead to as many as eight, 22-14, with 4:46 to go before halftime, RU retook the lead during its 9-0 run. Senior guard Tashika Burrell drained a 3-pointer to kickstart the run at the 3:00 mark, and she concluded it on her go-ahead fastbreak layup off a steal to bring the Rangers to a 23-22 lead with 1:13 left in the first half.
 
"I would say Tashika Burrell was our standout player of the game," Ziemnik said. "She has put in work tremendously in the gym and has done a great job, and she led our team tonight and helped us stay close and she just continues to be a great leader."
 
Facing a 1-point deficit, 24-23, following Vasquez's two free throws with 58 seconds remaining in the half, freshman guard Erin Fry drilled a trey with just 30 seconds left to take Regis to a 26-24 advantage at the half. This turned out to be the start of a 9-0 run, which ceased after Jacob hit a free throw, bringing RU to a 32-24 lead with 7:18 to go in the third.     
 
Late in the quarter, the Skyhawks rattled off a 6-0 run. This was started by Osmer's jumper at the 3:44 mark and was capped off on Vasquez's free throw with 2:32 remaining in the third. The latter point trimmed the Rangers' lead down to one, 39-38.
 
Osmer eventually tied the contest on a 3-pointer, 41-41, at the third's 2:11 mark, but a jumper by sophomore forward Sydney Speights and a layup from senior forward Grace O'Neill grew the Regis lead back to four, 45-41, going into the fourth quarter. O'Neill's layup occurred with 1:14 left in the third.
 
Unfortunately, Fort Lewis opened the final quarter with an 8-0 run. The run began on Warrington's trey at the fourth quarter's 9:36 mark and stopped after Vasquez's layup with 6:47 to go before the final buzzer, giving FLC a 49-45 lead. The Skyhawks took the lead, 47-45, during the run on freshman forward Ally Harvey's tie-breaking layup with 8:22 reading on the clock in the fourth.
 
Although Burrell cut the RU deficit to a point on a free throw, 54-53, with 3:37 remaining in the game, the Rangers were unable to reclaim the lead.
 
Game Notes: Burrell scored a share of the game-high 20 points to go along with nine rebounds and shares of the game-highs of three assists and four steals. Jacob claimed 11 points, an individual game-high 10 rebounds, a share of the game-high three assists, and two steals. O'Neill recorded nine points, six rebounds, and a game-high three blocks.
 
While Regis shot better than Fort Lewis at the charity stripe, FLC outscored RU in points off turnovers, 22-14.
 
For the game, the Rangers made 21 of 63 (33.3 percent) from the paint, three of 23 (13.0 percent) from the arc, and 12 of 20 (60 percent) from the free-throw line. In comparison, the Skyhawks netted 22 of 56 (39.3 percent) in the paint, six of 19 (31.6 percent) from 3-point range, and 10 of 20 (50 percent) at the charity stripe.
 
Up Next for the Rangers: Regis drops to a 2-4 record overall and a 2-3 record in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) play. RU next travels to Utah to play Westminster College (Utah) (4-1, 4-1 RMAC) at Behnken Field House on Friday at 5:30 p.m.