SILVER CITY, N.M. – The end of a road trip certainly didn't bother Fort Lewis College at the start of the game Monday night as they outscored the Western New Mexico University women's basketball team by 16 points over the first 10 minutes and held off a furious late rally to claim the 72-54 non-conference victory.

The Skyhawks (3-0) recently remained in New Mexico after playing two games in Portales with wins over UT Permian Basin and Eastern New Mexico. They were ready from the start Monday putting together a 29-point quarter for the 16-point lead. WNMU (2-1) then watched as Fort Lewis continued with the pressure into the second quarter posting a 19-9 edge to take a 48-22 lead into halftime.

The first 20 minute numbers were strong throughout for FLC connecting on 19-35 (54), 5-11 (45) from three and 5-5 at the line. The Lady Mustangs could only make 9-34 (27) in the first half and 1-9 (11) from three, going 3-6 (50) at the charity stripe.

WNMU began to respond in the third quarter, as they still trailed by 25 when late in the frame senior Jordan Gutierrez (Albuquerque, NM/Valley ) went on a tear. She first hit a layup, then stole two straight in-bounds passes that she converted into layups. If that wasn't enough, she closed the quarter with a fastbreak layup leaving the deficit at 17, 59-42, heading into the final quarter.

The full court press was working wonders for the Lady Mustangs, as they continued to come away with steals. Two straight early turnovers led to baskets by juniors Keshaun Clark (Avondale, AZ/Agua Fria) and Jeylynn Fields (Casa Grande, AZ/Casa Grande) to leave FLC ahead by just 13, 59-46.

Junior Shoniquia Coleman (Austin, TX/Colony) hit a layup near the midway point of the fourth to help start a 5-0 spurt as Fields converted a three-point play in the paint to trim the Skyhawks lead into single digits at 60-51 with 5:24 to play in the game. Fields led the way on the night piling in 15 points.

Just as fast as the Lady Mustangs were able to come back, so were the Skyhawks. After the teams traded possessions, Alyssa Yocky connected on a layup to open up a 10-0 run over the course of two minutes to put the game out of reach. By the time the run ended, FLC was looking at a 70-51 lead with just two minutes to go in the contest.

Outside of Fields leading the way with 15 points, she also had four rebounds and three steals. Gutierrez added 13 points, three assists and two steals, while junior Jade Botelho (Honolulu, HI/Iolani ) scored in double-figures with 11 points, while grabbing five rebounds and three steals. Sophomore Taylor McCauley (Cliff, NM/Cliff ) tied Botelho for the lead in rebounds with five, while Coleman added two steals. WNMU forced 21 turnovers and committed just 10.

Natalie Stilwell paced FLC with 16 points, while Yocky went for a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Skyhawks hit on 29-58 (50) from the field, 6-18 (33) from three and 8-13 (62) at the foul line. WNMU finished with 21-71 (30) from the field, 2-21 (10) from three and 10-15 (67) at the charity stripe. FLC led the entire game, with a high lead of 28 coming early in the third quarter. WNMU held the edge on points off turnovers (15-8), while FLC had the other categories including second-chance (10-7), bench (29-17), points in the paint (42-28) and fastbreak (18-10).

WNMU will travel just a few hours away for the next game this coming Thursday against UTEP in an exhibition contest set for 7 p.m. After that, WNMU will be home against Northern New Mexico College on Monday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m.