Box Score

PUEBLO, Colo. – No. 6 Fort Lewis topped No. 10 Metro State 65-57 on Saturday at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout championship in Pueblo. The loss drops the Roadrunners to 26-2 this season, while FLC improved to 27-2.

The Skyhawks earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with their first-ever RMAC Shootout title. Metro State, which entered the week ranked first in the Central Region, will also likely earn an at-large bid to the postseason. The tournament field will be selected on Sunday evening.

Metro State was plagued by a slow start in Saturday's game, falling behind by 11 points midway through the first half. But the Roadrunners closed the half on a 12-3 run, highlighted by a 3-pointer at the buzzer from just inside half court by Emily Wood (Louisville, Colo./Monarch H.S.) to cut the lead to 30-28 at the break. Wood's shot came seconds after Fort Lewis guard Abby Jackson banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Kristin Valencia (Moriarty, N.M./Moriarty H.S.) buried a jump shot 1:45 into the second half to tie the game at 30-30. Fort Lewis used a 9-0 run to take a 48-38 lead with 10 minutes left. The Roadrunners could not cut the deficit closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Alyssa Benson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Minnetonka H.S.) buried a 4-of-7 from the outside and led Metro State with 18 points. Cassondra Bratton (Arvada, Colo./Pomona H.S.) finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Wood had nine points and Valencia contributed seven rebounds and six points. Jasmine Cervantes (Johnstown, Colo./Berthoud H.S.) also had six points and added five rebounds and a team-high five assists.

The Roadrunners committed 20 turnovers, the most since committing 24 in the matchup between the two teams on Jan. 21. Metro State did have a slight edge in rebounding at 32-30, but shot 40.4 percent, while allowing FLC to hit 50 percent, including 6-of-14 (.429) from 3-point range.

The game was also decided at the free throw line as Fort Lewis converted 13-of-17 (.765), while Metro State hit just 4-of-8 and missed the front end of a 1-and-1 three times.

Bratton and Cervantes were both selected to the RMAC Shootout All-Tournament team.