DURANGO, CO- The Cougars headed south on Saturday as they took on Fort Lewis in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play. Despite a hard-fought battle to the very end, CCU narrowly fell by a final score of 70-64. 

Nicole Bowlin got the scoring started with a jumper, and Maggie Hutka followed with a jumper of her own to make it 4-0. The shots continued to fall to start, as Regan LoConte drilled a three-pointer and Agnes Paul hit a jumper. FLC hung around and took a one point lead with 2:32 left in the first, but Maggie Phipps made a layup and Victoria Perez connected on a jumper to push the lead back to three. Heading to the second quarter the teams stood tied at 17 apiece. 

The Skyhawks jumped ahead by seven with a quick burst to start the second, but Bowlin brought her team within two with a shot from beyond the arc. A Hutka jumped with a little under two minutes to play in the half tied the game at 32, and the half ended with the hosts leading by a slim margin of 39-35. 

The teams remained close in the third quarter, as both defenses put the clamps on and held each other scoreless for over four minutes of game play. Fort Lewis then found some offense to take an eight point lead heading to the final period at 56-48. 

Bowlin and Hutka hit baskets as they cut the deficit to five two separate times as the minutes ticked down. Hutka nailed a jumper with 2:10 left to cut the margin to three Trailing three with 50 seconds, a pair of trips to the free throw line from FLC capped things off as they hung on for a 70-64 victory. 

Hutka led the offense with 20 points to go with 9 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. Perez chipped in 10 points, while Jones pulled down 10 rebounds and had 3 steals. 

The Cougars will now return to the greater Denver area for their second matchup of the season against Regis, facing off against the Rangers in Denver on January 26 at 5 p.m. MST.