DURANGO, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa Mavericks took on the No. 20 Fort Lewis Skyhawks on Friday night with first place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference on the line. The Mavericks dropped their first game of the year in a 57-51 defeat.
 
Erin Reichle paced the Mavericks with 22 of her game-high 24 points in the first half. Reichle was 5-for-15 shooting from the three-point line and 9-for-24 from the field. She played 39 of the 40 minutes.
 
The Mavericks and Skyhawks played back-and-forth basketball all night long with each team shooting under 34 percent from the field. Fort Lewis led for 28 minutes in the game.
 
The big discrepancy of the night came on the boards where Fort Lewis held a 48-36 edge in rebounds with 16 coming on the offensive end. Second chance points were 12-3 in favor of the Skyhawks.
 
At halftime, Colorado Mesa led 31-27.
 
Colorado Mesa trailed by as many as five in the first half but Fort Lewis led for over 14 minutes in the half.
 
Fort Lewis' Astrea Reed led all FLC with a team-high 22 points and nine rebounds while Skyhawk standout Vivian Gray finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.
 
Maverick Karina Brandon drew the tough task of guarding Gray and did well limiting her to 40 percent from the field, three points below her average from the field. Brandon had seven rebounds.
 
The loss drops the Mavericks to 8-1 on the season and 2-1 in the RMAC while Fort Lewis improves to 7-1, 2-1 in the conference.
 
The Mavericks will head to Alamosa for a matchup with Adams State tomorrow night at 5:30pm.