Already the first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference team to reach the women’s Elite Eight, Fort Lewis on Tuesday went one step further. Katie Mackey’s 19 points paced the sixth-ranked Skyhawks to a 68-59 victory over No. 13 Seattle Pacific in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals in St. Joseph, Mo.
Fort Lewis (34-3) advanced to Wednesday’s Final Four, where it will face Franklin Pierce (N.H.), which beat Arkansas Tech 77-62 on Tuesday in the quarterfinals.
In beating Seattle Pacific (27-4), Fort Lewis earned an 18-point advantage from the free-throw line, shooting 23-of-30.
The Skyhawks held off a second half rally, after Seattle Pacific erased a 10-point deficit to take a one-point lead with seven minutes remaining.
But Fort Lewis answered by scoring seven unanswered points and went on a 17-7 run to end the game.
Laura Haugen finished with 16 points for Fort Lewis and Alison Rosel added 12.
Melissa Reich led Seattle Pacific with 17 points.
