Air Force Academy
Cal Poly SLO
Falcons Defeat Cal Poly in Overtime Thriller, 70-67
12/6/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2002
The Air Force women's basketball team notched a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Cal Poly 70-67 in overtime. The Falcons swept a two-game West Coast road trip to improve to 4-2 overall, matching its win total from last season.
Air Force fell behind early and trailed by five at the half. The Mustangs opened the second half with a 9-2 run to take a 12-point lead, their largest lead of the game. Air Force began chipping away at the lead. The team pulled to within four, but with just over three minutes remaining, Kari Dupperon nailed a three-pointer to give the Mustangs a seven-point cushion.
Jennifer Roesch would then answer with a four-point play - hitting a trey at the shot-clock buzzer and adding a free throw to trim the lead to three, 60-57, with 1:45 left in the game. After forcing a turnover, Roesch would hit another three-pointer to tie the score. After exchanging jumpers, Cal Poly would play for the final shot, but Briana Thomas would notch a steal and the game would go into overtime.
There would be five lead changes in overtime. Wendy Stillman would hit two clutch free throws with 1:20 remaining to give Air Force a one-point lead. They were then able to notch two offensive rebounds and run the clock down to 21 seconds. Latoya Howell then notched two free throws to seal the victory.
The Falcons had an even distribution of scoring, with four players in double figures. Latoya Howell led the Falcons in scoring with 15 points. She also notched four rebounds, six assists and six steals. Roesch notched 13 points, all of which came in the final five minutes of regulation and overtime. Nicole Goss scored a career-high 11 points and Emily Gross added 10 points. Goss had a team-high seven rebounds.
The game was the first overtime game for Air Force since the 1998-99 season, when they lost in OT to TCU as a member of the WAC. It also marked the first time in Air Force Division I history that the Falcons scored 70-plus points in four consecutive games. The Falcons will have two weeks off before returning to California to take on Cal Irvine on December 21st in a one-game road trip. Tip off is set for 8 p.m. MST.
