Air Force Academy
Illinois State
Illinois State Stuns Air Force, 85-49
11/26/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2003
The Air Force women's basketball suffered its worst non-conference loss under head coach Ardie McInelly, falling by 36 points to Illinois State, 85-49. The Falcons couldn't contain the outside shooting of the Redbirds, as the team surrendered 13 three-pointers in the loss. The Falcons fall to 0-3 overall.
"The bottom line is they played harder and better than us," McInelly said. "Illinois State is a good team and I give them credit, but I didn't feel that we competed at the level of intensity that I have seen us compete at. It was our worst team effort so far this year."
Both teams struggled early from the field. Five minutes into the game, each team had notched just one field goal, with Air Force holding the 3-2 advantage. Although the scoring picked up, it was the Redbirds that were finding the bottom of the net most often. They pulled out to a double-digit lead midway through the first half, taking advantage of 16 first-half Falcon turnovers. Air Force finished the half shooting just .286 percent (8-of-28) and trailed 39-19.
The Redbirds, who were just 4-of-19 from beyond the arc in the first half, opened the second half with four three-pointers in the first five minutes to extend their lead to 30 points. Their offense continued to click, as the Redbirds scored 46 second-half points and a 36-point win. Previously, the worst non-conference loss was a 33-point loss to Colorado in McInelly's first season.
Air Force finished the game shooting 30.5 percent (18-of-59) from the field. Amoy Jackson, with 10 points and six rebounds, led the Falcons in both scoring and rebounding. Letricia Castillo added nine points and Shawna Neff had seven.
Illinois State's Katie Donovan led all scorers with 22 points. Stacey White added 16 points and Jaci McCormack had 12 points and six rebounds. The Redbirds notched an amazing 71 field goal attempts. They shot 42.3 percent from the field. The team set school records for three-pointers made (13) and attempted (41).
It was a homecoming of sorts for Neff, who is from Illinois, just 40 minutes from Redbird Arena. It was a disappointing game for Neff, who injured her ankle in the pre-game shoot around and was not full strength. Lisa Robinson, assistant coach for the Falcons, also saw many familiar faces as she was an assistant coach for Illinois State for 15 years.
Air Force will be back to work Thanksgiving Day preparing to face New Orleans. The team travels to the Big Easy on Nov. 29th to take on the Privateers.
