Air Force Academy
San Diego St
Falcons Fall to San Diego State, 51-46
1/31/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2004
A late-game rally fell just short, as Air Force women's basketball team suffered a 51-46 loss to San Diego State Saturday at Clune Arena. The Falcons rallied from 13 points down with just over four minutes remaining to pull to within three points, but were unable to pull out the victory. Air Force falls to 3-15 overall and 0-5 in league play.
The Falcons struggled from the field early, making just two of their first eight shots. They hung around the 25 percent mark for the remainder of the half. Meanwhile, the Aztecs shot 40 percent from the floor. The difference in the percentage points accounted for a seven-point Aztec lead at the break (25-18).
Air Force kept the deficit to single digits throughout much of the second half, but never seemed ready to challenge for the lead. They pulled to within five points early in the half, but a lackluster offense had trouble scoring kept them from cutting the deficit further. In an eight-minute span, the Falcon offense notched just four points and the team was staring at a 13-point deficit. Yet despite the lack of scoring, the Falcons defense kept them in the game.
Trailing by 13 points with 4:34 remaining in the game, the Falcons found their offense. They went on a 12-3 run to cut the lead to three with 36 seconds remaining. Air Force stole the inbounds pass and had a chance to tie but Amoy Jackson lost her footing and traveling was called. Michelle Strawberry knocked down one of two free throws to make it a two possession game.
Ashlee Cwiakala would get fouled and make one of two free throws. With eight seconds to go, Strawberry would miss both free throws, but Ashlee Dunlap secured the rebound to seal the victory for the Aztecs. It was their second win in the conference. Ashlee Dunlap led all scorers with 19 points. She added 10 points for the double-double. Veronica Shaw added nine points and six assists for the Aztecs.
Amoy Jackson fell one rebound shy of the double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Shawna Neff and Letricia Castillo each added 11 points. The team notched just 13 turnovers, tying a season low.
The Falcons finish their first round of conference games next weekend when they take on Wyoming (Feb. 5) and Colorado State (Feb. 7) in back-to-back road games.
