Air Force Academy
Denver
Air Force Drops Season-Opener at Denver
11/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
DENVER, Colo. - Air Force women's basketball opened the 2016-17 season with a 65-52 setback at Denver Friday night at Magness Arena. Freshman guard Mariah Forde led the Falcons with 13 points in her debut.
Air Force hung tough early on, trailing by just one at halftime 34-33. Denver pulled away in the third quarter, out-scoring the Falcons 17-6 to jump out to a 51-39 lead. The Falcons got the Pioneers' lead down to six, at 55-49 with 4:55 to play. Denver responded, however, with an 8-0 run to remain comfortably ahead.
Samantha Romanowski led Denver with 18 points and Jacqlyn Poss added 14 points.
Forde led Air Force in scoring with 28 minutes off the bench, adding five rebounds. Junior guard Cortney Porter recorded her first-career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Junior forward Dee Bennett and freshman guard Sarah Pierce added eight points each.
Five freshmen made their debuts and one junior made her return after nearly two years away from the game. Kailin Davis, Forde, Kassady Huffman, Pierce and Patricia Rosich played their first-career games. Junior Erika Chapman played her first game since her freshman year. Chapman injured her foot in the season-opener as a freshman and had not played in a game until today.
The Falcons played a strong first-half trailing by one at 16-15 after the first quarter. A last second bucket by Denver right before the half put DU ahead 34-33 at halftime. It was the sluggish third quarter that did the Falcons in, as the Pioneers pulled away.
"Our freshman are trying to figure things out and our returners need to play better," head coach Chris Gobrecht said. "It's just a matter of owning-up to the things we're capable of doing. I wish we were further along in our development but that will come with time."
Air Force returns to action Sunday, Nov. 13, traveling to Colorado. Tip-off is 2 pm MT.
