Air Force Academy
UNLV
Air Force With 60-56 Setback To UNLV
1/21/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force women's basketball dropped a 60-56 contest to UNLV (13-6, 4-3) in a Mountain West contest Saturday afternoon at Clune Arena. Junior Dee Bennett and freshman Kailin Davis scored 13 points each to lead the Falcons.
A sluggish first quarter hurt the Falcons, who actually out-scored the Lady Rebels 50-37 from the second quarter on. Unfortunately, a 23-6 UNLV lead after the first quarter was too big a deficit to climb back from for Air Force.
The Falcons clawed its way back by out-scoring the Lady Rebels every quarter after the first, trailing 33-20 at the half and 47-35 at after the third. Air Force held a 21-13 advantage in the fourth quarter, including a 12-1 run to close out the game.
Bennett, continued her strong effort in conference play, recording her third-consecutive double-double, with the 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. The forward also led the Falcons with four steals and two blocked shots. Davis provided offense from the outside, connecting on three three-point baskets, adding two blocked shots of her own.
Junior Erika Chapman joined Bennett and Davis in double-figures, scoring 10 points in 20 minutes off the bench. Freshman Mariah Forde and junior Cortney Porter added six points each.
UNLV had three players in double-figures scoring. Dakota Gonzalez and Katie Powell had 13 points each for the Lady Rebels. Dylan Gonzalez added 11 points.
Air Force had its third-straight game shooting over 70 percent from the free-throw line. The Falcons sunk 13-of-18 attempts. Bennett was a perfect 4-for-4 and Chapman 2-for-2 from the line.
"We have to do a better job of coming out to play," Air Force assistant coach Capt. Derek Brooks said. "We didn't do much differently in the second-through-fourth quarters. We just made our shots. Our defense fueled our offense, in that we were able to create open shots in transition and made them. We just have to be ready to play from the get go."
Air Force returns to action Wednesday, Jan. 25, at San Diego State. Tip-off, at Viejas Arena, is 6:30 pm PT.
