Air Force Academy
Fresno State
Air Force Falls to Fresno State Wednesday
2/1/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force women's basketball dropped a 72-56 contest to Fresno State (12-9, 4-6) in a Mountain West contest Wednesday night at Clune Arena. Freshman Mariah Forde led the Falcons with 19 points and junior Cortney Porter set the school record for most career assists in the Div. I era.
Facing a significant height disadvantage in the post, the Falcons were out-scored 36-14 in the paint. Fresno State utilized a pair of big runs, including a 10-0 start to the third quarter to pull away from Air Force.
Forde had a game-high 19 points, knocking down four three's for the Falcons and going a perfect 3-of-3 at the free throw line. Junior Dee Bennett notched a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Bennett was 7-of-9 from the line and had a career-high six assists.
Porter added eight points, eight rebounds and six assists. The guard now has 284 career assists, surpassing Raimee Beck, who Porter entered the game tied with at 278 assists.
Sophomore Darby Glaab set several career-high's off the bench. The forward set career high's with seven points, three steals and 25 minutes played. Freshman Kailin Davis scored nine points, making a trio of three-pointers.
Guard Candice White led the Bulldogs with 18 points. Center Bego Faz Davalos added 17 points and three blocked shots. Kirvan Anais scored 10 points off the bench.
The Falcons led 12-10 after holding Fresno State to 33 percent shooting from the field in the first quarter. The second quarter was a see-saw battle, as Fresno State went on a 14-0 run to jump ahead 24-12 midway through. Air Force rallied back with a 10-0 run to close out the quarter and go to halftime trailing by just two at 28-26.
The slow third quarter start hurt the chances for the Falcons, who wound up trailing 51-36 after the quarter. Air Force had its best scoring output in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 points.
"We played well in the first half and came back from a slow start to the second quarter to be down just two," said Air Force assistant coach Capt. Derek Brooks. "We couldn't afford to come out in the third quarter and turn the ball over like we did though."
Air Force returns to action Saturday, Feb. 4, at Wyoming. Tip-off, at Arena Auditorium, is 2 pm MT.
