Air Force Drops MWC Opener at New Mexico, 57-78

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Air Force fell to New Mexico, 57-78, in the Mountain West Conference opener, Wednesday evening, in Dreamstyle Arena, Albuquerque, N.M. The Falcons drop to 4-8, 0-1 MWC, while the Lobos improve to 11-1.

The Falcons were led by sophomore guard Emily Conroe who scored 15 points while shooting 6-8 from the field. Conroe also made her presence felt on the defensive side of the ball as she led the team with three steals while snagging three rebounds.

Other double-figure scorers for Air Force were Kaelin Immel and Haley Jones who registered 13 points apiece in 31 minutes clocked on the floor. Jones led the squad with nine rebounds and shot 5-7 from the free throw line. Senior team captain Venessannah Itugbu tallied three blocks on New Mexico's significantly bigger bodies and also tallied two assists.

Air Force shot over its season average field goal mark, but came up significantly shorter with the three-ball, hitting only one of 12 attempts.

New Mexico was led by Jayla Everett and Asia Robertson who scored 19 and 15 points, respectively. The Lobos out-rebounded Air Force, 44-37, and had 19 steals to Air Force's nine. Turnovers proved to be a problem for the Falcons again as they gave up the ball 30 times while New Mexico gave it up 19 times.

Quarter by Quarter Breakdown:
First Quarter: New Mexico 20, Air Force 16
Air Force Starters: Haley Jones, Riley Snyder, Alexis Springfield, Kaelin Immel, Kassady Huffman
-Springfield hit the first Air Force bucket with a jumper from within the paint.
-AF got off to a slow start shooting 28.6 percent (2-7) from the field by the first media timeout while UNM shot 54.5 percent (6-11), led by Jessica Nunn who shot 3-3.
-Immel went on a 6-0 scoring run to tie UNM at 12 with 3:03 remaining in the first quarter
-UNM was able to penetrate the paint and convert, scoring 18-20 points in the paint
-Jones and Conroe went 2-2 apiece in the first quarter, keeping the Falcons within striking distance
-Immel led the way with six points while the team closed the quarter shooting 53.3 percent from the field to UNM's 47.6

Second Quarter: New Mexico 37, Air Force 25
-AF miscues allowed UNM the chance to rebuild a lead as the Lobos went on a 9-0 scoring run leading into the media timeout
-After a slick pass from Snyder to Immel for two, Haley Jones stole the ball and converted for an additional bucket in an attempt to close the scoring gap
-AF shooting took a dip to 28.6 percent from the field while UNM also dropped to 35.3 percent from the field
-Turnovers also became an issue for the Falcons as they turned the ball over 10 times in the quarter and 14 times on the half
-The Falcons were outscored 17-9 in the second quarter
-Immel led the team with eight first-half points while Conroe and Jones tallied six apiece
-UNM out-rebounded AF, 24-18, in the first half

Third Quarter: New Mexico 57, Air Force 42
-AF was scoreless for the first 4:30 of the quarter, the drought was ended by a bucket from Kennedy Beale
-UNM built a 19-point lead by the media timeout, led by Asia Robertson
-Conroe drained the Falcons first three-pointer with 4:00 minutes remaining in the third quarter
-Itugbu made her defensive presence known in the paint, registering two blocks on the Lobo's big bodies
-AF posted a 7-0 scoring run leading up to the horn, but UNM would find a last-second opportunity to drain a three-pointer
-AF shooting improved in the third quarter as the Falcons shot 46.2 percent from the field

Fourth Quarter: New Mexico 78, Air Force 57
-AF saw small scoring spurts but nothing significant enough to close the margin to less than 14
-The Falcons' shooting took a fourth-quarter dip as the team shot 31.3 percent from the field while UNM's improved to 47.1 percent

The Falcons return to USAFA to host Utah State, Sat. Jan. 5, for the Mountain West Conference home opener. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. MT, in Clune Arena.

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