Wednesday, December 18
Long Beach, CA
8:00 PM MT
Air Force Academy
2-9,1-1Mountain West
68
at
74
Long Beach State
4-7,0-0Big West
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT 1 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Force | 11 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 5 | 68 |
| Long Beach St. | 19 | 8 | 12 | 24 | 11 | 74 |
Photo by: U.S. Air Force photo / Trang Le
Air Force Gives Up 74-68 Overtime Loss at Long Beach State
12/19/2019 12:45:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Riley Snyder led Air Force women’s basketball with a career-high 23 points, Immel scored her 1,000th career point in the effort
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Long Beach State rallied from behind to beat Air Force in overtime, 74-68, Wednesday evening in the Walter Pyramid. The Falcons drop to 2-9 on the season while the 49ers improve to 4-7.
Despite the heart-breaking loss, three Falcons had career nights. Sophomore forward Riley Snyder led Air Force with a career-high 23 points, her third 20-point performance in the last four games, while also collecting a personal season-high eight rebounds. Snyder knocked down 6-6 attempts from the free throw line, marking the eighth time shooting perfect from the line this season.
Junior co-team captain Kaelin Immel dropped 14 points on the night, surpassing 1,000 career points to become the 16th all-time Falcon to achieve the feat. Immel also added two assists, two rebounds and a steal to her stat line. Freshman teammate Allyah Marlett scored a career-high 10 points and collected six rebounds while leading the team with a 71-percent field goal accuracy (5-7), only missing a pair of shots from beyond the arc.
Long Beach's Shanaijah Davison had the hot hand on the night, dropping a game-high 26 points with three assists and three boards. Three other 49ers posted double-figure scoring marks as well, highlighted by Cydnee Kinslow who scored 11 points and collected a game-high eight rebounds.
Air Force's bench outscored the Long Beach subs, 16-11, led by Marlett's dime; however, turnovers may have decided the game as the Falcons turned the rock over 24 times, more than doubling LBSU's turnover count (11). The 49ers converted 28 points off of Air Force turnovers.
Air Force got off to a cold start, going scoreless for the opening 3:30 and hitting just 3-14 attempts from the field in the first quarter. The Beach's Shanaijah Davison found her rhythm early on as she dropped 13 points for the 49ers in the opening 10 minutes, helping Long Beach State to a nine-point lead and what would become their largest lead of the game. Of Air Force's 11 first-quarter points, five were scored from the free throw line.
The Falcons started to settle into their game in the second quarter as shooting drastically improved to 70-percent from the field. LBSU's Davison slowed down to only three points of production on the quarter, helping Air Force to outscore LBSU 18-8 in the second 10-minutes. Allyah Marlett shot perfectly in the first half (3-3) while Kaelin Immel capitalized on a 6-0 scoring run by draining Air Force's first three-pointer in the waning seconds of the half to give the Falcons a 29-27 lead heading into the locker room. Riley Snyder led Air Force in first-half scoring and rebounding with 10 and four, respectively.
The Falcons continued to produce out of the halftime break, going on a 5-0 run to start the third quarter. Air Force built their largest lead of the game as an 8-0 scoring run lifted them to a 10-point advantage with 1:15 remaining. Air Force shot 46-percent from the field on the quarter, a mark significantly higher than their season average, while LBSU shot just 26-percent from the field.
Both teams shot 50-percent or better in the fourth quarter but Air Force fouls slowed the game allowing the 49ers a chance to catch their breath and battle back. Air Force led LBSU, 56-52, at the fourth quarter media timeout (4:42), but at that time Briana Autrey-Thompson, who made her first appearance this season, fouled out of the game. LBSU connected on a pair of critical free throws to cut the Air Force lead to four. On the next possession, Cierra Winters fouled out and LBSU again connected on two more crucial free throws to come within two.
Marlett and Snyder dropped a bucket apiece to rebuild the Falcons' lead to six points, but the 49ers could not be denied at the free throw line, knocking down two more to cut the lead back to four with 1:23 remaining in regulation. Two straight buckets from Long Beach gave the 49ers their first lead of the half with 21-seconds to go in the game. Air Force's Haley Jones drew a foul down low with 10-seconds remaining and a chance to take the lead at the free throw line. Jones knocked down one-of-two attempts, knotting the game at 63 at the expiration of the regulation clock.
Things began to unravel for Air Force in overtime as LBSU opened the period on a 6-0 run. The Falcons attempted to battle back but couldn't close the distance that the 49ers created early in the overtime period. At the final horn, Air Force trailed by six, 74-68.
Next up, the Falcons travel to Fullerton, California, to take on the CSU-Fullerton Titans, Saturday (Dec. 21) at 2 p.m. PT. The game will mark the fifth meeting between the teams. Air Force leads the Titans, 3-1, in the all-time series.
Team Stats
USAFA
LBSU
FG%
.464
.388
3FG%
.333
.267
FT%
.611
.643
RB
40
39
TO
24
11
STL
4
11
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
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