Sunday, December 20
Denver, CO
12 p.m. MT
Air Force Academy
1-3,0-0Mountain West
82
at
79
Denver
2-6,0-0Summit League
1
2
3
4
F
Air Force
20
19
20
23
82
Denver
26
18
20
15
79
Photo by: U.S. Air Force photo / Trevor Co
Air Force Rallies to Beat Denver, 82-79
12/20/2020 3:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball
A 16-0 scoring run to finish the game propelled Air Force women’s basketball to victory in Denver
DENVER, Colo. – A late Air Force rally propelled the Falcons to an 82-79 road victory against Denver, Sunday afternoon, in Hamilton Gymnasium. The Falcons (1-3) find themselves back in the win column against Denver (2-6) for the first time since 2007.
The Falcons, who trailed for 34-minutes of the game, overcame a 12-point first-half deficit and went off on a 16-0 scoring run in the final two minutes to push past the Pios in their home gym. Air Force was outrebounded, 43-30, but outscored Denver in the paint, 44-32. The Falcons had stellar ball management, giving up just eight turnovers while the Pios turned the rock over 21 times, yielding Air Force 15 points from lost balls. The Falcons' bench put up 19 points despite being shorthanded with just eight players suited for the game.
Air Force junior Riley Snyder led the scoring charge for the Falcons with a season-high 28 points. Snyder, who clocked 39 minutes of action for the second-straight game, shot 50-percent from the field (12-24), collected five rebounds, picked off three steals and dished out a pair of assists. The Falcons as a squad had their best day of shooting this season, knocking down 33-of-77 attempts from the floor (43-percent).
Junior point guard Briana Autrey-Thompson, who was tied for third in the Mountain West in scoring prior to the game, dropped 16 points with a game-high eight assists and five steals. She now averages 18.3 points per game, four assists per game and 4.5 steals per game. Autrey-Thompson, along with teammates Audrey Gadison (6 points) and Kayla Pilson (8 points) knocked down a pair of three-balls on the game, helping Air Force to its best 3FG percentage of the season (8-22, 36-percent).
Senior Air Force veteran Kassady Huffman snagged a season-best and game-high 12 boards. The 6-2 forward out of Colorado Springs scored five points on the day and added two assists and a block to her stat line. Senior teammate Emily Conroe contributed 11 points to the effort while collecting four rebounds and snagging three steals. Junior guard Cierra Winters, who made her second career start, scored eight points shooting 75-percent (6-8) from the field.
Denver had five players in double-figure scoring led by Meghan Boyd's 18 points. The Pio's Anna Jackson put up a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Denver out-rebounded and outshot the Falcons but was ultimately unable to take care of the ball in the waning minutes.
"What a tribute to the payers that stuck around and kept working on getting better," head coach Chris Gobrecht said. "I'm proud of the commitment they gave at a time when it wasn't easy to have the best attitude. I am proud of my staff who stepped up and continued to make the team better while I was not able to be there. Overall, it was a culmination of their willingness to work hard and to be tough and poised that got us the win."
"We had really good leadership from our juniors," continued Gobrecht. "Briana Autrey-Thompson has really turned into an outstanding point guard. She leads the team and communicates the way a leader needs to. Riley Snyder delivered on what the team needed from her, and she owned it. Having Conroe back made a huge difference as well, we're looking forward to getting our whole team back together for our last non-conference game."
Next up, the Falcons will host Portland State in the non-conference finale at 5 p.m., Monday evening (Dec. 28), in Clune Arena. The addition of Portland State to the non-conference schedule was announced Sunday afternoon (Dec. 20). The Vikings are 2-0 with five cancellations so far on the 2020-21 campaign.
The Falcons, who trailed for 34-minutes of the game, overcame a 12-point first-half deficit and went off on a 16-0 scoring run in the final two minutes to push past the Pios in their home gym. Air Force was outrebounded, 43-30, but outscored Denver in the paint, 44-32. The Falcons had stellar ball management, giving up just eight turnovers while the Pios turned the rock over 21 times, yielding Air Force 15 points from lost balls. The Falcons' bench put up 19 points despite being shorthanded with just eight players suited for the game.
Air Force junior Riley Snyder led the scoring charge for the Falcons with a season-high 28 points. Snyder, who clocked 39 minutes of action for the second-straight game, shot 50-percent from the field (12-24), collected five rebounds, picked off three steals and dished out a pair of assists. The Falcons as a squad had their best day of shooting this season, knocking down 33-of-77 attempts from the floor (43-percent).
Junior point guard Briana Autrey-Thompson, who was tied for third in the Mountain West in scoring prior to the game, dropped 16 points with a game-high eight assists and five steals. She now averages 18.3 points per game, four assists per game and 4.5 steals per game. Autrey-Thompson, along with teammates Audrey Gadison (6 points) and Kayla Pilson (8 points) knocked down a pair of three-balls on the game, helping Air Force to its best 3FG percentage of the season (8-22, 36-percent).
Senior Air Force veteran Kassady Huffman snagged a season-best and game-high 12 boards. The 6-2 forward out of Colorado Springs scored five points on the day and added two assists and a block to her stat line. Senior teammate Emily Conroe contributed 11 points to the effort while collecting four rebounds and snagging three steals. Junior guard Cierra Winters, who made her second career start, scored eight points shooting 75-percent (6-8) from the field.
Denver had five players in double-figure scoring led by Meghan Boyd's 18 points. The Pio's Anna Jackson put up a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Denver out-rebounded and outshot the Falcons but was ultimately unable to take care of the ball in the waning minutes.
"What a tribute to the payers that stuck around and kept working on getting better," head coach Chris Gobrecht said. "I'm proud of the commitment they gave at a time when it wasn't easy to have the best attitude. I am proud of my staff who stepped up and continued to make the team better while I was not able to be there. Overall, it was a culmination of their willingness to work hard and to be tough and poised that got us the win."
"We had really good leadership from our juniors," continued Gobrecht. "Briana Autrey-Thompson has really turned into an outstanding point guard. She leads the team and communicates the way a leader needs to. Riley Snyder delivered on what the team needed from her, and she owned it. Having Conroe back made a huge difference as well, we're looking forward to getting our whole team back together for our last non-conference game."
Next up, the Falcons will host Portland State in the non-conference finale at 5 p.m., Monday evening (Dec. 28), in Clune Arena. The addition of Portland State to the non-conference schedule was announced Sunday afternoon (Dec. 20). The Vikings are 2-0 with five cancellations so far on the 2020-21 campaign.
Team Stats
USAFA
Denver
FG%
.429
.500
3FG%
.364
.381
FT%
.727
.826
RB
30
43
TO
8
21
STL
13
5
Game Leaders
Pts
28
FGM
12
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
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