Boise State Holds Off Falcon Women's Hoops, 74-69

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Boise St.	24	16	17	17	74
Air Force	10	19	17	23	69

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force was unable to overtake defending Mountain West champs, Boise State (17-9, 9-5), falling 74-69 in Clune Arena in a Wednesday evening league contest. The Falcons overcame an 18-point deficit to tie at 61 in the fourth quarter but were unable to wrangle in the Broncos for the win, falling to 5-19 on the season with a 3-10 mark in the conference.

Air Force was led by sophomore forward Riley Snyder who was outstanding on the night, scoring a game-high and career-high 25 points, shooting perfect from beyond the arc (3-3) and from the free throw line (4-4). Snyder shot 60-percent on the night (9-15) while adding four boards, three assists and two steals to her final stat line. Snyder has four 20+ point games on the season.

Kaelin Immel was Air Force's next significant contributor, dropping 18 points with three assists and three steals. The game marked Immel's 20^th double-figure scoring mark this season. She shot 44-percent from the field on the night (8-18). Sophomore teammate Briana Autrey-Thompson, who now averages 4.2 apg, dished out six assists and contributed eight points to Air Force's final scoring tally.

Air Force's bench outscored Boise State's bench, 15-4, led by freshman Allyah Marlett who scored nine points off the seat, shooting 57-percent on the game (4-7). Freshman teammate Nikki McDonald, who made her fifth-straight start of the season, collected five rebounds and dropped three points with an assist. Junior team-captain Emily Conroe, who has started all 24 contests this season, also collected five rebounds but was scoreless on the evening.

Air Force had a notable night shooting, albeit not all necessarily good notes; they knocked down 50-percent from the field (28-56) and 46-percent from deep (6-13), marks well-above the season averages, but struggled to hit the free throws, sinking just 7-12 attempts (58.3-percent), arguably giving up the game at the line.

Boise State was led by a quartet of players in the double-figures, highlighted by Riley Lupfer's 23 points, 18 of which came from down range as she shot 6-12 from deep. Mallory McGwire posted a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Jayde Christopher was a bucket shy of a double-double, dishing 11 assists while scoring eight points.

Boise State came to Clune Arena hot, racing out to a 7-0 lead that turned into a 12-2 scoring run by the time an early media timeout was called at the 6:24 mark. Cierra Winters went off for a four-point scoring run but was met by raining threes from the Broncos who shot 83-percent in the first quarter (10-12) led by Riley Lupfer who was 4-5 from the field and 2-4 from deep. The Falcons tracked the Broncos to a 14-point deficit by the end of the quarter, 24-10, but turnovers were becoming an apparent issue as the Falcons turned the rock over seven times.

The Falcons kicked it into gear in the second quarter outscoring the Broncos, 19-16, while helping Boise State to 11 first half turnovers. Kaelin Immel and Riley Snyder showed up to the party and contributed nine and eight points, respectively, while the Falcons went on as much as a 10-0 scoring run during the quarter. At the halftime horn, Air Force cut Boise State's lead to 40-29. The Falcons shot 47-percent in the second quarter, 43-percent in the first half, but it wasn't enough to keep up with the pace of Boise State's three-pointers as the Broncos shot 75-percent from deep on the half (6-8) and 67-percent from the field. Riley Lupfer had 14 points in the first half while Mallory McGwire tallied 12.

The Broncos hit a lull in shooting to open the second half, knocking down three of their first eight attempts at the time of the media timeout (5:54) while Air Force shot 50-percent (2-4); however, the shots the Broncos sunk were a pair of three-pointers and a bucket, enough to hold on to a double-digit lead. Boise State regained enough traction to extend to their largest lead of the game, 52-34, after going on a 12-2 scoring run between media timeouts (4:34). By the end of the quarter Air Force was tracking the Broncos down, cutting the lead to 57-46 by hitting four of their last five attempts from the field while Boise State was scoreless from the field for the final 3:36. The Falcons shot 55-percent from the field in the third quarter while the Broncos were at 38-percent shooting from the field.

Air Force was motivated in the fourth quarter, opening the final 10-minutes on a 5-0 scoring run highlighted by a Nikki McDonald three-ball off of two-straight Bronco turnovers to bring Air Force within six points. After a Bronco timeout (8:47), the Falcons were right back to applying the pressure, forcing a turnover out of the break and knocking down a pair of free throws to come within four points, the closest the Falcons had been to the lead since 2:57 in the second quarter. Air Force came as close as two points from the lead, 57-55, after Autrey-Thompson sunk a pair of free-throws at the 7:13 mark.

The Falcons grinded to a long awaited tying bucket at 61 points with 4:37 remaining but the Broncos' Riley Lupfer rained on the Falcons' parade with a three-ball immediately after. Boise State held the lead for the remainder of the game after Air Force failed to hit tying buckets at the free throw line on two occasions. The Broncos secured their ninth Mountain West win of the season with a 74-69 final.

Next up, The Falcons travel to San Jose, California, to take on the Spartans, Saturday (Feb. 15) at 2 p.m. PT/ 3 MT in the Provident Credit Union Event Center. SJSU won the first meeting this season, 68-60, at USAFA on January 25.

Boise State Holds Off Falcon Women's Hoops, 74-69

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Team Stats

Snyder Riley

Immel Kaelin

Marlett Allyah

Autrey Briana

Players Mentioned

Briana Autrey-Thompson

Emily Conroe

Kaelin Immel

Allyah Marlett

Nikki McDonald

Riley Snyder

Cierra Winters