Wednesday, February 24
USAFA, CO
7:30 p.m. MT
Air Force Academy
6-14,3-11Mountain West
75
vs
73
New Mexico
10-3,7-3Mountain West
1
2
3
4
F
New Mexico
16
17
15
25
73
Air Force
20
18
13
24
75
Photo by: U.S. Air Force photo / Trevor Co
Air Force Victorious on Senior Night
2/24/2021 10:13:00 PM | Women's Basketball
USAF ACADEMY– Air Force rose to the occasion in a Wednesday evening nail biter against New Mexico (10-3, 7-3 MW), upending the Mountain West's second-place team, 75-73, on Senior Night. The Falcons, now 6-14 with a 3-11 mark in the conference, have now knocked off two of the league's top teams in Clune Arena this season. The win marked the one-year anniversary of Air Force's first win at New Mexico's "The Pit".
Air Force's senior class, Kaelin Immel, Emily Conroe, and Kassady Huffman, who were honored for Senior Night prior to the game, led with intensity and resolve in helping Air Force to a big win at home. Immel finished with 14 points, three assists and three rebounds. Conroe, the leading rebounder on the squad, added eight points to the final tally, with six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Huffman, who is two blocks shy of the single-season blocks record (43), denied two shots, and snagged four rebounds.
Air Force's Riley Snyder led the Falcon offensive with her second 20-point performance in a row, scoring 20 points on 50-percent shooting from the field. Snyder drained five three-pointers on the night, coming up one three-ball short of a career-best. She rounded out her stat line with four rebounds and four assists. With her second bucket of the game, Snyder crested 1,000 career points, becoming the 18thFalcon in program history to achieve the feat.
Air Force freshmen Dasha Macmillan and Kayla Pilson were critical to the Falcons' success, combining for 10 points and eight rebounds. Macmillan, who shot 50-percent from the floor (3-6) and 100-percent from beyond the arc (2-2), added eight points to the final tally while Pilson's five rebounds helped Air Force maintain key possessions.
Junior point-guard Briana Autrey-Thompson put up 11 points on 40-percent shooting from the floor. She finished with five assists, three rebounds and a steal. Sophomore teammate Kamri Heath had a critical four-point scoring run to help Air Force maintain momentum.
The Falcons had their best night of shooting in league play, knocking down 48-percent from the field and 44-percent from deep. They held the lead for 30 minutes of the game.
Air Force led the Lobos through the first quarter, shooting 47-percent from the floor behind Autrey-Thompson, Conroe and Immel's four points apiece. New Mexico was within a point of the lead when Macmillan drained a three-ball to give the Falcons a six-point lead at the end of the quarter.
Snyder was quick to drain her second three-pointer of the night early in the second quarter, hitting her 1,000thcareer point in the make. New Mexico responded with a 7-0 scoring run to take the lead at the eight-minute mark. The teams scored back-and-forth up to the media timeout (4:03) where New Mexico held a one-point advantage, 28-27. Nikki McDonald ignited the Falcons with a three-pointer out of the media break, starting an Air Force hot streak where the Falcons went on to build a five-point lead at the half, 38-33.
Air Force kept rhythm through the halftime break, building a 12-point lead on 60-percent shooting by the third quarter media timeout (4:40). New Mexico refused to go away in the ensuing four minutes, rattling off an 11-0 scoring run to come within one point, 49-48, with 48-seconds remaining in the third quarter. At the expiration of the quarter, McDonald scored a hard-earned bucket to build a three-point advantage, 51-48. McDonald finished with five points on the night.
New Mexico was quick to close the the three-point gap out of the break, but Snyder re-extended with a five-point flurry to maintain the Air Force lead. The Lobos capitalized off a set of Air Force turnovers to take a three-point lead with two minutes left. Snyder, determined to defend the gym, drained her fifth three-ball to equalize. Inspired, Immel followed up with her second three-pointer to take a three-point lead with 50-seconds remaining in regulation. The teams were neck-and-neck down to the final seven seconds where Air Force gained possession and called a timeout leading by one, 74-73.
With 4.6-seconds remaining, New Mexico fouled Autrey-Thompson on the inbound, sending her to the line where she missed the first and hit the second, giving the Falcons a one-bucket lead. New Mexico was unable to score in their final possession and Air Force was victorious on Senior Night.
"We did enough tonight, just enough," head coach Chris Gobrecht exhaled. "This was a talented New Mexico team, but we knew the only way we would lose tonight is if we beat ourselves. Talk about 24-hours of growth! We got the top-team in the league next so now we have to focus on going forward, but tonight we'll enjoy the win."
Next up, Air Force welcomes MW front-runners, Colorado State, to Clune Arena for the final league series of the regular season, February 27 and March 1. Tip times are slated for 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively.
Air Force's senior class, Kaelin Immel, Emily Conroe, and Kassady Huffman, who were honored for Senior Night prior to the game, led with intensity and resolve in helping Air Force to a big win at home. Immel finished with 14 points, three assists and three rebounds. Conroe, the leading rebounder on the squad, added eight points to the final tally, with six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Huffman, who is two blocks shy of the single-season blocks record (43), denied two shots, and snagged four rebounds.
Air Force's Riley Snyder led the Falcon offensive with her second 20-point performance in a row, scoring 20 points on 50-percent shooting from the field. Snyder drained five three-pointers on the night, coming up one three-ball short of a career-best. She rounded out her stat line with four rebounds and four assists. With her second bucket of the game, Snyder crested 1,000 career points, becoming the 18thFalcon in program history to achieve the feat.
Air Force freshmen Dasha Macmillan and Kayla Pilson were critical to the Falcons' success, combining for 10 points and eight rebounds. Macmillan, who shot 50-percent from the floor (3-6) and 100-percent from beyond the arc (2-2), added eight points to the final tally while Pilson's five rebounds helped Air Force maintain key possessions.
Junior point-guard Briana Autrey-Thompson put up 11 points on 40-percent shooting from the floor. She finished with five assists, three rebounds and a steal. Sophomore teammate Kamri Heath had a critical four-point scoring run to help Air Force maintain momentum.
The Falcons had their best night of shooting in league play, knocking down 48-percent from the field and 44-percent from deep. They held the lead for 30 minutes of the game.
Air Force led the Lobos through the first quarter, shooting 47-percent from the floor behind Autrey-Thompson, Conroe and Immel's four points apiece. New Mexico was within a point of the lead when Macmillan drained a three-ball to give the Falcons a six-point lead at the end of the quarter.
Snyder was quick to drain her second three-pointer of the night early in the second quarter, hitting her 1,000thcareer point in the make. New Mexico responded with a 7-0 scoring run to take the lead at the eight-minute mark. The teams scored back-and-forth up to the media timeout (4:03) where New Mexico held a one-point advantage, 28-27. Nikki McDonald ignited the Falcons with a three-pointer out of the media break, starting an Air Force hot streak where the Falcons went on to build a five-point lead at the half, 38-33.
Air Force kept rhythm through the halftime break, building a 12-point lead on 60-percent shooting by the third quarter media timeout (4:40). New Mexico refused to go away in the ensuing four minutes, rattling off an 11-0 scoring run to come within one point, 49-48, with 48-seconds remaining in the third quarter. At the expiration of the quarter, McDonald scored a hard-earned bucket to build a three-point advantage, 51-48. McDonald finished with five points on the night.
New Mexico was quick to close the the three-point gap out of the break, but Snyder re-extended with a five-point flurry to maintain the Air Force lead. The Lobos capitalized off a set of Air Force turnovers to take a three-point lead with two minutes left. Snyder, determined to defend the gym, drained her fifth three-ball to equalize. Inspired, Immel followed up with her second three-pointer to take a three-point lead with 50-seconds remaining in regulation. The teams were neck-and-neck down to the final seven seconds where Air Force gained possession and called a timeout leading by one, 74-73.
With 4.6-seconds remaining, New Mexico fouled Autrey-Thompson on the inbound, sending her to the line where she missed the first and hit the second, giving the Falcons a one-bucket lead. New Mexico was unable to score in their final possession and Air Force was victorious on Senior Night.
"We did enough tonight, just enough," head coach Chris Gobrecht exhaled. "This was a talented New Mexico team, but we knew the only way we would lose tonight is if we beat ourselves. Talk about 24-hours of growth! We got the top-team in the league next so now we have to focus on going forward, but tonight we'll enjoy the win."
Next up, Air Force welcomes MW front-runners, Colorado State, to Clune Arena for the final league series of the regular season, February 27 and March 1. Tip times are slated for 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively.
Team Stats
UNM
USAFA
FG%
.475
.475
3FG%
.333
.435
FT%
.769
.900
RB
29
35
TO
13
13
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
5
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballF
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