Friday, November 11
USAFA, CO
11:00 am MT
Air Force Academy
2-0,0-0Mountain West
90
vs
50
Navy
0-2,0-0Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Navy
13
9
12
16
50
Air Force
25
22
25
18
90
Heath Career Performance, Falcon Defense Sinks Navy 90-50
11/11/2022 4:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Gobrecht hits 600-win milestone; Two Falcons post career-highs in blowout victory
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – It was a Veteran's Day to remember for the Air Force women's basketball team, as they downed Navy 90-50 at Clune Arena on Friday.
The win marks head coach Chris Gobrecht's 600th career victory, and 57th at the head of the Air Force program, tying Ardie McInelly (2001-10) on the all-time wins list. Additionally, the Falcons' 40-point victory – the largest win margin against Navy in program history – marks Air Force's first win against the Midshipmen since the 2008-09 season.
The Falcons' (2-0) offense was fueled by a marquis day for senior Kamri Heath, who posted a career-high 27 points on 11-14 (.786) shooting, along with three rebounds and three steals on the day. After an early 6-0 run awarded the Midshipmen (0-2) with an 8-5 lead, Heath set the tone for the rest of the contest, leading the Falcons on a 10-0 run of their own to regain a lead which they would not give back for the remainder of the game. Heath punctuated the Falcons' early success against Navy with a deep three-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer to extend Air Force's lead to 12:
Heath, with the Falcons already out to a 40-17 lead, tied her career high (16) with a three-pointer at 2:16 remaining in the first half.
"I think Kamri has taken it upon herself to sort of pick up that Riley Snyder, never-saw-a-shot-I didn't-like kind of mentality, and you need someone like that on the floor," Gobrecht said.
"She's always been a very capable scorer- I think she's got the sweetest shot in the conference. There are so many other things we are asking her to do, but that jump shot is always going to keep her on the floor."
Sophomore Madison Smith made her 2022-23 debut in standout fashion, cruising past her former career-high (7 pts) to the tune of 17 points. Smith tied her former high score off a three-point attempt with 2:17 remaining in the first quarter. Smith's contributions- including an early 2-2 on shooting from three- played a role in Air Force scoring 12 points or more than Navy in the first three quarters.
"I thought Madison Smith played really well," Gobrecht said. "She was not with us on Monday, and now we've got her full time.
"(Madison is another Falcon) that is really capable of scoring… and she's gotten better defensively, so now we can play her more. What a difference a year can make."
Senior Nikki McDonald finished the day with 12 points and a team-high ten rebounds, earning the first double-double of her Air Force career. Through two games, McDonald is an unblemished 8-8 from the free-throw line, scoring a pair on Friday against Navy.
Air Force was able to separate itself from the Midshipmen on the defensive side, creating 39 points off of 29 turnovers – 14 of which were critical to the Falcons' first-half surge. Turnovers and 22 fast-break points on the game for Air Force led to a 15-17 (.882) day at the free-throw line. Through their first two games, the Falcons have shot 32-35 (.914) at the stripe.
"As a pressure defense team, I honestly am more excited to see teams that are post-oriented, than teams that spread the floor," Gobrecht said. "So we felt like we could pressure them because they look for their post so much. And typically, that style of play- we know we can turn them over."
Coach G on the Falcon's blowout victory:
"I never would have called it. I thought for sure it was going to be one of those knockdown, drag-out service academy games. But we were hitting early, and that tends to bode well for us. When we hit shots early, we get that much more excited about playing defense and it just went on from there.
Air Force women's basketball resumes its 2022-23 campaign on Wednesday, Nov. 16, hosting Adams State at Clune Arena at 6:30 p.m.
The win marks head coach Chris Gobrecht's 600th career victory, and 57th at the head of the Air Force program, tying Ardie McInelly (2001-10) on the all-time wins list. Additionally, the Falcons' 40-point victory – the largest win margin against Navy in program history – marks Air Force's first win against the Midshipmen since the 2008-09 season.
The Falcons' (2-0) offense was fueled by a marquis day for senior Kamri Heath, who posted a career-high 27 points on 11-14 (.786) shooting, along with three rebounds and three steals on the day. After an early 6-0 run awarded the Midshipmen (0-2) with an 8-5 lead, Heath set the tone for the rest of the contest, leading the Falcons on a 10-0 run of their own to regain a lead which they would not give back for the remainder of the game. Heath punctuated the Falcons' early success against Navy with a deep three-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer to extend Air Force's lead to 12:
Kamri beats the buzzer! pic.twitter.com/ScUc7aH84n
— Air Force Women's Basketball (@AF_WBB) November 11, 2022
Heath, with the Falcons already out to a 40-17 lead, tied her career high (16) with a three-pointer at 2:16 remaining in the first half.
"I think Kamri has taken it upon herself to sort of pick up that Riley Snyder, never-saw-a-shot-I didn't-like kind of mentality, and you need someone like that on the floor," Gobrecht said.
"She's always been a very capable scorer- I think she's got the sweetest shot in the conference. There are so many other things we are asking her to do, but that jump shot is always going to keep her on the floor."
Sophomore Madison Smith made her 2022-23 debut in standout fashion, cruising past her former career-high (7 pts) to the tune of 17 points. Smith tied her former high score off a three-point attempt with 2:17 remaining in the first quarter. Smith's contributions- including an early 2-2 on shooting from three- played a role in Air Force scoring 12 points or more than Navy in the first three quarters.
"I thought Madison Smith played really well," Gobrecht said. "She was not with us on Monday, and now we've got her full time.
"(Madison is another Falcon) that is really capable of scoring… and she's gotten better defensively, so now we can play her more. What a difference a year can make."
Senior Nikki McDonald finished the day with 12 points and a team-high ten rebounds, earning the first double-double of her Air Force career. Through two games, McDonald is an unblemished 8-8 from the free-throw line, scoring a pair on Friday against Navy.
Air Force was able to separate itself from the Midshipmen on the defensive side, creating 39 points off of 29 turnovers – 14 of which were critical to the Falcons' first-half surge. Turnovers and 22 fast-break points on the game for Air Force led to a 15-17 (.882) day at the free-throw line. Through their first two games, the Falcons have shot 32-35 (.914) at the stripe.
"As a pressure defense team, I honestly am more excited to see teams that are post-oriented, than teams that spread the floor," Gobrecht said. "So we felt like we could pressure them because they look for their post so much. And typically, that style of play- we know we can turn them over."
Coach G on the Falcon's blowout victory:
"I never would have called it. I thought for sure it was going to be one of those knockdown, drag-out service academy games. But we were hitting early, and that tends to bode well for us. When we hit shots early, we get that much more excited about playing defense and it just went on from there.
Air Force women's basketball resumes its 2022-23 campaign on Wednesday, Nov. 16, hosting Adams State at Clune Arena at 6:30 p.m.
Team Stats
Navy
USAFA
FG%
.439
.493
3FG%
.333
.429
FT%
.750
.882
RB
26
35
TO
29
13
STL
3
18
Game Leaders
Pts
27
FGM
11
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
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