Saturday, December 17
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Air Force Academy
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Photo by: U.S. Air Force photo / Elefterio
Smith Leads Scoring in 64-58 Defeat at Northwestern
12/17/2022 10:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill.- The Air Force women's basketball team held a lead over Big Ten opponent Northwestern leading into the final minutes of its contest on Saturday night, but ultimately fell, 64-58, at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Sophomore guard Madison Smith led both teams in scoring, posting 21 points on the night- one point shy of matching her career-high set against Georgia Tech in the Gulf Coast Showcase (Nov. 26). Smith's efforts were largely led on by an unblemished 10-10 from the free-throw line.
Senior Kamri Heath logged 12 points, three rebounds, an assist and three steals, marking her third-straight double-digit outing, and her tenth of the season, along with her sixth game with three or more steals.
Nikki McDonald added 11 points to the Falcons' efforts, aided in part by a pair of successful three-point attempts in the third quarter. The senior also contributed three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
In the opening quarter after a Northwestern 6-0 run pushed the Wildcats to an early 10-3 lead, the Falcons' defense managed to settle in and stall the Northwestern scoring effort, sending Smith to the free-throw line for her first four successful attempts of the contest in the middle of an almost four-minute scoring drought for the Wildcats. A long two-pointer from Heath mere seconds from returning to the game closed the quarter for the Falcons at a 15-9 deficit.
Air Force found some offensive momentum coming out of the first-quarter huddle behind a 6-0 run off the hands of Smith, Pilson and Heath. A pair of driving scores for Pilson, followed up by a mid-range effort from Heath that resulted in her shaking off her defender, resulted in tying the game at 17 apiece. After a Northwestern layup on the opposite end returned the lead to the Wildcats, Heath responded with a jumper from the lefthand side to keep the contest even. The Falcons were yet unable to wrestle control of the lead from Northwestern until the 1:02 mark, where another 6-0 Air Force streak was capped by a Smith layup in heavy traffic, bringing the score to 27-26 to give Smith back-to-back scores off an opponent turnover. With four seconds remaining in the half, a shooting foul called on Smith awarded her a third trip to the line to tie the contest, 29-29, headed into the locker room.
Opening the second half, it was McDonald and Northwestern's Sydney Wood who were locked in a shooting contest to regain the lead for their respective teams. Four shots, and four lead changes came within just over a minute, with both McDonald and Wood finding the basket twice on opposite ends of the floor to take back the lead consecutively. McDonalds' final jumper of the sequence gave Air Force a 34-33 lead, followed up by a layup off an Emily Adams steal to push the Falcons' lead to three.
With the Falcons leading 42-41 with just under two minutes left in the quarter, another bout of rapid scoring on both ends- with Heath and Smith both finding the basket at midrange within 21 seconds on one another- created just enough scoring to hold off the Northwestern advance and keep the Falcons out to a 47-45 lead entering the fourth.
Northwestern opened on a 6-0 run of its own to open the final quarter, quickly pushing the Wildcats back out to a 51-47 advantage, but the fourth shooting foul drawn by Smith (and seventh and eighth successful free-throw attempts), followed by a three-pointer from out on the right wing by Dasha Macmillan closed the gap back to one point. With 2:37 remaining, Heath recovered a missed attempt from Macmillan on the opposite end of Falcon territory and made good on the second chance, once again giving Air Force a lead at 58-57.
A pair of Air Force fouls for Northwestern's Paige Mott in the final minutes ultimately gave the lead back to the Wildcats, leading the Falcons into foul territory and sealing the final result.
Air Force women's basketball closes non-conference play on Tuesday, taking on Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
Sophomore guard Madison Smith led both teams in scoring, posting 21 points on the night- one point shy of matching her career-high set against Georgia Tech in the Gulf Coast Showcase (Nov. 26). Smith's efforts were largely led on by an unblemished 10-10 from the free-throw line.
Senior Kamri Heath logged 12 points, three rebounds, an assist and three steals, marking her third-straight double-digit outing, and her tenth of the season, along with her sixth game with three or more steals.
Nikki McDonald added 11 points to the Falcons' efforts, aided in part by a pair of successful three-point attempts in the third quarter. The senior also contributed three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
In the opening quarter after a Northwestern 6-0 run pushed the Wildcats to an early 10-3 lead, the Falcons' defense managed to settle in and stall the Northwestern scoring effort, sending Smith to the free-throw line for her first four successful attempts of the contest in the middle of an almost four-minute scoring drought for the Wildcats. A long two-pointer from Heath mere seconds from returning to the game closed the quarter for the Falcons at a 15-9 deficit.
Air Force found some offensive momentum coming out of the first-quarter huddle behind a 6-0 run off the hands of Smith, Pilson and Heath. A pair of driving scores for Pilson, followed up by a mid-range effort from Heath that resulted in her shaking off her defender, resulted in tying the game at 17 apiece. After a Northwestern layup on the opposite end returned the lead to the Wildcats, Heath responded with a jumper from the lefthand side to keep the contest even. The Falcons were yet unable to wrestle control of the lead from Northwestern until the 1:02 mark, where another 6-0 Air Force streak was capped by a Smith layup in heavy traffic, bringing the score to 27-26 to give Smith back-to-back scores off an opponent turnover. With four seconds remaining in the half, a shooting foul called on Smith awarded her a third trip to the line to tie the contest, 29-29, headed into the locker room.
Opening the second half, it was McDonald and Northwestern's Sydney Wood who were locked in a shooting contest to regain the lead for their respective teams. Four shots, and four lead changes came within just over a minute, with both McDonald and Wood finding the basket twice on opposite ends of the floor to take back the lead consecutively. McDonalds' final jumper of the sequence gave Air Force a 34-33 lead, followed up by a layup off an Emily Adams steal to push the Falcons' lead to three.
With the Falcons leading 42-41 with just under two minutes left in the quarter, another bout of rapid scoring on both ends- with Heath and Smith both finding the basket at midrange within 21 seconds on one another- created just enough scoring to hold off the Northwestern advance and keep the Falcons out to a 47-45 lead entering the fourth.
Northwestern opened on a 6-0 run of its own to open the final quarter, quickly pushing the Wildcats back out to a 51-47 advantage, but the fourth shooting foul drawn by Smith (and seventh and eighth successful free-throw attempts), followed by a three-pointer from out on the right wing by Dasha Macmillan closed the gap back to one point. With 2:37 remaining, Heath recovered a missed attempt from Macmillan on the opposite end of Falcon territory and made good on the second chance, once again giving Air Force a lead at 58-57.
A pair of Air Force fouls for Northwestern's Paige Mott in the final minutes ultimately gave the lead back to the Wildcats, leading the Falcons into foul territory and sealing the final result.
Air Force women's basketball closes non-conference play on Tuesday, taking on Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
Team Stats
USAFA
NU
FG%
.364
.385
3FG%
.357
.133
FT%
.929
.786
RB
29
39
TO
22
22
STL
12
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
10
Pts
12
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
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