Women’s Basketball Falls in Final Minutes at Boise State

Box Score

BOISE, Idaho – The Air Force women's basketball team led a majority of the evening over Boise State in ExtraMile Arena, but it was the Broncos which ultimately prevailed, pushing past the Falcons in the closing possessions and closing with a 50-55 win.

In the first half, the Falcons generated 15 points off turnovers behind ten steals – three of which belonged to sophomore Madison Smith, a pair of which were created in the final minutes to hold Air Force out to a narrow lead heading into the locker room. Air Force closed out the night with 14 steals.

Air Force senior Kamri Heath led the game through all four quarters, ending with 17 points on 7-15 from the field behind an eight-point showing in the first quarter. After layup in traffic for junior Dasha Macmillan earned the Falcons a one-point lead with 12 seconds remaining, Heath closed the period capitalizing off a Taylor Britt turnover with the shot clock off, finding a layup in the low post as time expired.

A quick five points to start the second quarter off a Jo Huntimer three-pointer and Heath's fifth basket of the evening pushed Air Force out to an eight-point lead, the largest gap of the night for either team. The Falcons and Boise State traded baskets throughout the remainder the half, but Air Force managed to stay out in front, heading into the locker room with a 28-23 lead.

The Falcons' halftime lead quickly was erased, as Boise outscored the Falcons 7-1 in the early minutes before Heath found a mid-range shot up the right baseline, followed by a heavily-defended three-pointer on the following possession to buy back a 34-32 Air Force lead which was not relinquished to Boise until the 6:51 mark in the fourth quarter.

It was a five-minute Air Force scoring drought through the opening half of the final quarter which ultimately cost the Falcons their lead, as Boise State managed a pair of baskets in the post from Bronco Elodie Lalotte.

The Falcons managed to briefly regain the advantage - Down four with 5:09 left on the clock, freshman Faith Shelton made good on her own offensive rebound with a layup underneath the basket, immediately followed by freshman Milahnie Perry making a steal on the Boise inbounds pass turned into a fast layup for Junior Kayla Pilson tied the game inside of just eight seconds. Senior Nikki McDonald's driving layup on the next Falcon possession bought Air Force a 49-47 lead with 4:40 remaining in regulation before a 5-0 Boise streak took away Air Force's lead for the final time.

With Air Force down 57-53 with the ball in its possession, Heath drew a personal foul and made good on both resulting free-throw attempts with 28.1 remaining to cut Boise's lead back to one possession. Huntimer forced a foul on Boise's Mya Hansen, who split her pair of free-throw attempts giving the Falcons a chance to tie.

Off the inbounds in scoring territory, Perry got a good look at the top of the arc, but her three-pointer proved no good, with the resulting rebound and a chance to tie falling away from the Falcons.

Air Force (10-11, 5-4 MW) returns to Clune Arena for an afternoon showdown against Colorado State.

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