Saturday, December 16
USAFA, Colo.
1:00 PM MT
Air Force Academy
7-4,0-0Mountain West
70
vs
58
Weber State
3-8,0-0Big Sky
1
2
3
4
F
Weber St.
13
7
18
20
58
Air Force
13
23
22
12
70
Perry career high lifts women's basketball over Weber State
12/16/2023 4:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – In its final home showing of the 2023-24 non-conference season, the Air Force women's basketball team improved to 6-1 in Clune Arena on Saturday afternoon, downing Weber State 70-58.
Sophomore Milahnie Perry logged a new career best, earning 27 points on 11-19 FG while going 3-4 from three. Perry's performance marks Air Force's highest scoring individual performance since Kamri Heath earned 27 against Navy on Nov. 11 of last season (W, 90-50).
Freshman Keelie O'Hollaren was the other Falcon finishing in double digits on Saturday, earning 15 points complimented by a 3-6 outing from three-point range. O'Hollaren and Perry's baskets from distance led to Air Force sinking a season-best eight threes on an even 40 percent (8-20) from beyond the arc.
In the eleventh game of the season, the Falcons (7-4) made their first adjustments to the starting lineup of the year as perennial starters Perry, Smith, Macmillan and McNabb were joined by freshman Jordyn Devaughn in the Air Force starting five. Devaughn's first career start seemed to provide an early spark for the Falcons, after finding Perry out on the left wing, earning the assist on the first three points of the game, immediately followed drawing an offensive foul on Weber State's Jadyn Matthews.
Air Force and Weber State grappled for the lead in the opening quarter of the contest, entering the second tied at 13-all. Yet it was turnovers forced in the second which initiated the Falcons' run to gap the Wildcats. Senior Dasha Macmillan earned a pair of consecutive blocks on leading season scorers Daryn Hickok and Amelia Raidaveta, which were both followed up by buckets for Perry and O'Hollaren, which sparked a 10-0 Air Force run. The Falcon defense forced Weber into five turnovers over the space of the final five minutes of the half, as Air Force found itself out to a 36-18 lead with just over a minute remaining in the second quarter.
Returning to the floor after half, a cold start for Air Force saw its halftime lead cut back to ten points as Weber State's Kendra Parra opened the half with six points in the first three minutes. But Perry responded with a solo run of her own, posting ten-straight to extend the Falcon's advantage back to 48-33. Five points off a three and uncontested layup for Macmillan and three successful free throws from O'Hollaren off a shooting foul from beyond the right wing brought Air Force to its largest lead so far in the contest at 56-33.
With starters substituted out in the final three minutes of regulation, the Wildcats managed to outscore Air Force 18-6 in the final minutes of the game, but were unable to bridge the gap, as Air Force earned its third-consecutive win.
Head Coach Chris Gobrecht on Saturday's opponent:
"I think Weber State is going to win some games. They have some great players and good size; they play very aggressively, obviously the game wasn't as close as the final score, but to their credit they kept coming at us and fighting and I certainly have some respect for them."
Coach G on Perry's career day:
"Milahnie had a heck of a game. When she plays like that, its tough for anyone to stop her. They threw the kitchen sink at her, but she just couldn't be slowed down today."
On the evolution of the freshman class:
"You can still tell that we have a lot of freshmen on the floor, because there are still a lot of freshman mistakes happening, which is not anything to fault them for – it's just part of the learning process. Every minute, they learn something else and something new. We got burned on those out-of-bounds plays against UNC and we didn't get burned again. We have to give them some space to grow, and they are."
On Jordyn Devaughn's contributions to Saturday's win and her growth:
Jordyn had a great week of practice. I really think that its great to see her coming along because we are going to need her for this upcoming conference stretch. We're going to need to ready to come in and play, do a responsible and solid job and she is doing that now. She's a tough kid, and she plays hard.
On Dasha Macmillan's evolution as a go-to post defender:
"Dasha is doing a fantastic job. She's doing for us now what we lost in Nikki (McDonald), which is playing very intelligent defense that allows her to help at the right time and keep her kid off the boards whether she gets it or not, she makes sure her kid doesn't get it. She's just playing very intelligent basketball and she's maximizing that 5'11 frame in there with much taller opponents in the post."
Up Next:
Air Force women's basketball completes non-conference play with a pair of road contests at Clemson (Dec. 19) and SMU (Dec. 21) before opening Mountain West competition at Fresno State on Dec. 30. The Falcons return to Clune Arena on Jan. 3 to host San Diego State at 6:30 p.m.
Sophomore Milahnie Perry logged a new career best, earning 27 points on 11-19 FG while going 3-4 from three. Perry's performance marks Air Force's highest scoring individual performance since Kamri Heath earned 27 against Navy on Nov. 11 of last season (W, 90-50).
Freshman Keelie O'Hollaren was the other Falcon finishing in double digits on Saturday, earning 15 points complimented by a 3-6 outing from three-point range. O'Hollaren and Perry's baskets from distance led to Air Force sinking a season-best eight threes on an even 40 percent (8-20) from beyond the arc.
In the eleventh game of the season, the Falcons (7-4) made their first adjustments to the starting lineup of the year as perennial starters Perry, Smith, Macmillan and McNabb were joined by freshman Jordyn Devaughn in the Air Force starting five. Devaughn's first career start seemed to provide an early spark for the Falcons, after finding Perry out on the left wing, earning the assist on the first three points of the game, immediately followed drawing an offensive foul on Weber State's Jadyn Matthews.
Air Force and Weber State grappled for the lead in the opening quarter of the contest, entering the second tied at 13-all. Yet it was turnovers forced in the second which initiated the Falcons' run to gap the Wildcats. Senior Dasha Macmillan earned a pair of consecutive blocks on leading season scorers Daryn Hickok and Amelia Raidaveta, which were both followed up by buckets for Perry and O'Hollaren, which sparked a 10-0 Air Force run. The Falcon defense forced Weber into five turnovers over the space of the final five minutes of the half, as Air Force found itself out to a 36-18 lead with just over a minute remaining in the second quarter.
Returning to the floor after half, a cold start for Air Force saw its halftime lead cut back to ten points as Weber State's Kendra Parra opened the half with six points in the first three minutes. But Perry responded with a solo run of her own, posting ten-straight to extend the Falcon's advantage back to 48-33. Five points off a three and uncontested layup for Macmillan and three successful free throws from O'Hollaren off a shooting foul from beyond the right wing brought Air Force to its largest lead so far in the contest at 56-33.
With starters substituted out in the final three minutes of regulation, the Wildcats managed to outscore Air Force 18-6 in the final minutes of the game, but were unable to bridge the gap, as Air Force earned its third-consecutive win.
Head Coach Chris Gobrecht on Saturday's opponent:
"I think Weber State is going to win some games. They have some great players and good size; they play very aggressively, obviously the game wasn't as close as the final score, but to their credit they kept coming at us and fighting and I certainly have some respect for them."
Coach G on Perry's career day:
"Milahnie had a heck of a game. When she plays like that, its tough for anyone to stop her. They threw the kitchen sink at her, but she just couldn't be slowed down today."
On the evolution of the freshman class:
"You can still tell that we have a lot of freshmen on the floor, because there are still a lot of freshman mistakes happening, which is not anything to fault them for – it's just part of the learning process. Every minute, they learn something else and something new. We got burned on those out-of-bounds plays against UNC and we didn't get burned again. We have to give them some space to grow, and they are."
On Jordyn Devaughn's contributions to Saturday's win and her growth:
Jordyn had a great week of practice. I really think that its great to see her coming along because we are going to need her for this upcoming conference stretch. We're going to need to ready to come in and play, do a responsible and solid job and she is doing that now. She's a tough kid, and she plays hard.
On Dasha Macmillan's evolution as a go-to post defender:
"Dasha is doing a fantastic job. She's doing for us now what we lost in Nikki (McDonald), which is playing very intelligent defense that allows her to help at the right time and keep her kid off the boards whether she gets it or not, she makes sure her kid doesn't get it. She's just playing very intelligent basketball and she's maximizing that 5'11 frame in there with much taller opponents in the post."
Up Next:
Air Force women's basketball completes non-conference play with a pair of road contests at Clemson (Dec. 19) and SMU (Dec. 21) before opening Mountain West competition at Fresno State on Dec. 30. The Falcons return to Clune Arena on Jan. 3 to host San Diego State at 6:30 p.m.
Team Stats
Weber
USAFA
FG%
.386
.403
3FG%
.364
.400
FT%
.769
.800
RB
38
28
TO
22
9
STL
8
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
27
FGM
11
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
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