Women’s Basketball Falls 62-56 at Wyoming

Box Score

LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Air Force women's basketball team battled through yet another close contest with Wyoming on Saturday, but was unable to close on a late surge, falling to the Cowgirls 62-56.

Senior Kamri Heath led the Falcons (12-13, 7-6 MW) with 15 points on 6-9 shooting; Nikki McDonald followed up with 14 behind 4-6 from three-point range.

Despite earning a 16-6 advantage in points off turnovers on the afternoon and holding Wyoming to just 3-10 from three in the first half, the Cowgirls closed the game 6-14 (.430) from distance, and 32 points scored in the paint.

Starting out, Heath scored the first four for the Falcons through the opening five minutes of play, followed by a top-of-the-key jumper for Dasha Macmillan, evening the affair at six-all.

At 3:11, Pilson drove along the right side for the backdoor layup, claiming the Falcons' first lead of the day, before McDonalds' first three-pointer of the contest from top of the arc extended Air Force lead out to five – its largest of the contest.

Through the first half, Air Force managed to generate 12 points off turnovers to Wyoming's two, holding a lead for nearly nine minutes of play before the Wyoming offense settled in to take a lead just before halftime.

With Wyoming starting 1-8 from three-point range through the first 17 minutes of the half, Wiedemann scored the Cowgirls' Quinn Wiedemann found their first three-pointer of the second half, sparking a 7-0 run to take back the lead. Heath answered with a mid-range jumper to tie things up at 20-all with two minutes remaining, with freshman Faith Shelton following up with an and-one drive at the Wyoming basket in heavy traffic, sinking the extra free throw and ultimately keeping Air Force within one possession heading into halftime.

A 5-0 Wyoming run to open the third quarter pushed a seven-point lead, behind the Cowgirls' third-straight three-pointer, before Smith drove the Wyoming basket for the Falcons' first score of the half at 8:26.
Starting at Smith's layup, a 7-2 Falcon run off added points from Heath and another three from McDonald brought the Falcons back within two before Wyoming's offense joined in, with both teams combining for 17 points through a two-minute stretch, with the dust settling at the 4:19 mark with Wyoming leading 39-38.

A 10-3 Wyoming streak, cut in half by McDonalds' third made three-pointer of the game, pushed the Cowgirls' lead out to eight heading into the final quarter.

At 4:35 in the fourth with Wyoming up 55-43, Smith used a McDonald screen out along the right side for a jumper to cut the Falcons' deficit back to ten, before drawing her fourth foul on the opposite end. Britt replaced Smith, drawing a foul on the other side, sinking both free throws and bringing the Falcons back within single digits.

At 3:15, McDonald sunk her fourth three-pointer and Britt driving layup on consecutive possessions suddenly had Air Force back within two possessions.

Smith fouled underneath on the following possession, responding with a pair of successful free throws of her own to keep the game at 58-54 – But three successive trips to the free-throw line held Wyoming in front as time expired.

Air Force women's basketball returns to Clune Arena Thursday evening to host Boise State at 6:30 p.m.

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Team Stats

Kamri Heath

Nikki McDonald

Madison Smith

Taylor Britt

Players Mentioned

Kamri Heath

Dasha Macmillan

Nikki McDonald

Faith Shelton

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