Wednesday, January 24
Laramie, Wyo.
6:30 PM MT
Air Force Academy
9-11,2-5Mountain West
63
at
66
Wyoming
11-7,6-1Mountain West
1
2
3
4
F
Air Force
20
19
13
11
63
Wyoming
16
18
17
15
66
Women’s basketball takes Wyoming to the brink, falls 66-63
1/24/2024 10:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Air Force women's basketball team, after losing by 17 to Wyoming at home just a few weeks prior, managed to lead the Cowgirls through the majority of their rematch on Wednesday night and looked primed for the upset, but fell 66-63 in the final minutes of regulation in Arena-Auditorium.
Sophomore Milahnie Perry led Falcon scoring in Laramie, earning 14 points on 6-12 from the field. Freshmen Alexis Cortez and Jayda McNabb both finished with ten apiece, while junior Madison Smith earned nine.
The Falcons battled with Wyoming in the opening quarter, with neither team getting out to more than a four-point lead. But a late 8-2 Falcon surge got Air Force ahead, as Perry, McNabb and Cortez combined to go 4-4 – an effort capped by a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Cortez, found off an inbound pass from junior Jo Huntimer with 1.5 seconds left.
Wyoming opened the second quarter outscoring the Falcons 6-2 and then put up a 9-0 run in the later minutes of the second quarter to leave Air Force down by five points with two and a half minutes remaining in the half, but the Cowgirls' advance was cut off by a Perry layup along the left baseline and a driving and-one for Smith to tie the contest once again. Down the final 90 seconds, the Falcons responded with a 7-0 run of their own. On the final possession, Smith forced a Wyoming turnover and then completed a hook-shot layup as time expired to put Air Force up, 39-34, to head into the locker room.
At halftime, against a team which has only allowed an average of 29 points a game from three-point range, Air Force had shot 6-11 in the first half against the Cowgirls, and held Wyoming to 0-6 from three-point range.
Entering the second half, Wyoming got right to work correcting their shooting woes, as Cowgirl Tess Barnes opened the game sinking the Cowgirls' first three-pointer of the contest on the first Wyoming possession to immediately cut their deficit back to two. Perry and Cortez attacks on proceeding Falcon plays put Air Force back up by six, but Wyoming responded as Barnes knocked down her second three to keep Air Force within reach. The Wyoming offense began to find its rhythm in the third quarter, and the Cowgirls tied and jumped out to a lead with just over a minute to go, but a three-pointer in traffic for Taylor Britt in the right corner once again got the Falcons ahead 52-51 as time expired in the third.
With the game still a one-possession affair nearing the six-minute mark in the final quarter, senior Dasha Macmillan got a pair of baskets on back-to-back possessions to start what seemed like an Air Force run, but her streak was stymied by Wyoming center Allyson Fertig, as the Cowgirls' coveted center went for eight-straight of her own to put Wyoming out to a 61-60 lead with 4:36 to go.
Down by three with three minutes remaining, Cortez beat the clock once again, driving just outside the paint to cut the Falcons' deficit back to one, while drawing the shooting foul against Wyoming's Malene Pederson and making the resulting free throw to bring Air Force back to a tie. Cortez, matched up with Fertig on the next play, earned her fifth and final foul of the contest, sending her to the bench and Fertig to the free throw line, giving Wyoming a one-point lead with two minutes to go.
With 1:55 remaining, Perry, advancing the ball and in search of the tying score, gave up possession to Cowgirl Emily Mellema, but Smith and Britt managed to force the ball back into Falcon hands. Air Force missed on the resulting chance. Fertig landed a layup on the next possession with 43 seconds to go, putting Wyoming up 66-63.
On the final possession with the chance to tie, Smith and O'Hollaren threes proved no good, leaving the Falcons down three as time expired.
Air Force closed Wednesday's contest with 27 total rebounds to Wyoming's 26 and just 12 turnovers to the Cowgirls' 14.
Up Next:
Air Force women's basketball returns to the Academy for a two-game home stand, hosting New Mexico on Saturday, Jan. 27 and a rematch with Colorado State on the 31st.
Sophomore Milahnie Perry led Falcon scoring in Laramie, earning 14 points on 6-12 from the field. Freshmen Alexis Cortez and Jayda McNabb both finished with ten apiece, while junior Madison Smith earned nine.
The Falcons battled with Wyoming in the opening quarter, with neither team getting out to more than a four-point lead. But a late 8-2 Falcon surge got Air Force ahead, as Perry, McNabb and Cortez combined to go 4-4 – an effort capped by a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Cortez, found off an inbound pass from junior Jo Huntimer with 1.5 seconds left.
Wyoming opened the second quarter outscoring the Falcons 6-2 and then put up a 9-0 run in the later minutes of the second quarter to leave Air Force down by five points with two and a half minutes remaining in the half, but the Cowgirls' advance was cut off by a Perry layup along the left baseline and a driving and-one for Smith to tie the contest once again. Down the final 90 seconds, the Falcons responded with a 7-0 run of their own. On the final possession, Smith forced a Wyoming turnover and then completed a hook-shot layup as time expired to put Air Force up, 39-34, to head into the locker room.
At halftime, against a team which has only allowed an average of 29 points a game from three-point range, Air Force had shot 6-11 in the first half against the Cowgirls, and held Wyoming to 0-6 from three-point range.
Entering the second half, Wyoming got right to work correcting their shooting woes, as Cowgirl Tess Barnes opened the game sinking the Cowgirls' first three-pointer of the contest on the first Wyoming possession to immediately cut their deficit back to two. Perry and Cortez attacks on proceeding Falcon plays put Air Force back up by six, but Wyoming responded as Barnes knocked down her second three to keep Air Force within reach. The Wyoming offense began to find its rhythm in the third quarter, and the Cowgirls tied and jumped out to a lead with just over a minute to go, but a three-pointer in traffic for Taylor Britt in the right corner once again got the Falcons ahead 52-51 as time expired in the third.
With the game still a one-possession affair nearing the six-minute mark in the final quarter, senior Dasha Macmillan got a pair of baskets on back-to-back possessions to start what seemed like an Air Force run, but her streak was stymied by Wyoming center Allyson Fertig, as the Cowgirls' coveted center went for eight-straight of her own to put Wyoming out to a 61-60 lead with 4:36 to go.
Down by three with three minutes remaining, Cortez beat the clock once again, driving just outside the paint to cut the Falcons' deficit back to one, while drawing the shooting foul against Wyoming's Malene Pederson and making the resulting free throw to bring Air Force back to a tie. Cortez, matched up with Fertig on the next play, earned her fifth and final foul of the contest, sending her to the bench and Fertig to the free throw line, giving Wyoming a one-point lead with two minutes to go.
With 1:55 remaining, Perry, advancing the ball and in search of the tying score, gave up possession to Cowgirl Emily Mellema, but Smith and Britt managed to force the ball back into Falcon hands. Air Force missed on the resulting chance. Fertig landed a layup on the next possession with 43 seconds to go, putting Wyoming up 66-63.
On the final possession with the chance to tie, Smith and O'Hollaren threes proved no good, leaving the Falcons down three as time expired.
Air Force closed Wednesday's contest with 27 total rebounds to Wyoming's 26 and just 12 turnovers to the Cowgirls' 14.
Up Next:
Air Force women's basketball returns to the Academy for a two-game home stand, hosting New Mexico on Saturday, Jan. 27 and a rematch with Colorado State on the 31st.
Team Stats
USAFA
UW
FG%
.426
.537
3FG%
.389
.273
FT%
.833
.864
RB
27
26
TO
12
14
STL
12
8
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
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