Women’s Basketball Improves to 3-0 After Wire-to-Wire Battle at Northern Colorado

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Air Force	22	11	19	21	73
Northern Colo.	17	15	17	17	66

Air Force

Northern Colo.

GREELEY, Colo. – Big showings at the start and finish of Monday's game at Northern Colorado for the Air Force Women's Basketball team bore a 73-66 win for the Falcons, improving to 3-0 to start the 2024-25 season.

Air Force's leading scorers, junior Milahnie Perry and senior Madison Smith, both led the game with 21 and 20 points respectively. Both players proved key at holding off the Bears' advances in the second half, combining for 17 of the Falcons' 19 points in the third quarter to match Northern Colorado's scoring output for the period and earning the bulk of Air Force's points in the waning minutes of the game, putting down 10 of Air Force's final 11 points to gap the opposition on the way to a 3-0 start.

Sophomore Jordyn Devaughn followed up, adding nine points to the Falcon tally on Monday evening. Devaughn's pair of baskets late in both halves sparked two Falcon rallies which proved critical in the contest.

Air Force (3-0, 0-0 MW), quicker to get on the scoreboard than in their previous two contests, traded baskets with UNC for the first three minutes before outscoring the Bears 14-4 in the early minutes to push an eight-point lead. Air Force forced UNC into nine turnovers in the opening quarter, generating 16 points off takeaways to lead 22-17 heading into the second.

Northern Colorado gained its footing entering the second quarter, outscoring the Falcons 13-2 to open the frame, erasing its deficit to gain its first lead since the opening minutes of the contest. From there, neither team could gather more than a two-possession lead until the Falcons managed to pull away in the final minutes of the game. Perry and Devaughn both ran up a 9-4 scoring advantage to close the half, willing the Falcons back into a 33-32 lead at half.

In the third quarter, Air Force struggled to find baskets, shooting 35 percent from the field, but Smith was able to keep the Falcons in the game, scoring the first nine Air Force points and managing a 4-4 stretch from the free throw line to hold UNC at bay through the third-quarter media timeout. Perry put up seven points and drew a pair of and-one opportunities – including one in double coverage with four seconds to go in the quarter. Despite the outburst, Air Force entered the final quarter holding just a 52-49 lead.

Despite not giving up the lead in the fourth, the Falcons led by as little as two points with just over four minutes remaining in regulation. Devaughn and fellow sophomore Jayda McNabb (6 PTS, 6 REB, 2STL) broke the stalemate, as McNabb earned vital rebounds on back-to-back possessions, resulting in consecutive buckets to push an Air Force 61-56 lead with just over six minutes to go in regulation.
Leaning on their go-to scorers, Smith and Perry logged 11 of the Falcons' last 13 points to stave off the Bears, as Air Force opened 2024-25 with a 1-0 road record.

The Falcons are off to a 3-0 start for the second time in three seasons and the third time in the program's Division I history; Monday's win marks Air Force's third-consecutive win over Northern Colorado and elevates the Falcons to a 23-21 lead in the all-time series against UNC.

Up Next:
Air Force Women's Basketball heads to West Point, taking on Army on Friday in Christl Arena at 4 p.m. MT.

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.