Women’s Basketball Pushes UNLV to the Brink, Falls 64-58

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Air Force Women's Basketball trailed UNLV by a single possession with 14 seconds remaining on Saturday afternoon but fell to the four-time reigning Mountain West Champion Lady Rebels, 64-58, on Saturday afternoon in Clune Arena.

Senior Milahnie Perry and junior Jayda McNabb both led Air Force scoring with 14 points apiece, marking a season high for the latter. Both players totaled seven and eight rebounds and four and three assists, respectively. McNabb also completed the day with a game-high three steals. Junior Alexis Cortez complimented Falcon scoring, contributing a season high 10 points.

Air Force trailed 17-16 at the close of the first quarter. After the Falcons claimed an early lead, a 9-0 UNLV run put the Lady Rebels ahead, but the Falcons never relented. Down 17-14 on the final possession of the first quarter, Cortez sunk a hook shot from under the UNLV rim to cut it back within a single point at the close of the first quarter.

Freshman Bhret Clay's lone three-pointer of the game, an uncontested try along the left wing, bought the Falcons a brief 19-17 lead in the opening minutes of the second quarter. From there, UNLV broke off a 16-1 run, halted by an Emily Adams second-chance put-up to soften Air Force's deficit at 33-22. With 40 seconds to go, a Keelie O'Hollaren three-pointer as the shot clock expired fell, lifting Air Force back to 35-28 with under a minute to go in the half and capping off an 8-2 Falcon response to end the first half.

Third-quarter scoring ended in a stalemate, as both Air Force (7-7, 1-3 MW) and UNLV (9-5, 4-0 MW) finished with 11 points apiece. UNLV's Mariah Elohim scored consecutive three-pointers to extend the Lady Rebels' lead to 42-30. Air Force responded with an all-out effort, as four Falcons found the basket, outscoring UNLV 9-4 to their deficit back to 46-39 with 10 minutes remaining.

UNLV again worked its way to an 11-point lead to start the fourth quarter. Air Force answered again, scoring six straight to trail just 50-45 with five minutes to go. McNabb's 10-point fourth quarter willed Air Force forward in the final 10 minutes of the game. Down 54-46 with under three minutes to go, McNabb's first three-pointer and a fast-break layup on back-to-back possessions left Air Force down 54-51 with 1:42 remaining in the game. On the resulting UNLV possession, Lady Rebel Jasmyn Lott sunk a three-pointer with a minute remaining in regulation, lifting UNLV back to a 57-51 advantage.

Air Force and UNLV traded blows down the stretch. A driving layup for Perry and McNabb's second three of the quarter pushed the Falcons back into a single-possession game twice in the final minute, but UNLV held Air Force at bay from the free throw line to close out the game.

Up Next:
Air Force Women's Basketball is back in Clune on Jan. 7, hosting Boise State at 6:30 p.m. MT.

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