Air Force Women’s Basketball narrowly lost to Colorado State University, 65-63, in a Mountain West Conference matchup at Clune Arena on Wednesday night. The Falcons came within three points of taking the lead with four seconds left but could not complete the comeback.
Senior Milahnie Perry led Air Force with a career-high 31 points, shooting 12-for-21 from the field and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. This performance moved her to fifth place all-time in Air Force career scoring and tied for the most points scored by any player in the Mountain West this season.
Junior Keelie O’Hollaren contributed 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including three three-pointers. She has now posted double-digit scoring efforts in her last three games and has shot .455 or better from three-point range in four consecutive contests.
The game was closely contested early, with both teams tied at 15 after one quarter. Perry scored all of Air Force’s first 13 points. Senior Emily Adams added eight points and five rebounds.
Colorado State pulled ahead in the second quarter with an 11-2 run but Air Force responded with a seven-point burst late in the half to narrow CSU’s lead to 31-28 at halftime.
Turnovers hampered Air Force in the third quarter as CSU built their largest lead of the night at 42-30. However, Perry and O’Hollaren combined for eight points near the end of the period to reduce CSU’s advantage to five heading into the fourth quarter.
In a high-scoring final frame, Perry and O’Hollaren accounted for most of Air Force’s offense as they hit five out of six attempts from long range. The Falcons closed within one possession five times during the fourth quarter but could not overtake CSU.
With just over a minute remaining, junior Alexis Cortez appeared to tie the game on a corner three-pointer but was ruled out of bounds. Cortez later hit another three-pointer with four seconds left to bring Air Force back within two points at 65-63.
After Colorado State called timeout and advanced the ball, junior Marissa Hargrave managed a steal and gave Air Force one final chance with less than a second remaining. On the last play, Hargrave’s inbound pass was blocked by CSU’s Caitlyn Kramer, ending Air Force’s hopes for victory.
Despite losing, Air Force outperformed Colorado State in several categories: rebounds (29), assists (eight), field goal percentage (.480), three-point percentage (.470), three-pointers made (eight), free throw percentage (.750) and bench points (19).
Air Force now holds an overall record of 8-9 (2-5 MW). Their next game is against Wyoming Cowgirls on Saturday, January 17th in Laramie at Arena Auditorium.
