Thursday, January 5
San Jose, CA
7:00 PM MT
Air Force Academy
77
at
64
San Jose State
White-Hot Falcons Roll Past San Jose State, 77-64
1/6/2023 12:07:00 AM | Women's Basketball
SAN JOSE, Calif.- With sophomore Madison Smith leading the charge on a season-best 27-54 (.500) shooting effort for the Air Force women's basketball team, the Falcons claimed victory over San Jose State on Thursday night at the Providence Credit Union Event Center.
Smith led a rounded effort on offense for the Falcons, resetting her career-high with 23 points on 9-14 from the field while shooting the three at a .714 (5-7) clip. Junior Kayla Pilson followed up with 21 points (7-10 FG, 5 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL); Kamri Heath added 16 points (6-11 FG, 4-4 FT, 3 REB 2 STL).
Sophomore Jo Huntimer closed the night with seven points, two rebounds and five assists. With 75 assists on the season and 197 for her career, Huntimer moves to tenth on the Falcons' Division I assist record list. Two more assists (199) for Huntimer will tie ninth place, currently held by Lauren Henderson (2004-07).
After falling prey to a slow start and allowing SJSU (2-12, 0-3 MW) to get out to an early 6-2 lead, Smith began her night with a pair of successful three-pointers to stall the opponent's momentum. From there, a 7-0 run initiated by a Kamri Heath jumper gave Air Force (7-8, 2-1 MW) a lead which the Spartans never regained.
Junior Kayla Pilson scored five of the Falcons' next eight points en route to a 19-16 Air Force lead to end the opening frame.
Smith and Pilson scored all of the Falcons' baskets in the second quarter with the exception of a single successful free-throw from Dasha Macmillan leading into halftime. A 12-point showing for Smith and eight for Pilson led an Air Force surge which resulted in the Falcons outscoring San Jose State 21-11 before heading into the locker room with a 40-27 lead.
Returning from halftime, the Air Force offense immediately picked back up, with Smith making her fifth and final three of the night just seconds into the half:
The Falcons and SJSU both traded scores until a 9-2 run including a Milahnie Perry driving layup and back-to-back baskets for Pilson pushed Air Force out to a 22-point lead- its largest of the contest.
The end of a 6-2 run in the early minutes of the fourth quarter led by Heath effectively marked the start of a San Jose surge which briefly threatened the Falcons' lead. As Air Force shooting began to cool down, Smith capped a new career high with a forced steal at midcourt on SJSU's Jada Holland, making the downhill play at the basket and forcing Holland into a shooting foul:
Before entering foul territory with the game out of reach, SJSU outscored Air Force 14-6 behind a nine-point push from Amhiya Moreland, who continued to take advantage of open opportunities underneath the Falcon basket to bring the game back to a ten-point affair with a minute remaining in regulation. Despite the late run, SJSU was forced to foul their way to the end, resulting in a 13-point win for the Falcons.
A 2-1 Air Force against Mountain West competition marks the best start to conference play for the program since joining Division I in 1996. Air Force athletics joined the Western Athletic Conference in 1996 prior to becoming a member of the Mountain West in 1999.
Air Force opens the final leg of its opening Mountain West road trip on Saturday, taking on Nevada in Reno.
Madison Smith on the point she realized she was going to have a strong shooting night:
About my second three. I knew (going into tonight) I (don't really) shoot well in this gym, and I was kind of worried about it. But for some reason, it worked out.
Smith on defensive efforts against the Spartans:
"I think we did pretty well. We had a couple of breakdowns when they (were able to) get in (and) we really struggled with the dish-offs to the post, but I think we just need to keep working on the pressure defense that coach G preaches so much and we'll have more success against other, higher ranked teams."
Head coach Chris Gobrecht on tonight's opponent:
"I wasn't surprised that San Jose came out so aggressive and made some good things happen early. That team is going to beat some people- they work really hard, they have got some players, and I thought we had to play pretty darn well- particularly offensively- to get the win … Opening up the big lead, we needed every bit of it going down the stretch. But I was impressed with (SJSU's) work ethic, how hard they competed, and I'm just really happy we came away with a W.
"(San Jose) just pounded and pounded the boards. We knew we were going to have our hands full with that, but its something we have on the need-to-get-better list."
Coach G on Air Force's shooting display:
"Do I think we are always going to shoot the ball that well from three? We haven't proven that we will, but I do believe we can. I always thought this team was (composed of) pretty good shooters, and maybe just the fact that we have had a chance to be in the gym a bit more (because of the holiday break) has helped a bit with our shooting percentage."
On Smith's ability to get to the basket, and her ability to score in a variety of ways:
"I think she is channeling a bit of Cierra Winters- That was Cierra's M.O. You (wouldn't even be able to) see her in the pack of people (on the floor), and somehow she would squirm her way through and come up with the score. Madison has that same knack for sure."
Smith led a rounded effort on offense for the Falcons, resetting her career-high with 23 points on 9-14 from the field while shooting the three at a .714 (5-7) clip. Junior Kayla Pilson followed up with 21 points (7-10 FG, 5 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL); Kamri Heath added 16 points (6-11 FG, 4-4 FT, 3 REB 2 STL).
Sophomore Jo Huntimer closed the night with seven points, two rebounds and five assists. With 75 assists on the season and 197 for her career, Huntimer moves to tenth on the Falcons' Division I assist record list. Two more assists (199) for Huntimer will tie ninth place, currently held by Lauren Henderson (2004-07).
After falling prey to a slow start and allowing SJSU (2-12, 0-3 MW) to get out to an early 6-2 lead, Smith began her night with a pair of successful three-pointers to stall the opponent's momentum. From there, a 7-0 run initiated by a Kamri Heath jumper gave Air Force (7-8, 2-1 MW) a lead which the Spartans never regained.
Junior Kayla Pilson scored five of the Falcons' next eight points en route to a 19-16 Air Force lead to end the opening frame.
Smith and Pilson scored all of the Falcons' baskets in the second quarter with the exception of a single successful free-throw from Dasha Macmillan leading into halftime. A 12-point showing for Smith and eight for Pilson led an Air Force surge which resulted in the Falcons outscoring San Jose State 21-11 before heading into the locker room with a 40-27 lead.
Returning from halftime, the Air Force offense immediately picked back up, with Smith making her fifth and final three of the night just seconds into the half:
Smith with her FIFTH make from three-point range to open the half! pic.twitter.com/zdikNriha6
— Air Force Women's Basketball (@AF_WBB) January 6, 2023
The Falcons and SJSU both traded scores until a 9-2 run including a Milahnie Perry driving layup and back-to-back baskets for Pilson pushed Air Force out to a 22-point lead- its largest of the contest.
The end of a 6-2 run in the early minutes of the fourth quarter led by Heath effectively marked the start of a San Jose surge which briefly threatened the Falcons' lead. As Air Force shooting began to cool down, Smith capped a new career high with a forced steal at midcourt on SJSU's Jada Holland, making the downhill play at the basket and forcing Holland into a shooting foul:
And-one off her own steal sets a new career-high for Smith at 23 points! pic.twitter.com/XA0tvWgksD
— Air Force Women's Basketball (@AF_WBB) January 6, 2023
Before entering foul territory with the game out of reach, SJSU outscored Air Force 14-6 behind a nine-point push from Amhiya Moreland, who continued to take advantage of open opportunities underneath the Falcon basket to bring the game back to a ten-point affair with a minute remaining in regulation. Despite the late run, SJSU was forced to foul their way to the end, resulting in a 13-point win for the Falcons.
A 2-1 Air Force against Mountain West competition marks the best start to conference play for the program since joining Division I in 1996. Air Force athletics joined the Western Athletic Conference in 1996 prior to becoming a member of the Mountain West in 1999.
Air Force opens the final leg of its opening Mountain West road trip on Saturday, taking on Nevada in Reno.
Madison Smith on the point she realized she was going to have a strong shooting night:
About my second three. I knew (going into tonight) I (don't really) shoot well in this gym, and I was kind of worried about it. But for some reason, it worked out.
Smith on defensive efforts against the Spartans:
"I think we did pretty well. We had a couple of breakdowns when they (were able to) get in (and) we really struggled with the dish-offs to the post, but I think we just need to keep working on the pressure defense that coach G preaches so much and we'll have more success against other, higher ranked teams."
Head coach Chris Gobrecht on tonight's opponent:
"I wasn't surprised that San Jose came out so aggressive and made some good things happen early. That team is going to beat some people- they work really hard, they have got some players, and I thought we had to play pretty darn well- particularly offensively- to get the win … Opening up the big lead, we needed every bit of it going down the stretch. But I was impressed with (SJSU's) work ethic, how hard they competed, and I'm just really happy we came away with a W.
"(San Jose) just pounded and pounded the boards. We knew we were going to have our hands full with that, but its something we have on the need-to-get-better list."
Coach G on Air Force's shooting display:
"Do I think we are always going to shoot the ball that well from three? We haven't proven that we will, but I do believe we can. I always thought this team was (composed of) pretty good shooters, and maybe just the fact that we have had a chance to be in the gym a bit more (because of the holiday break) has helped a bit with our shooting percentage."
On Smith's ability to get to the basket, and her ability to score in a variety of ways:
"I think she is channeling a bit of Cierra Winters- That was Cierra's M.O. You (wouldn't even be able to) see her in the pack of people (on the floor), and somehow she would squirm her way through and come up with the score. Madison has that same knack for sure."