It was clear from the opening tip that the Cowgirls had an obvious size advantage in the paint against the Air Force Falcons, and could easily impose their will down low if they decided to take advantage of their size.
And that’s exactly what they did.
Outscoring the Falcons 40 to 24 down low and dominating the glass by a margin of nine rebounds, the Cowgirls easily made hay with their presence in the paint. Allyson Fertig, the main catalyst of the Cowgirls’ dominance, finished with an incredible statline including 15 points, nine rebounds and five blocks as the Cowgirls’ center dominated the paint.
With Fertig leading the way, the Cowgirls eventually cruised to a 62-50 victory over the Falcons on the road, and the final score doesn’t indicate just how dominant the Cowgirls were in this one.
While both teams struggled to get going in a low scoring affair in the first half–the halftime score being only 28-19–the Cowgirls raced out to a double digit lead in the second half and didn’t look back until the dying minutes of the contest, when the Cowgirl reserves gave up an 11-0 run to make the final score look more respectable.
Not only had the Cowgirls dominated the paint, but they also were extremely efficient from beyond the arc in limited attempts, as the Cowgirls made five of their seven attempts from deep. That would give them a 71.4% mark from deep–adding onto to their equally as efficient 64.3% from the field. Turnovers, however, proved to be an issue and is what kept the Cowgirls from winning even bigger than they did, as they finished the night with 22 turnovers as a team. While that statline is typically less than ideal in notching a road win, it proved to be mostly inconsequential in the Cowgirls’ win.
The Cowgirls will hope to keep their offense rolling when Colorado State comes to town this Saturday, as the Cowgirls will also look to surpass the Rams in the Mountain West league standings, as the two currently sit at an identical 5-2 league record.
