Despite being swept in the two regular season meetings against the Wyoming Cowgirls in the regular season, the Air Force Falcons were adamant and confident that they could deliver a devastating counterpunch to the Cowgirls in Vegas at the Mountain West tournament after they took down Utah State in the opening round of play.
“I think losing twice to them makes us really hungry. We’re not going to let it be a third time, especially in a situation like this,” the Falcons’ Milahnie Perry said after their first round game. “We don’t want to go home and we’re very hungry.”
“We’ve played Wyoming a lot [and] I think everyone on our team knows it’s a winnable game,” the Falcons’ Madison Smith also added.
The Falcons were certainly backing that talk up early in the contest, as last-second triple from the Falcon’s Jordan DeVaughn would rattle down the hatch to give the Falcons a 17-12 lead after one quarter of play, one where the Cowgirls struggled immensely offensively–and the Falcons the latter, as they made 7/16 of their attempts from the field and an impressive 3/5 from deep
The Cowgirls were quick to swing back to start the second quarter, as a swift 6-0 jab allowed the Cowgirls a one-point lead before shots began to fall for the Falcons once again and the Cowgirls also began to run cold in the second quarter. With frustration clearly boiling amongst the Cowgirls with their first half struggles, they found themselves trailing at halftime despite being considerable favorites.
After one half of play–even with the Falcons commandeering a rather considerable six-point lead at the half–it was clear the Cowgirls had a massive advantage down low with Allyson Fertig, who scored 14 of the Cowgirls 28 first half points. The Falcons, to their credit, were playing well in the favor of their own advantages as well, as they forced the Cowgirls into eight first half turnovers–in which they typically force an average of 18 turnovers per game, good for first in the league.
“We came out in the first half with some nerves, just being the first game having to kind of get those off of our shoulders,” Ezell said of her team’s first half struggles.
The Falcons also finished the first half of play shooting 50% from the field and 40% from deep to garner their 34-28 halftime lead. The Cowgirls were 46.4% from deep but were unable to connect from deep on only three attempts in the half after connecting on 12 triples in their massive home win over first-seeded UNLV just a game ago.
It was clear what had to change out of the locker room for the Cowgirls, who needed to find their poise to turn their fortunes around after a rough first half of play in Vegas, or risk ending the season in yet another likely WNIT bid–in which the Cowgirls’ postseason aspirations expanded much further than yet again hosting postseason games in March.
Despite the Falcons opening the third quarter with the first bucket by either team taking their largest lead of eight points, the outside shots began to finally fall for the Cowgirls, as a pair of triples by Malene Pederson and Emily Mellema quickly pushed the Cowgirls to draw even with the Falcons early in the third quarter. The Cowgirls wouldn’t be able to gather a lead until much later in the quarter, however, as the feisty Falcons’ squad continued to battle. The Cowgirls–seemingly playing with much more conviction in the second half–would mount a massive 10-0 run to finish the third quarter, vanquishing the Falcon’s six point halftime lead into a nine-point lead of their own heading into the final frame of play.
The Cowgirls would extend that run out to 16-2 to open the fourth quarter, never looking back even as the Falcons hit some late threes to make the margin more respectable late.
The Cowgirls would end up outscoring the Falcons 49-30 in the second half, with Fertig leading the way with yet another double-double this season, scoring 22 points and 13 rebounds. Pederson quietly finished with 18 points and Tess Barnes and Mellema finished with 15 apiece.
The Cowgirls also equalized their mark from beyond the arc after not making a single outside shot in the first half, as they finished an impressive 7/12 from three. The Cowgirls finished the game an astounding 60%, a near certain recipe for success and a record-breaking percentage in a Mountain West conference tournament game.
“I think that’s just a testament to our team,” Mellema said of the Cowgirls’ second half comeback effort. “We talked about just kind of leaving that first half behind knowing our shots were going to fall in the second half.”
The Cowgirls will take on the winner of Colorado State versus Fresno State in the semifinals tomorrow.
