Air Force women’s basketball tops Northern Colorado in nonconference game

The U.S. Air Force Academy women’s basketball team used a 13-2 run in the fourth quarter to defeat Northern Colorado 68-60 Saturday in Colorado Springs.

UNC dropped to 3-4 with the nonconference loss.

Air Force, 6-4 and a member of the Mountain West Conference, held a one-point lead early in the fourth quarter before starting its run. UNC’s Tena Ikidi made a layup with 8-minutes, 51 seconds left in the period to cut Air Force’s lead to 42-41.

UNC outscored Air Force 19-11 in the third quarter to trail 40-39 at the start of the fourth quarter. Air Force outscored UNC 28-21 in the fourth.

The Falcons scored eight-straight points to start the run, which was powered by sophomore guard Milahnie Perry. Perry scored 10 of the Falcons’ points during the stretch capped by a 3-pointer to push the lead to 55-43 with 5:28 to play.

Air Force shot 47% from the field compared to 35% (19 of 54) for UNC.

Perry led all scorers with 17 points including 5 of 11 from 3-point range.

Hannah Simental and Gabi Fields both had 13 points for UNC. Fields added five steals and three assists. Delaynie Byrne scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Ikidi scored seven points.

UNC’s next game is Saturday, Dec. 16 at Utah State. The Bears then play Thursday, Dec. 21 at the University of Colorado. UNC opens its Big Sky Conference schedule Saturday, Dec. 30 at Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. The team’s next home game is 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 6 against the University of Denver.