McIntyre, Air Force Unfazed by History, Lopsided Series

LAS VEGAS, Nev., -- Air Force is riding high. And rightfully so.

Not only did the women's basketball program knock off Utah State 66-59 Sunday night in the opening round of the Mountain West Tournament, it claimed its 18th victory of the season, one win shy of tying the Division-I school record set back in 2022.

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That team went on to the WNIT, where it outlasted San Francisco before falling at UCLA.

That Falcons squad also topped Wyoming, its second-round opponent tonight in Las Vegas, for only the fourth time ever, snapping a forgettable 25-game losing skid to the Cowgirls.

Just how lopsided has this Front Range rivalry been?

The Cowgirls are 62-4 all-time in a series that dates back to 1979. In fact, they've never even lost to Air Force in Laramie in 35 tries. That lengthy winning streak mentioned above spanned from 2005-17. One of those wins came in this very tournament, a 70-48 blowout in 2015.

The largest margin of victory during that run was 62 points. That happened in 2012 when Kayla Woodward netted a game-high 28 points in a 98-36 runaway victory inside the Arena-Auditorium.

Joe Legerski was 31-2 against the Falcons. Gerald Mattinson finished 5-1. Current head coach Heather Ezell has won all six meetings since arriving on the sidelines in 2022.

Air Force is doomed tonight, right?

Don't tell them that.

"We've played Wyoming a lot," senior guard Madison Smith said Sunday night in Las Vegas after knocking off the Aggies. "We've seen their habits and everything. We were in the game both times. I think everyone on our team knows it's a winnable game. We've just got to go out and execute the game plan."

The Cowgirls claimed a 12-point victory in Colorado Springs back in late January. The second tilt was a tad tighter, with the home team prevailing 64-56 just three weeks later.

"I think losing twice to them makes us really hungry," junior guard Milahnie Perry added. "We're not going to let it be a third time, especially in a situation like this. We don't want to go home and we're very hungry."

A major reason for the latest season sweep was Sunday named the Mountain West's Player of the Year.

Allyson Fertig netted a combined 45 points, including 30 in the last meeting. The senior post player from Glendo also added 15 boards that night in Laramie. She is now the league's all-time rebound leader with 1,152, overtaking UNLV's Jamie Smith, who hauled in 1,145 from 2009-12.

How dominant has Fertig been in this series?

In eight career games, she has averaged 16.3 points and 9.4 rebounds. She has also shot better than 82% from the field. This winter alone, she connected on 19-of-24 attempts.

"You definitely want to stay in front of her," Air Force's first-year head coach Stacy McIntyre said. "We've tried to adjust how we've defended her. I mean, she's clearly going to get touches, but we have to make sure we make it as difficult as possible for her to catch, then to cover up those great perimeter shooters."

Fertig leads the Cowgirls -- and the conference -- averaging nearly 19 points per game. Malene Pedersen is netting 13.8 while connecting on almost 50% of her shots. She is also hitting 38.6% of her attempts from deep.

Emily Mellema, the newly crowned Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, chips in with better than 10 points a night. She's shooting 40% from beyond the arc.

A 13-0 run by the visitors inside Clune Arena essentially buried any hopes of an upset in the first matchup. That ballooned into an eventual 24-point fourth-quarter lead. The Cowgirls again sprinted away from the Falcons in Laramie, thanks to a late 17-0 spurt.

McIntyre said her team failed to take advantage of those low-scoring affairs. They didn't make enough shots or get to the free-throw line, she added.

"Well, that can happen against Wyoming," McIntyre continued. "And especially when you play at Wyoming, probably one of the more difficult places. I think they've proven to play in the Mountain West Conference and we just have to get out to a good start.

"Just like we didn't take Utah State lightly, we're going into a Wyoming game having not beat them this year. So, it just gives us that much more motivation."

Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. inside the Thomas and Mack Center and the game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.

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