Madison Smith will go out a winner. She made sure of it.
Smith scored all 21 of her points in the second half Saturday as Air Force held off Fresno State 67-66 and assured it would finish with the program's second non-losing season in its nearly 30 years at the NCAA Division I level.
Air Force (16-11, 6-9 Mountain West) has four games remaining in the regular-season and at least one more in the Mountain West Tournament. So, at the very least, it will finish this season .500.
The only other time that happened for the Falcons since moving to the top level in college basketball in 1996-97 occurred in the 2021-22 season.
Smith, who hit 8 of 9 shots in the second half Saturday, was part of that team, as well. So was point guard Jo Huntimer, who dished out four assists as the Falcons completed a season sweep of Fresno State and topped the Bulldogs on the road for only the second time in 14 tries.
"It's really difficult, especially considering everything that is in the way of athletes at the Air Force Academy," Smith told The Gazette when asked to put into perspective the difficulty of mounting a winning season at the academy. "We have a lot more obligations than other student-athletes do, and I think it just really puts into perspective teams that I've been on have worked throughout the season to try to compete and try to play at the highest level in basketball.
"It's super-cool that I've been able to be a part of two winning teams."
The Falcons led for 37:31 of the 40 minutes on Saturday, but the game grew tense in the final minute.
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Fresno State's Tajia Sta. Maria hit a layup with 42 seconds to close the gap to one point. Air Force then committed a shot clock violation with 7 seconds remaining. A defensive stand finished it off.
Jayda McNabb contributed 13 points and five rebounds for Air Force, which also had 10 points from Keelie O'Hollaren.
The Falcons shot 52% from the field (27 of 52), while holding the Bulldogs (17-12, 8-8) to 40% (21 of 52).
Smith added five assists, four steals and three rebounds. The senior has scored 50 points in the last two games, both road wins, and the team needed every one of her 21 second-half points on Saturday.
"I'm really glad I was able to turn it around and get some shots to fall in the second half and help my team out," said Smith, who had been 0-for-6 shooting in the first half.
And the cherry on top for the team that Smith said is feeling "a ton" of excitement?
"Coach," Smith said, "just promised us ice cream."