Christmas came early for Air Force women’s basketball in the form of a slump-busting blowout of Nevada.

The Falcons hit 50% of their 3-point attempts, led by as many as 26 and now head into a short holiday break with a 61-45 victory over the Wolf Pack on Saturday at Clune Arena.

This came a week after the Falcons needed a fourth-quarter comeback for a home victory over New Mexico Highlands – an NCAA Division II school with a 4-6 record – and after Wednesday’s Mountain West opening loss at Utah State in which Air Force shot just 4-of-27 from 3-point range and 28.6% overall.

And it came a year after the Falcons stumbled to an 0-5 start in conference play.

So, yeah, this was a needed gift the team gave itself.

“I needed this one,” senior Milahnie Perry told 1300 AM’s Ryan Kaufman following the game.

Perry scored a team-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting after going 1-of-15 at Utah State.

“I think it was just the fire of wanting to do better than last game,” Perry said. “Just wanting a win.”

The Falcons never trailed in this one, limiting the Wolf Pack to 26% shooting and outrebounding the visitors 38-36. Air Force had 15 assists compared to five for Nevada.

The Falcons (7-5, 1-1 Mountain West) outscored Nevada 33-13 in the second and third quarters.

Keelie O’Hollaren added 10 points – all in the second half – on a day that saw nine players hit shots for the Falcons as the team went 9-of-18 from 3.

“We’re just really grateful that we took to heart what we said on the offensive end and hit some shots today,” coach Stacy McIntyre told Kaufman after her team hit 24-of-59 shots (41%).

Nevada (4-8, 0-2) was led by 18 points from Skyler Durley, who hit five of the team’s 13 field goals.

The Falcons will play next on Dec. 31 with a trip to San Diego State.