Air Force Academy

The Air Force women's basketball team takes to the road this week for a pair of conference games. The Falcons will first take on San Diego State on Thursday, Jan. 27, at 7:00 p.m. (ET) and will wrap up the road trip with a 3:00 p.m. (PT) contest at UNLV on Saturday, Jan. 29. Both games will be broadcast locally on The Sports Animal 1300 AM with Jay Richie handling play-by-play duties.


Last Time Out...
The Falcons (5-11, 0-3) are coming off a pair of home conference losses, falling 97-47 to Utah and 75-66 to BYU. Freshman Alecia Steele led Air Force with 11 points in the loss to the Utes, while adding seven rebounds. Lauren Henderson scored 11 points to lead the Falcons against BYU, while Steele and sophomore Dawn Higginbotham chipped in 10 points each.


Scouting the Aztecs...
San Diego State enters this week's contest with a 6-9 record and is 1-2 in the Mountain West, falling to Colorado State and Wyoming last week. The Aztecs suffered a 63-50 loss to the Rams before falling 69-43 to the Cowgirls.

Michelle Elliott leads the Aztecs with 13.0 points per game, while Ashley Cheesman brings down a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game.

The Aztecs also lead the MWC with 10.2 steals per game and a +3.8 turnover margin.


The 2003-04 Series...
The Falcons dropped a pair of games to the Aztecs last season, falling 51-46 at home before dropping a 52-50 contest in San Diego.

The Falcons trailed by 13 points with just over four minutes remaining in their first game against the Aztecs, but went on a 12-3 run to cut the deficit to three points with just 36 seconds remaining.. However, Air Force was unable to keep its run going, eventually falling by five points.

The game in San Diego was a bit different, as it was Air Force that held the late lead, holding a seven-point advantage in the last three minutes of the game. However, the Falcons would not score again, as the Aztecs came back to tie the game, eventually winning on Veronica Shaw's layup with under four seconds remaining.


Scouting the Lady Rebels...
UNLV is currently 9-8 overall and 0-3 in the conference, after falling to Wyoming and Colorado State in last week's contests. The Lady Rebels, who will face New Mexico on Thursday, dropped a pair of three-point games on the road last week. UNLV fell 46-43 to Wyoming before losing, 69-66, at Colorado State.

Sheena Moore, who is the third-leading scorer in the Mountain West, paces the Lady Rebels with 16.1 points per game, while RanDee Henry and Nikki Hitchens add 14.9 and 10.2 points per contest, respectively. Henry also leads UNLV with 9.2 rebounds per game, which ranks second in the MWC.

The Lady Rebels average a league-best 70.6 points per game and rank second with a .432 field goal percentage. UNLV is also rated second in the conference in offensive rebounds, trailing only Air Force, with 14.94 offensive boards per game.


The 2003-04 Series...
UNLV notched a pair of big victories over Air Force last season, downing the Falcons 91-57 in Clune Arena and taking an 85-48 win in Las Vegas. The two point totals by the Lady Rebels were the most allowed by Air Force last season.

Although the Falcons shot over 45 percent from the field in their home contest against UNLV, they committed 30 turnovers, and scored just 21 second-half points allowing the Lady Rebels to run away with the 34-point victory.

The second game of the season series was similar, with UNLV's high-octane offense notching 85 points, including 41 in the opening stanza. The Lady Rebels shot 53 percent from the field and had four different scorers reach double figures as they cruised to the 37-point win.


Looking For Number Three...
The Falcons have won just two conference games since joining the Mountain West and have never won an MWC game on the road. This week's opponents are the only Mountain West opponents that the Falcons have ever defeated. Air Force notched a 77-72 victory over San Diego State in 2000 and edged UNLV, 73-72, in 2003.


In The Thomas & Mack...
Saturday's game against UNLV will be held in the Thomas & Mack Center, as opposed to on the Lady Rebels' usual home court in Cox Pavilion, due to a scheduling conflict. As a result, the game moves to a much larger venue, as the Thomas & Mack seats 18,500 compared to a capacity of 2,800 in Cox Pavilion.


At The Line...
Air Force shot a season-best 78.3 percent from the free throw line against BYU, sinking 18 of its 23 attempts. Freshman Alecia Steele set the pace, sinking all six of her attempts from the charity stripe.


A Rough Loss...
Air Force's 50-point loss to Utah on Thursday was its biggest since the 2000-2001 season when the Utes defeated the Falcons 92-42 in Salt Lake City. In addition, Utah's 97 points were the most scored by an Air Force opponent since the 1998-99 season. That year, Colorado State reached 97 points on two occasions, while St. Mary's racked up 101 points against the Falcons.


A Top Scorer...
Just midway through her second season as a Falcons, sophomore Letricia Castillo has already moved onto the top 40 scoring list at Air Force. With 519 career points so far, Castillo needs just 21 points to move into a tie for 39th place on the career list.