Air Force Academy

Las Vegas, Nev. -
A huge second-half run by the Lady Rebels proved the knockout punch as the Air Force women's basketball team fell, 76-51, to UNLV Saturday afternoon in the Thomas & Mack Center. The Falcons fall to 6-12, 1-4 in the Mountain West, while the Lady Rebels improve to 11-8, 2-3 in the league.

The Lady Rebels for most of the opening period, jumping out to a double-digit lead with an early 10-0 run. With nine first-half turnovers and cold shooting from the field, the Falcons trailed by as many as 16 points at 27-11 before sophomore Letricia Castillo (Anchorage, Alaska) went on to score the next 12 points for Air Force. A basket by Dawn Higginbotham (Colorado Springs, Colo.) with just five seconds left in the half brought the Air Force deficit down to 10 points at intermission.

Freshman Lauren Henderson (Nixa, Mo.) hit a pair of three-pointers to open the half for the Falcons, but UNLV was still able to expand its lead to 13. However, Air Force came right back, getting within 10 points at 51-41 with 11:12 on the clock. The Lady Rebels responded with a 16-4 run that inflated their lead to 22 points and never let go, cruising to the 76-51 victory.

UNLV shot well in the game, hitting nearly 50 percent of its shots from the field, while the Falcons shot under 35 percent. Air Force also was outrebounded 41-32 and took just 13 free throws.

Castillo led all Falcons with 14 points, while freshman Alecia Steele (Oklahoma City, Okla.) added 11 points and six rebounds. Meanwhile, RanDee Henry scored a game-high 19 points and seven rebounds for the Lady Rebels, while Sheena Moore pitched in 13 points.

The Falcons return to Clune Arena for a three-game homestand beginning with a 7:00 p.m. contest versus Colorado State on Thursday, Feb. 3.