Air Force Academy

The Air Force women's basketball team begins a three-game homestand this weekend when it hosts Colorado State and Wyoming in Mountain West Conference action. The Falcons will take on the Rams on Thursday, Feb. 3 at 7:00 p.m., followed by a contest with the Cowgirls on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 2:00 p.m. Both games, which will take place in Clune Arena, will be broadcast locally by The Sports Animal 1300 AM.

Last Time Out...
The Falcons are coming off a two-game road trip in which they defeated San Diego State, 48-44, before falling, 76-51 to UNLV.

Against the Aztecs, Air Force committed a season-high 32 turnovers, but held a 51-22 rebounding advantage, as it captured its first-ever conference road win. Sophomore Letricia Castillo led the Falcons with 15 points, including 11 in the first half. Two days later, Air Force was unable to keep its road streak going, letting the Lady Rebels shoot nearly 50 percent from the field as UNLV rolled to its second-straight conference win.


Scouting the Rams...
Colorado State enters this week's contest with a 12-6 record and is tied for third place in the Mountain West with a 3-2 record. After dropping its first two games in league play, the Rams have won three straight, including a 61-51 victory over Wyoming last week.

The Rams have three players who average double-figures in scoring, led by Melissa Dennett, who ranks fourth in the conference with 15.4 points per game. Also scoring in double digits are Lindsay Thomas with 13.1 ppg (eighth in the MWC) and Vanessa Espinoza at 12.1 ppg (ninth in the MWC). Dennett also leads the league in field goal percentage at 58.1 percent, while Thomas is the top shot-blocker in the conference with 1.78 per game. Meanwhile, Thomas and Dennett are among the top five rebounders in the Mountain West with 8.7 and 8.3 rpg, respectively.


The 2003-04 Series...
The Falcons went 0-2 against the Rams last season, dropping an 83-46 decision to Colorado State in Moby Arena before falling at home, 75-58.

The Rams dominated the first game from the tip, going on a 21-0 run to open the game. Though the Falcons worked to get within 15 points at the break, Air Force was outscored 39-17 in the second half.

In Clune Arena, Colorado State again got out to a large lead and the Falcons were unable to overcome a 17-point first-half deficit, despite forcing 23 turnovers by the Rams.


Scouting the Cowgirls...
Wyoming, which will take on New Mexico Thursday evening, currently holds a 12-6 overall record and is tied with Colorado State for third-place in the league standings at 3-2. The Cowgirls fell, 61-51, last week to the Rams in Moby Arena.

Wyoming has the leading scorer in the conference in senior Ashley Elliott, who averages 16.9 points per contest. Meanwhile, Hanna Zavecz and Erin Hicks are averaging 15.1 and 10.3 ppg, respectively, for the Cowgirls, who have already bypassed their season win total from a year ago. Elliott and Hicks lead the Mountain West in steals, with 3.0 and 2.61 spg, respectively, while Elliott is tops in the league in three-point field goals made per contest with 2.39.


The 2003-04 Series...
Air Force dropped both contests to Wyoming last season, with the Cowgirls getting a 69-37 win on their home court before defeating the Falcons, 65-44, in the regular season finale at Clune Arena.

Scoring just 12 points in the second half, the Falcons fell to the Cowgirls, 69-37,on the road. No Air Force player scored in double-figures, while Wyoming, which hit 14 three-pointers, was led by Ashley Elliott with 29 points.

Though the Falcons held an early lead against the Cowgirls in Clune Arena, Wyoming put together a 21-2 run to take over the game, and never trailed again. With a slow offensive second half for both teams, the Cowgirls held on for the 65-44 victory.


Against The Opponents...
In the past three years, the Rams have beat Air Force by an average of 25.4 points per game (seven games). However, the scoring margin goes down to 15.3 points in games played at Clune Arena, while the margin of defeat at Moby Arena swells to 40.3.

Against Wyoming, the Falcons have fared about the same both home and on the road. In the past two seasons, the Cowgirls have defeated Air Force by an average margin of 24.5 points. In Clune Arena, the average is slightly higher at 25.5 points per game, while it is 23.5 points per game at Arena Auditorium in Laramie. However, just three seasons ago, Wyoming's margin of defeat was a mere four points over Air Force in both contests.


Top Frosh...
Saturday's game will feature two of the top freshmen (statistically speaking) in the Mountain West Conference, Air Force's Alecia Steele and Wyoming's Hanna Zavecz. Zavecz leads all MWC rookies in scoring with 15.1 ppg, while Steele is second with 11.4 ppg. Meanwhile, Steele is the top rebounding freshman at 6.8 boards per contest, followed closely by Zavecz with 6.6 rpg.


National Girls and Women In Sports Day...
Air Force will celebrate National Girls and Women In Sports Day on Saturday versus Wyoming. The festivities will start with a free basketball and volleyball clinic for young ladies in eighth grade and below, to be held in East Gym at noon. Following the clinic, all girls will be admitted free to the Air Force-Wyoming game.


Leading The Way...
Sophomore co-captain Letricia Castillo flaunted her leadership skills in the first half against UNLV, serving as a one-woman offensive machine. With the Lady Rebels up 27-11 in the opening stanza, Castillo drained a three-pointer to cut into the deficit. She went on to score the next nine points for the Falcons, first on a three-point play, then on two more shots from long range. She was the only Air Force player to score for almost seven and a half minutes before Dawn Higginbotham nailed a layup with five seconds left in the half.


A Historic Win...
Air Force's win over San Diego State was its first-ever road win in the Mountain West and the first conference road victory since the Falcons moved to Division I in the 1996-97 season.


Making History...
With six total wins this season, the Falcons are just one win away from tying an Air Force Division I record for the highest single-season win total. The Falcons notched seven wins during the 2002-03 season.

Meanwhile, another Air Force win could set a different record--for most Division I conference wins in a season. The Falcons have never won more than one league game since moving up to Division I.


Breaking The Streak...
The Falcons broke a 27-game regular season conference losing streak with its defeat of San Diego State. Its previous win was a 73-72 victory over UNLV in the 2002-03 season.


An End To The Slump...
Sophomore Letricia Castillo returned to double-figures on the scoreboard against San Diego State, notching a team-high 15 points, and followed that up with a 14-point performance at UNLV. Castillo, the Falcons' leading scorer for the second-consecutive season, had not reached double digits in the first three league games of the year, averaging just 6.7 points against New Mexico, Utah and BYU.


Rebound That Basketball...
The Falcons had a season-high 51 rebounds on the road against San Diego State while holding the Aztecs to an opponent-low 22 rebounds. San Diego State's rebound total was just one more than the number of offensive rebounds (21) by the Falcons.


Throwing It Away...
Although the Falcons came up with the win against San Diego State, they might have gotten a much more convincing victory had it not been for a season-high 32 Air Force turnovers. The Aztecs, who lead the Mountain West in steals, took the ball away from the Falcons 21 times in the game.