Air Force Academy

Nov. 7, 2006

The Air Force women's basketball team gets the 2006-07 season off to an official start this week, Nov. 10, as it hosts Wisconsin in the season-opener for both teams. The game, slated to tip off at 5:30 p.m., will be part of a double-header featuring the Air Force men's team, which will host Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Operation DVD...
On Friday, Air Force's men's and women's basketball teams will be taking part in Operation DVD, a program to collect DVDs to send to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fans that bring a new or used DVD to the basketball games on Friday will receive one free admission. DVDs will be shipped to bases in Afghanistan and Iraq for use in troop libraries, while children's DVDs will be donated to families of deployed service members.

Broadcast Info...
Live streaming of the Air Force-Wisconsin contest will be available on the Falcons' website at GoAirForceFalcons.com.

Coaches...
• Air Force is coached by Ardie McInelly (Boise State, 1982), entering her sixth season at the helm of the Falcons' program. She has compiled an overall record of 34-106 while at the Academy and holds a career record of 111-168 (10 years).
• Wisconsin is coached by Lisa Stone, in her fourth year as head coach of the Badgers. Stone holds a record of 33-51 at Wisconsin and a career mark of 408-169 (21 years).

Series Records...
This week marks the first-ever meeting between Air Force and Wisconsin.

Scouting the Falcons...
Air Force played two preseason exhibition contests last week, defeating Colorado School of Mines, 55-49, before falling to Metro State, 65-60.

Junior Alecia Steele, who scored 21 points in the loss to the Roadrunners, averaged 14.5 points and six rebounds in the two exhibition games, while senior Dawn Higginbotham averaged 10.5 points and nine rebounds. Higginbotham registered a double-double against Metro State, finishing with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Meanwhile, junior Lauren Henderson led Air Force with nine assists in the two games.

Scouting the Badgers...
Wisconsin picked up a pair of exhibition victories to open its season, defeating UW-Stevens Point, 77-58, before rolling to an 87-37 win over Winona State.

Danielle Ward led the Badgers by averaging 17 points in the two exhibition games, while Janese Banks (13.5 ppg), Caitlin Gibson (11.0 ppg), and Jolene Anderson (11.0 ppg) all averaged in double figures as well. Mariah Dunham was the team's leading rebounder, grabbing 13 boards in the two games, while Anderson led Wisconsin with nine assists.

Air Force vs. The Big Ten...
This week's contest versus Wisconsin marks just the second time Air Force has met a team from the Big Ten. The Falcons are 0-1 against teams from the Big Ten, as they fell to Minnesota in 2003.

AF In Season Openers...
Air Force holds a 19-11 overall record in season openers, including a 13-7 mark when opening the season at home. Last year, the Falcons picked up a 67-60 win over Northern Colorado in their season opener.

In the Record Books...
Letricia Castillo continues to move up in the record books in more than one category. The senior captain currently sits tied for 16th place on the career scoring list with 880 points and is poised to become the first 1,000-point scorer in the Falcons' Division I history. In addition, Castillo also ranks fifth in both career three-point field goals made and attempted.

Also making her mark on Air Force's record books is junior Pamela Findlay. In addition to holding the Falcons' record for career three-point percentage (.424), she also ranks 10th in career three-pointers made.

They're Our Leaders...
The captains for the 2006-07 basketball season are seniors Letricia Castillo and Andrea Taylor. Castillo, an honorable mention All-MWC selection in 2003-04, will serve as the Falcons' team captain for the third-straight season. Meanwhile, Taylor is in her second season as a team captain.

Falcons Picked Eighth...
In the preseason conference poll released Oct. 26, Air Force was chosen by the coaches and select media to finish eighth in the Mountain West. New Mexico was chosen to finish atop the conference standings, earning eight of 19 first-place votes, while BYU, the defending regular season champs, were close behind with seven first-place votes. New Mexico junior Dionne Marsh was tabbed the Top Returning Player, while Wyoming's Justyna Podziemska was named Top Newcomer.

Next Up...
The Falcons are back in action next week, Nov. 17, when they head to Greeley, Colo., to take on Northern Colorado. Tip-off is slated for 5:00 p.m. at the Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion.

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