Air Force Academy

AIR FORCE CLASSIC -- TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:
UAB 54 - North Texas 67     Dec. 1  5 p.m.
Air Force 68, Lamar 59         Dec. 1  7 p.m.
Consolation game
Lamar vs. UAB                      Dec. 2  1 p.m.
Championship game
North Texas 66, Air Force 43      Dec. 2 3 p.m.

SITE: Clune Arena (6,002)
Air Force Academy, Colo.

RADIO: None

NOTES
Lamar University will be the Falcons' opponent in the opening game of the Air Force Classic. Lamar is located in Beaumont, Texas, and has an enrollment of 8,000 students.

RECORDS
The Falcons are 1-2 after their opening weekend. Lamar enters the game with a 1-2 record.

COACHES
Air Force is coached by Sue Darling (Arizona, 1983). This is Darling's third year as head coach of the Falcons. She has compiled a 9-45 record. Lamar is coached by DeAnn Craft (Central Florida, 1987). Craft is in her third season with the Lady Cardinals. In her first two seasons, Craft compiled a 19-34 record.

SERIES
The Air Force-Lamar game will mark the first time in history that the two teams have played.

Game 5: Air Force vs UAB or No. Texas
Saturday - Dec. 2 -1 or 3 p.m. PST

SITE: Clune Arena (6,002)
Air Force Academy, Colo.

NOTES
The Falcons will face either Alabama-Birmingham or North Texas in the second game of the Air Force Classic. UAB and North Texas will play Friday at 5 p.m., with the winner playing the winner of the USAFA/Lamar game. The consolation game will be at 1 p.m. with the championship game at 3.

RECORDS
The Falcons are 1-2 after their opening weekend. UAB has opened the season at 4-1, while North Texas is unbeaten at 3-0.

COACHES
North Texas is coached by Tina Slinker (Wayland Baptist, 1978). Slinker is in her 12th season with the Lady Eagles. She entered the season with a 122-172 record at North Texas. Ala.-Birmingham is coached by Jeannie Milling (South Alabama, 1971). Milling has coached for 15 years at UAB. In that time, she has a 216-165 record.

SERIES
Air Force is 0-1 alltime against North Texas. The teams first met last season in Denton, where the Lady Eagles defeated the Falcons 92-53. The Falcons have never faced Ala.-Birmingham.

Scouting the Lady Cardinals
Lamar returns three starters and 10 letterwinners from last year's 10-17 team. They were picked to finish fifth in the Southland Conference. After three games, Lamar is 1-2, having beaten Texas-Pan Am (60-50) and losing to Wichita State (60-64) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (57-64). The team is led by Shawnta Vanzant, who is averaging 21 points per game. Vanzant has accounted for over a third of the Cardinal's offense. She also leads the team in rebounding, with 7.0 per game and assists with six per game.

Scouting the Lady Eagles
After winning consecutive championships in the Big West, North Texas begins its first season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. The team is off to a solid start, winning its first three games. The Lady Eagles are led by three players who are averaging double figures in scoring. Jalie Mitchell (13.7 ppg), Kristen Tramonte (13.3 ppg) and Heather Trout (10.3 ppg) account for nearly 50 percent of the team's scoring. Ashley Roberson is also an offensive threat, averaging 9.3 points per game, and she is the team's rebounding leader.

Scouting the Blazers
Alabama-Birmingham is coming off a terrific season where they made an appearance in the NCAA's Sweet Sixteen. The team is 4-1, with the only loss coming against Nevada in their season opener. UAB is led by all-American candidate Deanna Jackson. After five games, Jackson is averaging a double-double, as she is averaging 31 points per game and 13.6 rebounds per game. She had career high 38 points in the Blazers' five-point win over Middle Tennessee. Mia Thrash is also off to a solid start, averaging 13.6 points per game.

Looking Ahead
The Falcons will have little rest following the Air Force Classic. They will play their third game in as many days when they host Baylor on Sunday, Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. It will be the Falcons' first-ever meeting against Baylor. The Bears have started the season 4-0. The teams' high-powered offense has scored over 100 points in its last two games (101 vs. La.-Lafayette and 108 vs. Bethune-Cookman).

Quoting Coach Darling
"Lamar is a good program out of Texas. UAB was a Sweet Sixteen team, and has one of the best players in the nations. North Texas won their conference last year. I expect them all to be tough again this year. We are bringing in tough teams. Three games in three days is tough in itself. The word for the week is 'toughness.'"

Probable Starting Line-Ups

Air Force's Probable Starters
#       Name    	Pos     Ht      Yr
11      Morgan Bennett  G       5-9     So.     
22      Ali Tomlinson   G	5-6    	Jr.     
24      Amoy Jackson    F       5-10    Fr.
25      Rozalyn Russ    F       5-8     Jr.     
32      Wendy Stillman  C	6-1     So.     

Lamar's Probable Starters
#       Name    		Pos     Ht      Yr
3       Kenyada Frazier 	C       6-1     Fr.     
14      Danyelle Grimes 	G       5-5     Jr.     
15      Shawnta Vanzant 	G       5-6     Sr.     
42      Marilynn Brockman       F       6-0     Jr.     
44      Nakita Miles    	C       6-0     Jr.     

North Texas' Probable Starters
#       Name    	Pos     Ht      Yr
22      Heather Trout   G       5-10    Fr.
25      Rosalyn Reades  G       5-5     Jr.
32      Ashley Roberson P       6-0     So.
44      Jalie Mitchell  F       5-10    Jr.
55      Karen Lee       P       6-2     Jr.

UAB's Probable Starters
#       Name    		Pos     Ht      Yr
3       Brandi Stallings        G       5-9     Sr.
14      Mia Thrash      	F       5-9     Sr.
22      Natasha Thomas          F       6-2     Fr.
23      Deanna Jackson  	F       6-2     Jr.
50      Shaquetta Rhodes        F       6-2     Jr. 

Baylor's Probable Starters
#       Name    		Pos     Ht      Yr
3       Nicole Collins  	G       5-3     Jr 
31      Sheila Lambert  	G       5-7     Jr  
33      Hilary Akromis  	F       6-1     So 
34      Danielle Crockrom       F       6-2     Jr 
40      Monica Arnold   	P       6-2     Sr

Snapping the Losing Streak
When Air Force defeated Fullerton in California, the team snapped its 19-game road losing streak. The Falcons did not win on the road last season, and had not won a road game in over a year. Their last road win was against San Jose State in California on Jan. 4, 1999.

Hack Attack
Over half the Falcons' points in the Fullerton victory came on free throws, as the team was 36 of 54 from the charity stripe. Fullerton committed 34 personal fouls in the game, while the Falcons were whistled 26 times. The 60 combined fouls is a new Air Force Division I record. Rozalyn Russ also set records at the line. Her 15 free throws made and 21 free throws attempted are new Air Force Division I records.

Newcomers
Of the 13 players on the Falcons' roster, seven of them were not on the team last season. Ali Tomlinson, a junior, leads the group of newcomers. Tomlinson played for the Falcons as a freshman, but did not play last season. A starting point guard, Tomlinson brings speed and intensity to the team. Junior Brooke Bauer joins the squad after spending two seasons at junior varsity. She adds depth at the post position. The remaining five newcomers are all freshman. Janea Childress joins the team after spending a season at the Academy's prep school. Amoy Jackson, a guard, and Shawna Neff, a forward, are the Falcons' top recruits. They looked solid in the team's exhibition games. Kaitlin Mandelkow, Dorothy Albright and Melonie San Pietro round out the Falcons' freshman class. They should get solid minutes off the bench.

Extreme Connection
Falcons' starting forward and team captain Rozalyn Russ has connections with the eXtreme Football League. Her brother Steve Russ was selected by the Los Angeles Xtreme in the inaugural XFL draft. Steve played in the NFL for a number of years before Los Angeles made him their second pick overall.

Amoy Makes First Starts
Freshman Amoy Jackson was impressive in the Falcons' first two exhibition games. When Samantha Clifton was held out of the starting lineup due to injury, Jackson was called upon to make her first career start against Denver. She played well, scoring eight points and grabbing three rebounds in 27 minutes. Against Fullerton, Jackson scored 10 points, marking the first time in her career she hit double figures in scoring.

Nothing But Neff
Freshman Shawna Neff has come off the bench to give the Falcons quality minutes. Neff scored her first career points, knocking down a three-pointer and a 10-foot jump shot. Against Southern Utah, Neff scored a career-high 10 points, marking the first time she hit double figures in scoring.

From Downtown
Fans who watched the Falcons' season opener may have been wondering what happened to the deep shot. The Falcons did not attempt a three-pointer in the first half. Compare that to last season, when the team averaged eight trey attempts per game. No worries. The Falcons attempted 32 three-pointers in their loss to Southern Utah. Last season, Air Force had 30+ trey attempts just three times.

Holding onto the Rock
The Falcons are improving their ball-handling skills. In the season opener, against a pressuring Denver defense, Air Force committed 23 turnovers. In the team's second game against Fullerton, the Falcons committed 19 turnovers. Against Southern Utah, the Falcons did a fine job of controlling the ball--committing just 12 turnovers in the game.

Darling on Southern Utah
"We came back to within three points and that is good, but we couldn't go the distance with them. It came down to toughness on defense. We didn't have the pressure; we didn't have hands in their faces on shots; we didn't fight through screens. The bottom line is defensive toughness and we didn't have any."

Key to Success
The key to the Falcons success this season will be their scoring output. The team lost seniors Megan Thiedeman and Mollie Peters, who accounted for 65 percent of Air Force's scoring last season. The Falcons will look to returners Rozalyn Russ, Samantha Clifton and Morgan Bennett to increase their offensive production. The trio combined for 52 of the team's 100 points in the two exhibition games.

2000-01 Schedule Notes
The Falcons face non-conference schedule includes Nevada and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi-teams which soundly defeated Air Force last season. They will face Baylor, Penn and Navy-schools with a history of having solid basketball programs. The Falcons also face Lafayette and Army on the road-teams which the Falcons defeated last season at home, but will surely be looking for a measure of revenge.

First Career Points
Freshman Melonie San Pietro scored her first career points, knocking down a three-pointer late in the game against Southern Utah. Freshman Kaitlin Mandelkow also notched her first career points against the Thunderbirds, hitting a short jumper on a nifty move in the paint. Junior Brooke Bauer scored her first career points against Fullerton, knocking down two free throws.

Two-Sport Athletes
For the second year in a row, the Falcons have a two-sport athlete on their roster. Freshman Melonie San Pietro joins the squad after spending the fall playing on the Academy's soccer team. Last season, Morgan Bennett also played soccer, but chose to focus on basketball this year. Erica Palmer also played for the Falcons' soccer team. Palmer, who started the season on junior varsity, joined the Falcons' varsity squad to help fill a void when Samantha Clifton injured her ankle.

Sister, Sister
For the first time in 18 years, sisters will take the court on the same women's team. Sisters Sarah and Dorothy Albright will join each other on the court for the Falcons' varsity squad. Sarah, a junior, played on the varsity squad last season. Dorothy, a freshman, was expected to play junior varsity this season but was impressive in tryouts. The last sisters to play for the Falcons were Stacy and Martha Brodzik in 1982.