Air Force Academy

Dec. 25, 2007

Complete Air Force-Navy media notes in PDF Format

Air Force Falcons (6-5) vs. Navy Midshipmen (2-10)
Saturday, Dec. 29, 2007 • 1:00 p.m. (EST)
Annapolis, Md. • Assembly Hall (5,710)

Radio/TV:
Radio is available via internet at www.navysports.com.

Livestats:
www.goairforcefalcons.com and www.navysports.com.

Last Week:
Air Force defeated Adams State, 68-48, on Friday, Dec. 21.
Navy lost at San Diego State, 33-91, on Tuesday, Dec. 18.

Up next:
Air Force opens Mountain West Conference play, hosting Utah on Wed., Jan. 9.
Navy hosts Fordham on Wed., Jan 2.

Streaks:
Air Force has a season-best two game winning streak. Navy is in the midst of a seven game losing streak. The Falcons are 2-4 on the road. The Mids are 2-1 at home.

Coaches:
Air Force is coached by Ardie McInelly (Boise State, 1982), who is 46-134 in her seventh season at the Academy and 123-196 in her 12th year overall as a head coach.
Navy is coached by Tom Marryott (Castleton State, 1985), who is 54-84 in his fifth year.

Last Meeting:
Air Force defeated Navy, 72-62, in Clune Arena at the Air Force Academy on Dec. 30, 2004.

Series Notable:
A pair of sisters will do battle in the game. Air Force sophomore guard Ashley Myers goes up against her sister, Angela, a freshman guard for Navy. The sisters are San Antonio, Texas, natives with Ashley attending Bartlett high school and Angela attending Taft HS. The ties to service academies does not end there, as the sisters have a younger brother, Gary Jr. (19), who played football this past season for the Naval Academy Prep School and an elder sister, Alexys (21), that is a basketball manager at Army.

Series History vs. Navy
- Air Force and Navy have met five times with the Falcons trailing the series 2-3.
- The two teams first met in 1996, a 52-49 win by the Midshipmen at a neutral site.
- Air Force is 0-2 all-time in Annapolis and 2-0 at the Academy.

Air Force vs. Service Academies
- Air Force is 9-8 all-time against service academy schools, going 7-5 against Army and 2-3 against Navy.
- Air Force has played both Army and Navy in the same season five times.
- Air Force played Army earlier this year, defeating the Black Knights, 68-60, at West Point.

Air Force vs. Army & Navy in same season
	Year		W-L
	1996-97		0-2
	2000-01		0-2
	2001-02		2-0
	2003-04		0-2
	2004-05		1-1

Air Force vs. Patriot League
- The Falcons are 11-11 all-time in games against Patriot League schools.

Air Force vs. Patriot League		First Meeting	Last Meeting
	vs. Army	6-5	1985	2005
	vs. Bucknell	1-1	2003	2006
	vs. Colgate	1-0	1985
	vs. Holy Cross	0-1	2000
	vs. Lafayette	1-1	2000	2001
	vs. Navy	2-3	1996	2005

Last Meeting vs. Navy
Despite being outrebounded for just the second time this season, the Air Force women's basketball team used an 11-2 run at the beginning of the second half to secure a 72-62 victory over service academy rival Navy Thursday evening in Clune Arena. Air Force's victory over the Mids moves it to 2-3 all-time against the service academy rival, with both victories coming at home. The Falcons also eclipse their win total from last season with their fourth victory of the year. Navy started the game out hot, connecting on six of its first seven shots. However, the Mids soon cooled down, making just 4-of-20 field goals over the remainder of the opening period. The Falcons were able to take advantage, forcing 14 first-half Navy turnovers to stay in the game, despite shooting just 33 percent from the field. Air Force knotted the score on several occasions, before taking its first lead with 44.3 seconds on the clock as sophomore Jacki Novak drained a pair of foul shots. The Falcons went on to take a 30-27 into intermission. It was all Air Force after the break, when the Falcons went on their decisive run. Outshooting Navy 44.8 percent to 27 percent in the final period, Air Force led by as many 15 points and never let the Mids get closer than seven. The Falcons also took care of the ball throughout the contest, committing a season-low 11 turnovers. Although both teams were shooting free throws in the final moments of the contest, the game was under control, as the Falcons soared to a 72-62 victory. Sophomore Letricia Castillo led Air Force with 14 points, while adding five assists and a rebound. Also scoring in double digits for the Falcons were freshmen Lauren Henderson and Alecia Steele with 12 points each. Henderson added five assists, while Steele recorded five rebounds. In addition, Novak had a career-high nine rebounds to pace the team. Leading the Mids was Carly Meyer, who scored 22 points and recorded seven rebounds before fouling out of the contest, while Nikki Curtis added 13 points.

Scouting Navy
- Navy enters the week with a 2-10 record after losing at Marshall, 58-71, and at San Diego State, 33-91, in its last two games. The Mids are coming off a SDSU game in which nearly the entire team contracted food poisoning with only four healthy players suiting up for the game.
- The Mids are led by freshman center Cassie Consedine, who leads the team with 12.6 points scored and 8.5 rebounds per game.
- navy is averaging 51.2 points per game and allowing 62.5.

Scouting Air Force
- Air Force is 6-5 on the season. The Falcons defeated Cal State Stanislaus, 74-49, and Adams State, 68-48, in their last two games.
- Senior forward Alecia Steele leads the team with 16.0 points and a conference-leading 9.1 rebounds per game.
- Air Force is averaging 64.9 points per game and allowing 65.4.

Recapping the Adams State Game
The Air Force women's basketball team won by over 20 points for the second-consecutive game, downing Adams State, 68-48, Friday afternoon in Clune Arena. Air Force shot 58.3 percent from three-point range, making a season-high eight three's on 15 attempts. Air Force has now won its last two games by a combined 45 points. The Falcons downed Cal State Stanislaus, 75-49, in their last game on Dec. 11. The trio of Alecia Steele, Pamela Findlay and Brooke Cultra combined to score 45 points for AFA. Steele led the way with 18 points and six rebounds. Findlay scored 16 points, making 4-of-5 three-point baskets. Cultra was an all-around force for the Falcons with 11 points, six rebounds, eight assists and two blocked shots. The Falcons had seven blocked shots in the game led by Kim Kreke's three swats. Raimee Beck led the team with eight rebounds from the point guard position. Aside from a 9-9 tie, Air Force held the lead almost the entire game and never trailed once. The game was close early on until Air Force took control of the game with a 10-0 run to end the first-half and take a 36-23 lead at the break. After an Adams State three to start the second-half, the Falcons went on another 10-0 run to jump ahead 46-26 at the 15:23 mark in the second. Air Force shot 40.9 percent from the field and committed just 10 turnovers. Adams State was 32.7 percent from the field and had 18 turnovers.

Notes From Air Force-Adams State Game
- Ashley Myers scored her first-career points for Air Force, sinking a jumper in the second-half.
- Stevie Puentes had two steals for the second-consecutive game.
- Liz Dunsworth recorded a career-high four rebounds.
- Jennifer Bandi and Candice Chase attempted their first-career shots for the Falcons.
- Air Force has held its last two opponents under 50 points.
- Air Force is off to its second-best start after 11 games in Div. I history and since Ardie McInelly took over. The 2005-06 team started off 9-2.

Air Force Strong and Improved In Several Categories
Air Force ranks first in the Mountain West Conference in three-point field goal percentage and rebounding and second in free throw shooting percentage. In addition, the team ranks third in shots blocked. The Falcons are pulling down 39.5 boards per game, making 38.1 percent of their three-point attempts, sinking 72.1 percent of their free throws and blocking 4.64 shots per game. All four categories, especially the three-point shooting, are significantly improved from a year ago.

Category	2006-07	2007-08	Improvement
Rebounding	36.2	39.5	+3.3
3PT Pct.	26.1	38.1	+12.0
Free throw %	68.0	72.1	+4.1%
Shot Blocks	2.62	4.64	+2.02

Mountain West's Top Three-Point Shooting Team
Air Force enters the Navy game shooting 38.1 percent from three-point range, which ranks first amongst the Mountain Weste Conference schools. Air Force is coming off a season-best 58.3 percent night from long-distance against Adams State, which saw the Falcons can 8-of-15 treys. Air Force has shot obove 40 percent from long distance in their last three games. Air Force also has the league's top three-point shooter in Pamela Findlay, who has made 50 percent of her shots (17-of-34). Air Force is currently on pace to break the school's team three-point percentage record of 37.9 set by the 1990-91 team and shatter the Div. I mark of 32.9 percent set by the 2002-03 team.

Findlay An All-Purpose Threat For Falcons
Senior guard Pamela Findlay is off to a strong senior season, proving her ability as a well-rounded player. A do-it-all player, Findlay currently ranks amongst the conference's top 15 in five different categories:

Category	#	Rank
Scoring	13.2	12
3Pt Pct.	50.0	1
Blk	1.27	4
FG Pct.	49.1	8
3Pt Fg 	1.55	11

Steele Becomes Air Force's All-Time Leading Scorer in Div. I Era
With 14 points against Cal State Stanislaus, senior Alecia Steele became Air Force's all-time leading scorer in the Div. I Era, surpassing 2007 grad Letricia Castillo, who finished with 1,073 career points. Steele now has 1,097 career points, ranking eighth all-time at the Academy.

Steele Eclipses 1,000 Point Barrier Against Hampton
With a season-high 21 points against Hampton, senior forward Alecia Steele surpassed the 1,000 career point barrier, becoming the 11th player in Air Force history to reach the 1,000 mark. Steele is just the second player, joining `07 grad Letricia Castillo, to accomplish the feat since the Falcons moved up to Div. I play.

Falcons Perfect From Line Against Wisconsin
Air Force was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line Sunday at Wisconsin. It was the first time in 50 games that the Falcons had been perfect from the line as a team. Air Force went 4-for-4 from the line on Jan. 18, 2006 against Utah.

Mixed Results With Buzzer Beaters
Twice this year, Air Force has seen opponents tie the game up with buzzer-beating three-point baskets to end regulation. St. Francis was the first to do so against the Falcons and ended up winning 63-62 in overtime. The same thing happened again to the Falcons against Hampton, but that time, Air Force rebounded with an 85-84 overtime win to open the 2007 Air Force Classic.

Findlay and Steele Named Team Captains for 2007-08
The captains for the 2006-07 basketball season are seniors Pamela Findlay and Alecia Steele. Both are first-year captains.

Falcons Picked Ninth
In the preseason conference poll released Oct. 17, Air Force was chosen by the coaches and select media to finish ninth in the Mountain West.

Wyoming was tabbed as the preseason favorite for the first time in MWC history after winning the WNIT Championship and finishing tied for second place in last year's regular-season standings. Wyoming received 24-of-30 first-place votes and 203 total points. TCU had two first-place votes and finished second with 188 points, followed by BYU with one first-place vote and 182 points. New Mexico placed fourth, followed by Utah, UNLV, San Diego State, Colorado State and Air Force.

Last year's MWC Co-Player of the Year, TCU senior guard Adrianne Ross, earned Top Returning Player honors, while Leilani Mitchell of Utah was named Top Newcomer and San Diego State's Paris Johnson was tabbed Top Freshman.

Noting The Starters

Noting Alecia Steele
- Became the 11th player in Air Force history to score over 1,000 points against Hampton. Is just the second Falcons to do so in the Div. I era.
- Leads the MWC with 9.1 rebounds per game.
- Has four double-doubles on the year.
- Scored a season-high 22 points in career-high 40 minutes against Nothern Colorado.
- Named to Air Force Classic All-Tournament Team.

Noting Pamela Findlay
- Leads MWC with 50.0 percent three-point shooting percentage.
- Led team in scoring in both games of Air Force Classic.
- Named to Air Force Classic All-Tournament Team.

Noting Kim Kreke
- Has started all 11 games at center.
- Record three blocked shots for the third time this season against Adams State.
- Ranks third on team and sixth in conference with 1.18 blocks per game.

Noting Brooke Cultra
- Dished out eight assists against Adams State, the most by a Falcon since Andrea Taylor dished out eight against New Mexico on Jan. 21, 2006. - Has started all 11 games at guard.
- Leads team with 37 assists.
- Second on team and 11th in MWC with 6.2 rebounds per game.

Noting Raimee Beck
- Sixth in the MWC with 2.00 three's per game.
- Has led team in scoring three times.
- Has logged 40-or-more minutes in a game three times and 38-or-more five times this season.

Up Next
Air Force opens Mountain West Conference play hosting Utah on Jan. 9.