Air Force Academy
Wyoming
Wyoming Squeaks by the Falcons, 71-67
3/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 2, 2002
Laramie, Wyo. - (March 2) In its final game of the regular season, the Air Force women's basketball team came up just short against Wyoming, falling 71-67 in a thrilling game.
The Falcons opened a 10-2 lead in the opening minutes of the game and never trailed in the first half. They led by double digits at the midway point of the half, and headed to the locker room with a 37-35 lead. It was as close as the Cowgirls had been the entire game. It was the first time this season the Falcons carried a lead into halftime against a conference opponent.
The second half was a back-and-forth battle. With just over 10 minutes to go in the half, Wyoming's Tara Rimsky nailed back-to-back three-pointers to give the Cowgirls a five-point lead, their largest of the game. The Falcons fought back to tie the score 64-64 at the 3:30 mark. The teams would stay close throughout the remainder of the game. With 22 seconds remaining and the Falcons trailing 70-67, Air Force forced a turnover. Wendy Stillman's three-point attempt with seconds to go rattled in and out, and the Cowgirls escaped with the four-point win.
Latoya Howell and Shawna Neff led the Falcons with 14 points each. Amoy Jackson added 13 points. Rozalyn Russ notched a season-high nine rebounds, while Samantha Clifton had six boards. Latoya Howell had five assists to bring her season total to 108. She needs just three assists to break the Academy's Division I single season record, which stands at 110.
Wyoming's Darci Arsene led all scorers with 23 points. She was 7-of-9 from the field and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. Ann McColl added 10 points. Colorado Springs natives Carrie and Christy Bacon combined to shoot 23.5 percent (4-of-17).
Air Force was 23-of-65 (35.4 percent) from the field and 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) from three-point range. Free throws, however, were the difference in the game. Wyoming attempted nearly twice as many free throws as Air Force, hitting on 23-of-31 from the charity stripe. The Falcons were 14-of-17 in free throws, bringing the season percentage to an all-time Academy record high of 76.4 percent.
For the second straight season, Air Force (4-23, 0-14 MWC) failed to win a conference game. The Falcons will head to Las Vegas on Wednesday, March 6, to take on Colorado State in the opening round of the Mountain West Championships. The Rams became the top seed in the conference with a 58-54 victory over New Mexico.
