Air Force Hosts Denver In Home Opener
11/14/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 14, 2007
Complete Air Force-DU Media Notes in PDF Format 
Denver Pioneers (0-1) vs. Air Force Falcons (0-2)
Friday, Nov. 16, 2007 • 7:00 p.m. (MST)
USAF Academy, Colo. • Clune Arena (5,939)
Radio/Television/Livestats: Live stats will be available at www.goairforcefalcons.com.
Last Week:
Air Force lost a pair of road games, falling 89-49 at Oklahoma State and 65-59 at UMKC.
Denver lost at home to 10th-ranked Duke,57-37, last Sunday, Nov. 11.
Next Week: Air Force plays at St. Francis College (N.Y.) and Army. Denver hosts Montana State on Nov. 24.
Streaks: Air Force has a three-game losing streak dating back to the 2006-07 season. Denver has a two-game losing streak dating back to the 2006-07 season.
- Denver has won seven in a row against Air Force.
Rankings: None of the teams are ranked.
Coaches:
Air Force is coached by Ardie McInelly (Boise State, 1982), who is 40-131 in her seventh season at the Academy and 117-193 in her 12th year overall as a head coach.
Denver is coached by Pam Tanner (Illinois State, 1989), who is 177-163 in her 13th season.
Last Meeting: Denver defeated Air Force, 59-46, on Dec. 16, 2006, in Magness Arena in Denver.
Series History
- Air Force trails the all-time series vs. Denver 21-28.
- This is the 50th regular-season meeting between the two schools.
- Denver has been Air Force's opponent the most times of any Falcon opponent.
- The two teams first played in 1977, 50-60, Air Force loss at Denver.
- Denver has won the last seven games in the series.
- Air Force's last win over DU game in 1996 a 62-59 win at home.
Last Meeting
Shooting just 18 percent in the second stanza, the Air Force women's basketball team fell to Denver, 59-46, Wednesday evening at Magness Arena. The opening half was a back-and-forth battle, including 11 ties and three lead changes. However, neither team able to grab more than a two-point lead until the Pioneers hit a basket with 13 seconds remaining in the period to take a 28-24 advantage. Denver's four-point lead was short-lived, as Jacki Novak (Sr., Kewaunee, Wis.) brought the Falcons back within two with a shot as time expired. Air Force was able to regain the lead early in the second half, but a 6-0 spurt by Denver gave the Pioneers a 34-29 advantage. While the Falcons were able to come back to tie it up, Denver put together an 11-2 run to grab a 45-36 lead. With Air Force missing 14 straight field goal attempts over the span of eight and a half minutes, the Falcons could never get back into the game. Air Force trailed by as many as 15 points before freshman Cynthia Lete (Santa Ana, Calif.) broke the Falcons' field goal drought with just 14 seconds remaining. Junior Pamela Findlay (Glenview, Ill.) led Air Force with nine points, Alecia Steele (Jr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) added eight points and 10 rebounds and Brooke Cultra (So., Onarga, Ill.) pitched in eight points as well. Sara Benham was the Pioneers' leading scorer with 12 points.
Recapping The Oklahoma State & UMKC Games
The Falcons opened its 2007-08 season with an 89-49 loss at Oklahoma State Friday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Freshman point guard Raimee Beck led the way for the Falcons with 13 points. Air Force came out strong early on leading by as many as five points midway through the first half. The Falcons kept the game within two points with four minutes left in the first, until the Cowgirls pulled ahead to a 38-29 lead at the break. Several of Air Force's starters got into foul trouble in the second half and Oklahoma State caught-fire behind the three-point line to further extend its lead. Beck had a solid debut for the Falcons, shooting 5-of-11 from the Field and hit 3-of-8 from three-point range. The freshman also had a team-leading four steals and had one assist. Alecia Steele, an Oklahoma City native, struggled to find her shot early on, with just three points and two rebounds in the fird half. The senior finished the game with 12 points and eight rebounds. Steele got to the line for 10 free throw attempts, making six. Brooke Cultra was the third Falcon in double-figures with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Senior Pamela Findlay led the Falcons with 37 minutes played, scoring eight points and forcing two steals. The Falcons shot 33.3 percent from the field on the day and hit 30.8 percent from long-range. Air Force lost a 65-59 contest at UMKC Sunday afternoon at the Swinney Recreation Center. Senior forward Alecia Steele led the Falcons with 18 points and 12 rebounds to record her 16th career double-double. Air Force, who ended up trailing the entire game, started the game off sluggish, struggling early-on with UMKC's full-court press. The Falcons committed 14 turnovers in the first half, 19 for the game, to trail 35-31 at the break. The Falcons never got in-sync offensively, as the Kangaroos answered back after seemingly every Air Force basket. Air Force pulled to within one point of UMKC ten different times, but could never take the lead. The Falcons had pulled to within one point, again, midway through the second half, but the Kangaroos took control of the game with a ten point run to lead, 58-47, with eight minutes left. Air Force's second-leading scorer was junior Brooke Cultra with 12 points. Senior Pamela Findlay added 11 points and seven rebounds. Air Force shot 34 percent from the field and 76 percent (19-of-25) from the free throw line.
Scouting Denver
-Denver returns four starters and 11 letterwinners off a team that went 20-11 in 2006-07 and 12-6 in Sun Belt conference play for a 2th place finish in the West Division.
- The team returns 81.5 percent of their scoring from a season ago.
- Senior guard Alisha Godette is the Pioneers' leading returning scorer, averaging 9.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game as a junior.
- Denver welcomes four newcomers, including three freshmen, to the team.
- The Pioneers averaged 63.4 points per game and allowed 58.5 points a game last year.
Scouting Air Force
- Air Force enters the game with a 0-2 record after losses at Oklahoma State and UMKC.
- Freshman Raimee Beck led the team in scoring against Oklahoma State, with 13 points in her debut.
- Senior Alecia Steele led the team with 18 points and 12 rebounds against UMKC.
- Air Force enters the game shooting 33.7 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from three-point range.
- The Falcons are averaging 54 points per game and allowing 77.
Air Force vs. The Sun Belt Conference
- The Falcons are 22-31 all-time in games against Sun Belt Conference schools.
- Air Force is 1-3 against school in the conference other than Denver
Air Force vs. Sun Belt First Meeting Last Meeting vs. Denver 21-28 1977 2006 vs. Florida International 1-0 1985 vs. New Orleans 0-1 2004 vs. North Texas 0-2 2000 2001
Air Force-Denver Connections
• Air Force has one player on its roster from Colorado, freshman forward Candice Chase. Chase is from Lakewood and attended Green Mountain High School.
• Denver senior guard Alisha Godette is a native of Colorado Springs and attended Doherty High School.
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 - closing in on 1,000
- With 12 points against Oklahoma State and 18 against UMKC, Senior forward Alecia Steele enters the Denver game with 967 career points, needing 33 to reach the 1,000 point mark. Last year, senior Letricia Castillo became the first Falcon to reach 1,000 points in the Div. I era (1996-97), scoring 1,073.
- With 18 points and 12 rebounds vs. UMKC, Steele now has 16 career double-doubles.
Noting Pamela Findlay
- Senior guard/forward Pamela Findlay is currently fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 9.5 points per game and second on the team averaging 5.5 rebounds per game.
- Findlay has made two three point baskets on the year, giving her 83 career, which ranks seventh all-time at the Academy and six three's shy of sixth place.
Noting Kim Kreke - stepping into starting center role
- Junior center Kim Kreke made her first two career starts at Oklahoma State and UMKC.
- Kreke logged a career-high 31 minutes against Oklahoma State and had two blocks.
Noting Brooke Cultra - stepping into starting guard spot
- Started both games last weekend.
- Was one of two Falcons to reach double-figures in scoring in both games. Was 4-for-8 from the field in both games also.
- Played a career-high 31 minutes again UMKC and tied a career-high with two blocked shots.
Noting Raimee Beck - starting as a freshman
- Started both games at point guard.
- Led the team with 13 points, hitting three three-point baskets against Oklahoma state.
- Led the team with three assists against UMKC.
- Second on the team, averaging 33.5 minutes per game.
Up Next
Air Force hits the road over Thanksgiving break. The Falcons take travel to Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., to take on St. Francis College on Nov. 21 and then head to West Point to take on service academy rival Army on the 23rd.
