Sunday, March 1
Las Vegas, NV
5:30 PM MT
Air Force Academy
vs
Colorado State
Photo by: U.S. Air Force photo / Trevor Co
Seventh-seeded Air Force Runs it Back against Colorado State in MW Tournament Opener
2/29/2020 12:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Air Force women's basketball tips off against the Rams at 4:30 p.m. PT in the Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas
GAME 30: AIR FORCE (9-20, 7-11 MW) vs. COLORADO STATE (12-17, 6-12 MW)
WHEN: 4:30 p.m. PT/5:30 MT, Sunday, March 1
WHERE: Thomas & Mack Center - Las Vegas, Nev.
WHAT: First Round -2020 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Women's Basketball Championship
The seventh-seeded Falcons travels to the 2020 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Women's Basketball Championship to take on 10th-seed Colorado State in first round action. Tip-off is slated for 4:30 p.m. PT/5:30 MT in UNLV's Thomas and Mack Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
RUN IT BACK
Air Force outscored in-state rivals Colorado State, 49-44, in the regular season finale, Thursday evening (Feb. 27) in Clune Arena. The Falcons, who secured the seventh seed in the post-season tournament, finalized the regular-season campaign at 9-20 overall with a 7-11 mark in the Mountain West and their best conference finish to date.
Air Force had a trio of scorers in the double-figures, led by Kaelin Immel's 15 points and eight rebounds, shooting 60-percent from the floor (6-10). Briana Autrey-Thompson scored 11 points, picked off two steals and dished out an assist. Sophomore standout Riley Snyder dropped 10 points and snagged seven rebounds on the night.
Sophomore guard Cierra Winters was instrumental in helping Air Force to victory as she picked off a career-high six steals, five of which were in the first half. Winters came off the bench and shot 50-percent from the field, tallying eight points, two rebounds and an assist.
Emily Conroe and Kassady Huffman put in work down low, snagging eight and five rebounds, respectively. Freshman forward Nikki McDonald snagged five rebounds in her 10th start for the Falcons.
THE SERIES
The Falcons and Rams will be tipping off for the 64th time in program history. Air Force split this
season's meetings with the Rams, losing 60-40 at Colorado State (Jan. 18) and downing the Rams in the season final earlier this week, 49-44, at USAFA. Last season's home win against CSU snapped a 13-game losing-steak to the Rams.
-Air Force is 13-50 against Colorado State in the all-time series
-The series began in 1979, AF won the first meeting, 94-83, in overtime
-Last time they played in Fort Collins, the Falcons fell, 60-40
-The Falcons are 8-23 when playing the Rams at USAFA
-Air Force is 2-1 against CSU when playing on neutral courts
STARTERS LAST GAME (GP-GS)
#1, Briana Autrey-Thompson, 8.9 PPG, 4.2 APG (19-19)
#13, Emily Conroe, 8.2 PPG, 7.6 RPG (29-29)
#23, Riley Snyder, 14.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG (29-25)
#32, Kaelin Immel, 15.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG (29-29)
#33, Nikki McDonald, 2.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG (29-10)
NEW HEIGHTS
Chris Gobrecht's Falcons continue to set new standards for the program, winning a program-best seven conference games since joining Division I basketball in the 1996-97 season. For the first time ever, Air Force knocked off a peaked Fresno State team. Two more program-firsts came as wins against Nevada and New Mexico in their home gyms. The Falcons' seventh place finish in conference is the best league finish to date.
Gobrecht's teams have won 16 Mountain West games over the past three seasons. That matches the 16 wins that had been earned over the previous 12 years. The four wins in the past six games would have matched the best conference win total for any season since the program moved to Division I in 1996-97.
NEXT UP
The winner of Air Force and Colorado State in Game Two of the First Round will take on No. 2 seed Boise state in the Quarterfinals Game Six at 6 p.m. PT. Boise State bested Air Force in both meetings this season and the Falcons have only ever beat the Broncos once (2/20/13, 77-72, at USAFA). Boise State will be coming in on fresh legs having not played a Thursday game coupled with a first-round bye.
PUTTING IN THE TIME
Co-team captains Kaelin Immel and Emily Conroe have started every game this season. Immel has 87 career starts in 89 career appearances, starting in every game played during her freshman and junior seasons and only missing one game and two starts due to injury in her sophomore season. Conroe has played in 90 straight games, that's every game Air Force has had scheduled since she arrived in the 2017-18 campaign.
CLIMBING THE ALL-TIME LADDER
Immel became the 16th all-time Falcon to achieve 1,000 career points at Air Force. Immel, who now has 1,293 career points, is the seventh all-time leading scorer in program history and second-leading scorer in the Division I era. The next rung up on the all-time ladder is Amanda Williams (1984-88) with 1,314 career points. Raimee Beck (2007-11) is top career scorer in the Division I era with 1,386 points.
In terms of single-season points, Kaelin Immel has racked up 445 this year, the second-most in the Di-vision I era, second only to her own record set during her freshman campaign (464, 2017-18).
Junior teammate Emily Conroe is following Immel's lead in the all-time points pursuit with 903 career points, a mark that ranks her 10th in the Div. I era, recently surpassing Elycia Hall (1995-99) who had 854 career points.
Riley Snyder is trending upwards on the career points ladder with 701 to date, a mark that ranks her 17th in the Division I era. Her 412 points this season is the third most single-season points in the Division I era, behind two of Immel's single-season marks [(2017-18, 464, 1st) (2019-20, 445 pts, 2nd)].
Emily Conroe picked up her 500th career rebound at San Diego State (Feb. 8). She now has 560 career rebounds, 396 are defensive, and 164 are offensive. Conroe is the sixth Falcon in Div. I history to achieve the feat. She is currently sixth in the Div. I career-rebounding record book while former teammate, Cortney Porter, is fourth with 571 from 2015-18.
WHEN: 4:30 p.m. PT/5:30 MT, Sunday, March 1
WHERE: Thomas & Mack Center - Las Vegas, Nev.
WHAT: First Round -2020 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Women's Basketball Championship
The seventh-seeded Falcons travels to the 2020 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Women's Basketball Championship to take on 10th-seed Colorado State in first round action. Tip-off is slated for 4:30 p.m. PT/5:30 MT in UNLV's Thomas and Mack Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
RUN IT BACK
Air Force outscored in-state rivals Colorado State, 49-44, in the regular season finale, Thursday evening (Feb. 27) in Clune Arena. The Falcons, who secured the seventh seed in the post-season tournament, finalized the regular-season campaign at 9-20 overall with a 7-11 mark in the Mountain West and their best conference finish to date.
Air Force had a trio of scorers in the double-figures, led by Kaelin Immel's 15 points and eight rebounds, shooting 60-percent from the floor (6-10). Briana Autrey-Thompson scored 11 points, picked off two steals and dished out an assist. Sophomore standout Riley Snyder dropped 10 points and snagged seven rebounds on the night.
Sophomore guard Cierra Winters was instrumental in helping Air Force to victory as she picked off a career-high six steals, five of which were in the first half. Winters came off the bench and shot 50-percent from the field, tallying eight points, two rebounds and an assist.
Emily Conroe and Kassady Huffman put in work down low, snagging eight and five rebounds, respectively. Freshman forward Nikki McDonald snagged five rebounds in her 10th start for the Falcons.
THE SERIES
The Falcons and Rams will be tipping off for the 64th time in program history. Air Force split this
season's meetings with the Rams, losing 60-40 at Colorado State (Jan. 18) and downing the Rams in the season final earlier this week, 49-44, at USAFA. Last season's home win against CSU snapped a 13-game losing-steak to the Rams.
-Air Force is 13-50 against Colorado State in the all-time series
-The series began in 1979, AF won the first meeting, 94-83, in overtime
-Last time they played in Fort Collins, the Falcons fell, 60-40
-The Falcons are 8-23 when playing the Rams at USAFA
-Air Force is 2-1 against CSU when playing on neutral courts
STARTERS LAST GAME (GP-GS)
#1, Briana Autrey-Thompson, 8.9 PPG, 4.2 APG (19-19)
#13, Emily Conroe, 8.2 PPG, 7.6 RPG (29-29)
#23, Riley Snyder, 14.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG (29-25)
#32, Kaelin Immel, 15.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG (29-29)
#33, Nikki McDonald, 2.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG (29-10)
NEW HEIGHTS
Chris Gobrecht's Falcons continue to set new standards for the program, winning a program-best seven conference games since joining Division I basketball in the 1996-97 season. For the first time ever, Air Force knocked off a peaked Fresno State team. Two more program-firsts came as wins against Nevada and New Mexico in their home gyms. The Falcons' seventh place finish in conference is the best league finish to date.
Gobrecht's teams have won 16 Mountain West games over the past three seasons. That matches the 16 wins that had been earned over the previous 12 years. The four wins in the past six games would have matched the best conference win total for any season since the program moved to Division I in 1996-97.
NEXT UP
The winner of Air Force and Colorado State in Game Two of the First Round will take on No. 2 seed Boise state in the Quarterfinals Game Six at 6 p.m. PT. Boise State bested Air Force in both meetings this season and the Falcons have only ever beat the Broncos once (2/20/13, 77-72, at USAFA). Boise State will be coming in on fresh legs having not played a Thursday game coupled with a first-round bye.
PUTTING IN THE TIME
Co-team captains Kaelin Immel and Emily Conroe have started every game this season. Immel has 87 career starts in 89 career appearances, starting in every game played during her freshman and junior seasons and only missing one game and two starts due to injury in her sophomore season. Conroe has played in 90 straight games, that's every game Air Force has had scheduled since she arrived in the 2017-18 campaign.
CLIMBING THE ALL-TIME LADDER
Immel became the 16th all-time Falcon to achieve 1,000 career points at Air Force. Immel, who now has 1,293 career points, is the seventh all-time leading scorer in program history and second-leading scorer in the Division I era. The next rung up on the all-time ladder is Amanda Williams (1984-88) with 1,314 career points. Raimee Beck (2007-11) is top career scorer in the Division I era with 1,386 points.
In terms of single-season points, Kaelin Immel has racked up 445 this year, the second-most in the Di-vision I era, second only to her own record set during her freshman campaign (464, 2017-18).
Junior teammate Emily Conroe is following Immel's lead in the all-time points pursuit with 903 career points, a mark that ranks her 10th in the Div. I era, recently surpassing Elycia Hall (1995-99) who had 854 career points.
Riley Snyder is trending upwards on the career points ladder with 701 to date, a mark that ranks her 17th in the Division I era. Her 412 points this season is the third most single-season points in the Division I era, behind two of Immel's single-season marks [(2017-18, 464, 1st) (2019-20, 445 pts, 2nd)].
Emily Conroe picked up her 500th career rebound at San Diego State (Feb. 8). She now has 560 career rebounds, 396 are defensive, and 164 are offensive. Conroe is the sixth Falcon in Div. I history to achieve the feat. She is currently sixth in the Div. I career-rebounding record book while former teammate, Cortney Porter, is fourth with 571 from 2015-18.
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