Air Force Academy
UCCS
Women’s Basketball to Host UCCS Wednesday Night
12/6/2022 10:07:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Air Force (4-4, 0-0 MWC) vs. UCCS (1-7, 0-2 RMAC)
Clune Arena | USAFA, Colo.
Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022 – 6:30 p.m. MT
Air Force | UCCS | Mountain West
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Game Notes
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U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The Air Force women's basketball team picks up on game two of a three-leg home stretch on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m., hosting RMAC neighbor UCCS at Clune Arena.
Falcons at a Glance:
Air Force, after a 3-0 start to the season which included a season-opening victory at Denver and a dominant 40-point home win against Navy, hit a four-game skid that involved three-straight Power Five opponents and a Quad-2 loss to Saint Louis in the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla. The Falcons returned to USAFA for a bounce-back 63-60 victory over 6-1 UTEP on Sunday and aim to continue rebuilding their momentum against UCCS on Wednesday evening.
Tip of the Spear:
Three Falcons- Kamri Heath, Madison Smith and Kayla Pilson- currently lead Air Force in scoring, averaging 15.3, 13.0 and 10.3 points per-game respectively. Heath, in the Falcons' 90-50 win over Navy, scored a career-high 27 points and has scored 15 or more in four of the Falcons' eight games.
Smith, an emergent figure in her sophomore season after only averaging six minutes of floor time per game in 2021-22, has proven a key component to Air Force's early successes to open the season. In seven games played and six starts to the year, Smith has posted double digit scoring in five, and leads Air Force starters in three-point percentage (.385).
Pilson, having only played in three games to this point due to injury, posted a career-high 17 points on a season-high eight field goals made on Sunday in a 63-60 win over UTEP.
Defense by the Numbers:
As a program, Air Force ranks ninth nationally in steals per-game (13.5). Sophomore Jo Huntimer and Heath rank first and third respectively among the Mountain West in total steals, with 22 and 19 through the Falcons' first eight games. Air Force falls in at 13th in turnover margin (8.62) and 24th nationally in turnovers forced per-game- both leading figures among Mountain West programs.
Wa'ahila Workhorse
Huntimer currently ranks 36th in the nation and second in the Mountain West in total assists (4.3) and assists per-game (5.4). With 165 career assists in just 41 games played, Huntimer needs only 79 more career assists to crack the Air Force top-10 all-time leaderboard.
Scouting UCCS:
The Mountain Lions' Wednesday contest at USAFA will be counted as an exhibition for the visiting team. UCCS, returning to Clune Arena for the second time in a calendar year, enters Wednesday's game seeking some answers to break a five-game skid which extends back to a Nov. 16 win against Alaska-Fairbanks.
UCCS is led by a tandem consisting of sophomores Amyah Moore-Allen (G) and Maison White (F), who both average 13.4 and 11.3 respective points per-game. White, averaging 30 minutes a game, leads UCCS from the field (.603) on 44-73 shooting.
Last Time Versus UCCS:
The Falcons downed UCCS on Dec. 8 of last season, 70-49 at Clune Arena. In the game, Air Force produced 26 turnovers and 18 steals, scoring 32 points directly off of forced turnovers.
All-Time Versus UCCS:
Air Force holds an 11-4 record in the all-time series against UCCS. Last season's win against the Mountain Lions marked the first contest between the two programs since 2005-06 and the fourth-consecutive Air Force victory. The last time UCCS defeated the Falcons was on Jan. 29, 1994, before Air Force joined the ranks of Division I in 1996.
Coach G Gaining Ground
Head Coach Chris Gobrecht is currently serving her 43rd season as a head coach - the second-longest tenure in Division I women's hoops behind Stanford's Tara VanDerveer (44). Gobrecht's win tally surpassed 600 wins in the Falcons' Nov. 11 home opener against Navy.
Into her eighth season at the head of the Falcons' program, coach Gobrecht currently has 59 career Air Force wins to her name, making her the all-time winningest coach at three separate institutions- Air Force, Yale and Washington.
Gobrecht was named 2021-22 Mountain West Coach of the Year following Air Force's successful 19-14 season – A year punctuated by Gobrecht's fourth career WNIT appearance as a head coach, and Air Force's first postseason appearance and subsequent win in program history – a 64-60 victory over WCC opponent San Francisco on March 17.
Last Time Out:
Air Force defeated UTEP 63-60 on Sunday to earn its first-ever program win over the Miners. The Falcons (4-4) were led on the floor by a returning Kayla Pilson, who missed the last five games due to a hand injury sustained in practice. Pilson, logging 30 minutes of floor time Sunday, posted 17 points on 8-11 from the field, along with three rebounds, two assists, and three steals.
With Air Force leading 61-60 with just three seconds remaining in regulation, UTEP's Jazion Jackson drove up the middle for the winning score but was called on an offensive foul drawn by senior Nikki McDonald, giving possession back to the leading Falcons. With UTEP suddenly in foul territory, a pair of successful free-throw attempts for Huntimer sealed the Air Force win.
How To Follow:
Wednesday's game will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network, with Jean Parker and Rachel Galligan giving the call courtside at Clune Arena. Live statistics for the game can be found on the women's basketball schedule at goairforcefalcons.com.
Next Up:
Air Force returns to action on Saturday at 1 p.m., hosting Utah Tech in its final home non-conference game of 2022-23. After a road trip to Northwestern (Dec. 17) and Oklahoma State (Dec. 20), the Falcons open Mountain West play on Dec. 29 at Clune Arena against Utah State.
