Air Force takes down Nevada to open MWC Tournament

Postgame Interviews

LAS VEGAS, Nev.- Air Force's record-setting season adds another notch to its belt, as the Falcons opened the Air Force Reserve Mountain West Conference Tournament with a 75-60 win over Nevada. The Falcons led for nearly 39 of the 40 minutes, clinching a position in the semifinal round for the first time in program history.

Seniors Riley Snyder and Cierra Winters shared a team-high 17 points as the pair combined to shoot 13-26 from the field. Winters, having collected a career-high 10 rebounds, also managed her first-career double-double on Monday.

"Honestly, it's on to the next game," Winters said when asked of the significance of recording her first-career double-double. "I didn't even know I had a double double. It's not about that. I was just doing my job. So we just want to win the next one and the one after that."

The Falcons showed the first quarter was a prelude for what was to come. Air Force finished the 1st quarter 8-15 from the field, including 3-5 from beyond the arc.

"I thought that the hot start was extremely important because Nevada is an outstanding defensive team and they're also an outstanding rebounding team," said head coach Chris Gobrecht. "We had to hit shots."

The three-pointer was a crucial tool for the Falcons, as the team connected on 9 of 16 attempts. Air Force's 56.3% success rate from deep becomes a new season-best.

As a whole, the Falcons were 28-55 from the field, equating to 51%. Monday's win marks the highest single game shooting percentage for Air Force this season.

Kamri Heath and Nikki McDonald also finished in double-figures with both women scoring 11 points. McDonald finished a perfect 4-4 from the field, though the chunk of her scoring came from beyond the arc, as the junior buried all three of her three-point attempts.

Haley Jones, in spite of early foul trouble, scored seven points to go with six rebounds. Jo Huntimer led all players with five assists, as the Falcons tied their season-high with 19 total assists.

The Air Force bench went on to outscore Nevada's reserves 21-8, as eight of the nine Falcons to appear managed at least two points.

"Our bench has been really important for us all year," said Gobrecht. "We play a style of play that it takes a lot out of you. We pick up full court. We push the ball in transition. A huge part of our strategy is always you might hang with us for awhile, but sooner or later the white flag's going up."

Nevada's only lead of the game, a 3-2 advantage 45 seconds into the 1st quarter, lasted just 54 seconds. Air Force recaptured the lead two possession later and never relinquished its advantage.

The Falcons finished the first half 50% from the field while holding the Wolfpack to just 30%. As a result, the Falcons held a 37-19 lead at the halftime break.

Air Force's early ability to consistently score points proved much-needed, as Nevada strategized a much more potent offense in the second-half. The Wolfpack out-shot the Falcons 54% to 29% in the 3rd quarter, cutting the Falcons lead to 47-38 going into the final 10 minutes.

However, Air Force closed the game shooting 82% (9-11) in the 4th quarter, a figure that includes 2-3 from long range.

The Falcons will face top seed UNLV in the semifinal round, a team that beat Air Force in both regular season games. Even so, the upstart cadets are looking forward to the opportunity.

"I think both times we played UNLV we definitely did not play up to our potential," said Riley Snyder. "We got both of the matchups that we wanted. I don't think UNLV has seen Air Force basketball, so that's really encouraging for us. Yeah, I'm really excited. I wanted another chance at them.

Air Force and UNLV are scheduled to tip-off at 6 pm MT on Tuesday, March 8.

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