GAME NOTES: Women's basketball battles Air Force

Feb. 22, 2008

Game 25 
Colorado State (2-22, 0-11 MWC) at Air Force (8-16, 2-10 MWC)
Feb. 24, 2008 | Colorado Springs, Colo. | Clune Arena (5,939) | 2 p.m. MT

The Series  
Overall Record:  CSU leads, 29-9
In Fort Collins:  CSU leads, 15-3
In Colorado Springs:  CSU leads, 13-5
At Neutral Sites:  Tied, 1-1
Warden vs. Air Force:  4-4

Radio  
Colorado State Sports Network:  90.5 FM - KCSU
Cole Weinman:  Play-by-Play
Lance Moorman:  Color Analyst
 
Television  
The Mtn.
Mike Evans:  Play-by-Play
Andrea Lloyd:  Color Analyst

Gametracker  
www.CSURams.com

Opening Tip 
Colorado State (2-22, 0-11 MWC) travels down Interstate 25 to face the Air Force Falcons (8-16, 2-10) at United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.  Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. MT from Clune Arena. 

The game will be broadcast in Fort Collins on 90.5 FM KCSU, with Cole Weinman and Lance Moorman calling the action.  Live Gametracker statistics will also be available on CSURams.com.  Gametracker can be accessed by clicking the link from the women's basketball schedule page, or on the calendar at the bottom of the home page.

The game will also air live on The Mtn. - the Mountain West Conference Sports Network.  Mike Evans will call the play-by-play and Andrea Lloyd  will provide the color commentary.  The Mtn. is available on Comcast Digital Cable channel 411.   

The Matchup 
The Rams come into the contest looking to snap a 15-game losing streak and pick up their first win against an MWC opponent.  Colorado State is coming off of a 76-41 home loss to the TCU Lady Frogs on Wednesday evening. 

The Falcons are eighth in the Mountain West Conference standings and are coming off of a pair of road losses to Wyoming (60-32) and New Mexico (79-40). 

About Air Force 
Head coach Ardie McInelly is in her seventh season at the  helm of the Falcons program, where she has compiled a record of 48-145 (.249), becoming the winningest coach in Air Force Academy history at the Division I level.  Overall, McInelly is 129-207 in 12 seasons as a head coach. 

This season Air Force returned 11 letterwinners, including a pair of starters from last season's team that posted an overall record of 6-23 (1-15 MWC), but defeated CSU in the first round of the conference tournament, marking the Academy's first conference tournament victory. 

The Falcons were selected to finish last in the Mountain West Conference preseason poll, and opened the season 0-2 with losses at Oklahoma State (49-89) and at UMKC (65-59), who defeated the Rams 76-62.  The team bounced back, posting a 6-3 record over the next nine contests.  During that stretch, the Falcons defeated the University of Denver, 65-56, at Clune Arena and also picked up a 68-60 win at rival Army. 

A road loss at the hands of Navy, who the Rams defeated 59-53 for their first victory of the season, triggered a five-game skid, that the Falcons broke with a 56-43 victory over CSU in their first matchup of the season.  The Falcons have posted a record of 1-7 since that contest, earning a home victory over UNLV, 71-66, on Feb. 13. 

An experienced team, the Falcons are led by a pair of seniors - Alecia Steele and Pamela Findlay.  Steele, a two-time third-team all-MWC selection,  leads the Falcons in both scoring (12.3 ppg.) and rebounding (7.2 rpg). 

Findlay, along with Raimee Beck, has provided the Falcons with a 3-point threat throughout the season, and enters Sunday's matchup averaging 10.8 points per game, while shooting 43.3 percent from the field, including 41.4 (29-70) percent from 3-point range, third in the MWC. 

Beck, a freshman and the only Falcons player to start every game this season, is shooting 35.2 percent (44-125) from beyond the arc.  She ranks 13th in the MWC in 3-point percentage and sixth in 3-pointers per game. 

Overall, the Falcons are seventh in the Mountain West in scoring offense (57.4 ppg.), and scoring defense, allowing 65.0  points per game.  The team ranks second in the conference in free-throw percentage (71.5 percent) and 3-point percentage (34.2 percent). 
 
The Rundown 
Colorado State holds a 29-9 advantage in the all-time series with Air Force, including a 13-5 record at Clune Arena.  The Series began in 1979, with Air Force winning the first two matchups.  From 1992-2005 the Rams defeated the Falcons in 20 consecutive games.  The Falcons defeated CSU, 56-43, in their first matchup this season.  The Rams captured the last meeting in Colorado Springs, a 65-56 decision to open the 2007 conference season.  

29-9 Overall | 15-3 Home | 13-5 Away | 1-1 Neutral
11/13/79 L, 83-94 Fort Collins
12/10/79 L, 79-84 Colo. Springs
11/18/80 W, 82-71 Colo. Springs
12/08/81 W, 82-69 Fort Collins
02/23/82 W, 75-60 Colo. Springs
02/03/83 L, 71-73 Colo. Springs
02/23/83 W, 95-74 Fort Collins
01/19/85 W, 71-47 Fort Collins
12/04/85 L, 68-71 Colo. Springs
12/02/86 W, 76-59 Fort Collins
01/31/87 W, 76-73 Colo. Springs
11/27/90 L, 66-75 Colo. Springs
01/04/92 W, 71-68 Fort Collins
01/02/97 W, 64-55 Colo. Springs
02/01/97 W, 61-46 Fort Collins
01/01/98 W, 97-59 Fort Collins
01/31/98 W, 97-46 Colo. Springs
01/28/99 W, 97-32 Fort Collins
02/27/99 W, 97-70 Colo. Springs
01/26/00 W, 91-73 Fort Collins
02/24/00 W, 67-45 Colo. Springs
01/25/01 W, 88-53 Fort Collins
02/24/01 W, 73-44 Colo. Springs
02/02/02 W, 63-55 Colo. Springs
02/27/02 W, 84-40 Fort Collins
03/06/02 W, 79-68 Las Vegas
01/25/03 W, 89-49 Fort Collins
02/20/03 W, 62-41 Colo. Springs
02/07/04 W, 83-46 Fort Collins
03/04/04 W, 75-58 Colo. Springs
02/03/05 W, 63-42 Colo. Springs
03/05/05 W, 75-40 Fort Collins
02/02/06 L, 60-76 Fort Collins
03/04/06 L, 65-79 Colo. Springs
01/04/07 W, 65-56 Colo. Springs
02/04/07 W, 61-49 Fort Collins
03/06/07 L, 46-47 Las Vegas
01/21/07 L, 43-56 Fort Collins

Last Time vs. Air Force 
Colorado State opened up the contest missing its first six shot attempts, and fell behind 13-0, eventually falling by that same margin. 

Junior forward Juanise Cornell led the Rams in scoring and rebounding with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  It marked Cornell's fourth career double-double and her fifth double-figure rebounding game of the season.  Freshman Bonnie Barbee had a career-high scoring night as she contributed 10 points, while Kandy Beemer added two treys to finish with six points.  Junior Carine Reimink had two blocks, giving her seven consecutive games with at least one rejection.

The Rams trailed at half by eight, 32-24, but a Cornell layup to start the second half cut the Falcons lead to six.  However, that would be as close as the Rams would come.  Air Force quickly extended its lead to 12 after scoring six unanswered points to lead 38-26 with 16:30 left to play.

Alecia Steele led the Falcons in scoring and rebounding with 15 points and 10 rebounds.  Raimee Beck added 14 points and four assists.  Twelve of Beck's 14 points came in the first half as the freshman connected on all four of her 3-point attempts to open the game. 

Senior Sara Hunter struggled early in the game for Colorado State and played a career-low 11 minutes while being shut out for just the fifth time in her career.

Rams vs. The Mountain West 
Colorado State women's basketball is 58-69 (.457) all-time in Mountain West Conference action.

Rams on the road vs. MWC 
Colorado State women's basketball is 21-43 (.328) all-time away from Moby Arena in Mountain West Conference action.

TCU Notables 
The Colorado State women's basketball team fell to 2-22 (0-11 MWC) on Wednesday evening with a 76-41 loss to TCU. 

Junior Amaka Uzomah earned her third-career start and led the Rams with eight points and 10 rebounds in the contest. 

Freshman forward Elle Queen added seven points and eight rebounds in the contest.  Five of Queen's rebounds came off the offensive glass, tying a career high.  Queen also led the team with three steals in the contest, tying her career-best mark. 

The Rams recorded a season high with 20 offensive rebounds, and outrebounded the Lady Frogs by a 46-37 margin. 

TCU shot 47.4 percent from the field, including 56.7 percent in the second half which ties for the best shooting performance by a CSU opponent in one half this season.  TCU was also able to convert 22 CSU turnovers in 22 points
 
For the Record 
Senior guard Sara Hunter continues to move up the career charts at CSU.  Entering Sunday's game, Hunter is 68 points shy of 12th on the Rams' all-time scoring list.  Sunday's contest will also mark the 100th career start for the four-year player from Fort Collins.  See Page 5 of this release to follow Hunter's rise in the Rams record book.   

Looking Ahead 
Colorado State travels to Laramie, Wyo., for a Wednesday evening matchup with the rival Wyoming Cowgirls.  The game is set to begin at 7 p.m. MT from the Arena-Auditorium.  The Rams battled the Cowgirls to a 26-26 tie at halftime of their first matchup, before Wyoming pulled away for a 68-55 victory.   

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