Nov. 6, 2007
Weekend Media Game Notes In PDF Format 
Air Force Falcons (0-0) vs. Oklahoma State Cowgirls (0-0)
Friday, Nov. 9, 2007 • 6:00 p.m. (CST)
Stillwater, Okla. • Gallagher-Iba Arena (13,611)
Air Force Falcons vs. UMKC Kangaroos (0-0)
Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007 • 2:00 p.m. (CST)
Kansas City, Mo. • Swinney Recreation Center (1,500)
Radio/Television/Livestats: Internet radio available for Oklahoma State game (through www.okstate.com - fee required).
Last Week:
Air Force defeated Regis University, 89-52, last Saturday, Nov. 3, in a home exhibition game.
Oklahoma State defeated the Oklahoma Flyers, 99-57, last Friday, Nov. 2, in a home exhibition game. The Cowgirls also host an exhibition game on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
UMKC defeated Panhandle State, 70-47, last Saturday, Nov. 3, in a home exhibition game. The Kangaroos open their season on Friday against Central Arkansas.
Next Week: Air Force hosts Denver University on Friday, Nov. 16.
Streaks: All three teams enter the season with a one-game losing streak.
Rankings: None of the teams are ranked.
Coaches:
Air Force is coached by Ardie McInelly (Boise State, 1982), who is 40-129 entering her seventh season at the Academy and 117-191 in her 12th year overall as a head coach.
Oklahoma State is coached by Kurt Budke (Washburn, 1984), who is 26-33 in his third season and is 379-80 in his 15th season as a head coach.
UMKC is coached by Candace White-Whitaker, who is 8-11 entering her second season.
Last Meeting: Air Force plays both Oklahoma State and UMKC for the first time.
Air Force vs. The Big 12
- The Falcons are 0-7 all-time in games against Big 12 Conference schools.
- The last Big 12 opponents to face Air Force were Baylor and Colorado in 2002.
Air Force vs. Big 12 First Meeting Last Meeting
vs. Colorado 0-3 1978 2002
vs. Baylor 0-2 2001 2002
vs. Iowa State 0-1 1988
vs. Kansas State 0-1 1980
Air Force vs. The Summit League
- The Falcons are 2-5 all-time in games against The Summit League schools.
- The last Summit opponent to play Air Force was IPFW in 2004.
Air Force vs. The Summit League First Meeting Last Meeting
vs. IPFW 0-1 2004
vs. North Dakota St. 1-1 1979 1989
vs. South Dakota St. 1-1 1984 1995
vs. Southern Utah 0-2 2000 2001
Air Force in the state of Oklahoma
- Air Force 0-3 all-time against schools from Oklahoma. Air Force defeated Northwest Oklahoma in 1983 and lost to Tulsa, twice, in 1999.
Air Force in the state of Missouri
- Air Force 2-1 all-time against schools from Missouri. Air Force lost to Missouri-Rolla in 1994, defeated Missouri Western in 1991 and defeated Northwest Missouri State in 1992.
Air Force-Oklahoma State Connections
• Air Force senior Alecia Steele is a native of Oklahoma City, Okla. and attended Millwood high school.
Air Force-UMKC State Connections
• UMKC senior guard Brittny Picconi is a Thornton, Colo. native, attending Horizon high school.
Falcons In Season Openers
- Air Force is 19-12 in season openers. The Falcons are 6-5 in road openers.
- AFA lost its season-opener last year to Wisconsin,
Regis Exhibition Recap
Led by senior team co-captains Alecia Steele and Pamela Findlay, who combined for 37 points, Air Force coasted to a 89-52 victory over Regis University in women's basketball exhibition action Saturday night, Nov. 3, at Clune Arena.
Steele led Air Force with 23 points and 17 rebounds. The forward reached double-double status in the first half, with 19 points and 10 rebounds at the intermission. Findlay was second on the team with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting. The guard also chipped in with four rebounds and two assists.
Air Force showcased a stifling defense and an offense that looked in midseason form, running out to a 48-15 lead at halftime. The Falcons opened the game with an 11-0 run and never looked back. The Falcons shot 55 percent from the field in the first half and did not allow Regis to reach double-figures until the 3:32 mark in the first period.
Twelve of the 16 players on the Falcon roster scored. Air Force shot 50 percent from the field on the day and a scorching 48 percent (12-for-25) from three-point range.
Air Force dished out 22 assists in the game, with freshman Raimee Beck, junior Brooke Cultra and senior Jamie Davis leading the team with four apiece. The Falcons showed that they can shoot the three-ball as a team, as eight different players hit from long-distance, including center Kim Kreke. Findlay, sophomore Cynthia Lete and freshman Candice Chase had two three-point baskets apiece for AFA.
The Falcons out-rebounded Regis 53-21 and had 10 different players record multiple rebounds. Kreke had seven boards, while Cultra had five.
Scouting Oklahoma State
-Oklahoma State returns three starters and six letterwinners off a team that went 20-11 in 2006-07 and 8-8 in conference play for a 6th place finish.
- The team returns 65.6 percent of their scoring from a season ago.
- Sophomore guard Andrea Riley is the Cowgirls' leading returning scorer, averaging 12.8 points and 5.0 assists per game as a freshman.
- Oklahoma State welcomes six newcomers, including three All-Americans.
- The Cowgirls averaged 71 points per game and allowed 57.9 points.
Scouting UMKC
- UMKC returns three starters and nine letterwinners off a team that went 10-20 in 2006-07 and 6-8 for a 5th place finish.
- The team returns 69.5 percent of their scoring from a season ago.
- Senior center Alysa Klein is the Kangaroos' leading returning scorer, averaging 11.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots per game.
- UMKC welcomes five newcomers to its roster.
- The Kangaroos averaged 56.1 points per game and allowed 61.4.
Scouting Air Force
- Air Force returns two starters and 11 letterwinners off a team that went 6-23 in 2006-07 and 1-15 in conference play for a 9th place finish.
- The team returns 66.8 percent of their scoring from a season ago.
- Senior forward Alecia Steele is the Falcons' leading returning scorer and rebounder, averaging 12.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
- Air Force welcomes five freshmen to the team.
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 Alecia Steele - closing in on 1,000
- Senior forward Alecia Steele enters the season with 937 career points, needing 63 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.
- Steele enters the season with 15 career double-doubles. Steele had eight as a junior.
- Steele is a three-time All-Mountain West Conference selection and has led the team in scoring and rebounding the previous three years.
Noting Pamela Findlay - looking to return to form
- After shooting making a school-record 42.4 percent of her three-point baskets as a freshman and junior, Findlays three-point percentage fell to 27 percent as a junior. Findlay tweaked her elbow midway through the season and never quite returned to form. The injury looks healed though, as the senior was 6-of-11 from the field for 14 points and shot 2-for-5 from three-point range in the exhibition win over Regis.
- Findlay set a school single-season record as a junior making 89.7 percent of her free throw attempts (52-58).
Noting Kim Kreke - stepping into starting center role
- With the departure of senior Jacki Novak to graduation last season, junior Kim Kreke steps into a starting role at center.
- Kreke averaged 10 minutes per game a season ago, to go with 2.3 points and 2.1 rebounds a game.
- Kreke played 22 minutes in the start against Regis, scoring five points, pulling down seven rebounds and blocking two shots.
Noting Brooke Cultra - stepping into starting guard spot
- After spending her sophomore year as the top reserve for the Falcons, junior Brooke Cultra is looking to break out as a junior.
- In 18 minutes against Regis, Cultra scored seven points and pulled down five rebounds and tied for the team lead with four assists.
- As a sophomore, Cultra averaged 5.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.
Noting Raimee Beck - starting as a freshman
- Freshman Raimee Beck started at point guard against Regis, playing 25 minutes against Regis which was the second-most of any Falcon.
- Beck netted five points and tied for the team-lead with four assists and also had three steals.
Up Next
Air Force hosts Denver University in its home-opener on Friday, Nov. 16, in Clune Arena.
