Las Vegas – Air Force basketball coach Ardie McInelly had a premonition well into the midnight hours Tuesday night that she would be preparing her Falcons to play Mountain West Conference champion Brigham Young.
Most anyone would have thought McInelly was daydreaming, because Air Force won only one conference game this season and it had never won a game in postseason play.
But Air Force junior Alecia Steele got a shot up through a forest of arms under the Air Force basket and the ball dropped through the net with seven-tenths of a second left, lifting the Falcons to a 47-46 victory over Colorado State in the first round of the conference tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.
After leading most of the second half, the Falcons fell behind 46-45 with 48 seconds to go on Emily Neal’s basket. Neal had triggered a CSU comeback that threatened to add misery to Air Force’s already miserable season.
“We decided we weren’t going to stop playing until the buzzer sounded,” Steele said. “We knew we were still in it. I grabbed a rebound and there wasn’t any time left so I just put it back up.”
For Colorado State, it was a bitter ending for a team that had beaten the Falcons twice in the regular season, 65-56 and 61-49.
“Air Force is a tough-minded team,” CSU coach Jen Warden said.
“I really believed in my heart that we had some chances in our first two games against Colorado State,” McInelly said. “It was one of those things that the ball bounced our way tonight.”
Steele led the Falcons with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Sara Hunter had 17 points for CSU.
AIR FORCE (6-22)
Steele 7-13 3-4 17, Novak 0-4 2-2 2, Castillo 3-12-1-2 8, Taylor 0-5 0-2 0, Findlay 1-5 0-0 2, Gladysz 1-1 0-0 2, Higginbotham 4-6 0-2 8, Jones 0-0 2-4 2, Cultra 2-6 2-2 6, Kreke 0-2 0-0 2. Totals 18-54 10-18 47.
COLORADO STATE (8-21)
Finley 1-3 0-0 3, Cornell 2-9 2-6 6, Moulton 1-8 2-4 4, Hunter 6-17 4-4 17, France 1-1 0-0 3, Neal 3-8 2-2 9, McFarland 0-1 0-0 0, Mason 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 16-50 10-16 46.
Halftime – Colorado State 21-20. 3-point goals – Air Force 1-7 (Castillo 1-4, Cultra 0-2, Findlay 0-1), Colorado State 4-15 (France 1-1, Finley 1-2, Neal 1-3, Hunter 1-8). Rebounds – Air Force 39 (Steele 10), Colorado State 39 (Moulton 13). Assists – Air Force 8 (Castillo 3, Taylor 3, Findlay 2), Colorado State 6 (Cornell 2, Hunter 2, Neal 2). Total fouls – Air Force 16, Colorado State 13. A – N/A.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
