Basketball: Air Force falls to Colorado State Published Jan. 5, 2007 By Melissa McKeown Athletic Media Relations Office U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) -- Unable to withstand hot second-half shooting by the Rams, the Air Force women's basketball team dropped its Mountain West Conference opener, 65-56, to Colorado State Jan. 4 at Clune Arena. The Falcons drop to 4-8 on the season, 0-1 in the MWC, while the Rams improve to 6-7, 1-0 in the league. Colorado State opened the game with an 8-0 advantage before Air Force used tough defense to outscore the Rams 23-2 over the next seven and a half minutes. CSU had another quick spurt, but the Falcons were still able to go into intermission with a 33-25 advantage. Though senior Jacki Novak (Kewaunee, Wis.) opened the second stanza with a bucket for Air Force, Colorado State was able to come back, taking advantage of the Falcons' turnovers. The Rams regained the lead, 40-38, at the 12:10 mark and never looked back. Air Force committed 13 second half turnovers and shot just 36 percent from the field, while CSU could not miss after the break, knocking down 67 percent in the final period. Juniors Pamela Findlay (Glenview, Ill.) and Alecia Steele (Oklahoma City, Okla.) each notched 16 points to lead the Falcons, while Steele also added nine rebounds. Meanwhile, Molly Nohr led all scorers, recording 22 points to pace the Rams. The Falcons are back in action this weekend, Jan. 6, when they host BYU at 4 p.m. Fans that attend the men's game versus UNLV at 1:30 p.m. will receive free admission to the women's game. Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link)Click here to view the comments/letters page