Basketball: Falcons fall to Western Michigan, 71-54

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U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFPN) --  Despite the third double-double of the season for junior Alecia Steele, native of Oklahoma City, Okla., the Air Force women's basketball team dropped a 71-54 contest to Western Michigan Dec. 2 in the championship game of the Air Force Classic.

The Falcons fall to 3-4 on the season, while the Broncos improve to 3-6.

The teams traded three-pointers to open the game, but after a pair of free throws by Western Michigan gave it a 5-3 lead. Tthe Broncos never looked back and led by as many as eight points in the opening stanza before the Falcons were able to cut the halftime margin to 30-25.

After scoring five of the first seven points after the break, Air Force was back within two points at 32-30, but never got any closer. The Broncos, who attempted 18 free throws in the second half alone, gradually began to pull away, leading by as many as 19 points before cruising to the 71-54 victory.

While Air Force was able to outrebound Western Michigan, getting 21 boards on the offensive end, the Falcons shot just 29 percent from the field, and were held to a season-low 54 points. Meanwhile, the Broncos shot 49 percent for the game, including over 55 percent from long-range, and were 18-of-28 from the charity stripe.

Steele notched 19 points and a career-high tying 13 rebounds before fouling out of the game, while junior Pamela Findlay, from Glenview, Ill., was the only other Air Force player scoring in double-figures, finishing with 11 points.

Leading Western Michigan to the victory was tournament MVP Carrie Moore, who scored 30 points on Saturday. Also named to the all-tournament team were Findlay, Steele, Western Michigan's Lindsey Brown and Yale's Melissa Colborne and Chinenye Okafor.

The Falcons are back on the road for their next four games, starting next week with games against a pair of opponents from the Horizon League. Air Force will head to Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Dec. 7, followed by a contest at Illinois-Chicago on Dec. 9.

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