Air Force women win basketball championship

  • Published
SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) --  The Air Force team won the 2004 Armed Forces Women’s Basketball Championship at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., April 2 to 10. They upset the perennial championship Army team in the final at a double round-robin championship.

The powerhouse Army team had won the championship every year since the Navy defeated them in 1991 at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The Air Force won its only previous title at Chanute Air Force Base, Ill., in 1981.

The Air Force opened the tournament by defeating the Marine Corps team with Naomi Mobley’s 17 points. She is from Eielson AFB, Alaska. The 6-foot-3-inch center also collected seven rebounds.

LySchale Jones, from Langley AFB, Va., scored 10 points, while Staci Muller, from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, added 9 points. Lindsay Logsdon, from Laughlin AFB, Texas, and Nicole Bowman, from Aviano Air Base, Italy, each contributed 8 points to the 79-52 win.

The Air Force followed up its first day win by defeating the Navy team 90-74.

Mobley scored 21 points, and Jones’ three 3-pointers helped her compile a 16-point game total. Mariela Miles, from Eglin AFB, Fla., scored 13 points from her point-guard position, while forward Angelia Rougeau, from Dover AFB, Del., totaled 11 points and four rebounds.

On the third day, despite strong scoring by Mobley and Rougeau, with 18 and 14 points, respectively, the Army beat the Air Force team 64-61.

Miles got the Air Force back on the winning track, scoring 19 points to lead the Air Force to its second win over the Marine Corps, 67-45. Mobley and Jones pitched in 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Mobley’s 23 points and Miles’ 13 points again led the team to an important 67-46 win over the Navy. This win led to a final showdown between the Army and Air Force teams. The Air Force had to beat the Army by at least 3 points in the final game to win the championship (based on final win-loss record and actual head-to-head results in the tournament).

After leading during the championship game by as many as 11 points, the Air Force went into half-time trailing 41-40; however, Mobley’s 24, Miles’ 18, Bowman’s 14, and Rougeau’s 12 points led the Air Force team to an 81-74 final victory over the Army.