LAS VEGAS –

The Colorado State Women’s basketball team tipped off the Mountain West tournament against a familiar foe in the Air Force Falcons.

Early on, it was a three-point barrage led by Briana Autrey of the Falcons, who knocked down back-to-back threes to give Air Force a lead they would never surrender.

At the end of the first quarter, CSU failed to register a single assist. It was clear, the lack of ball-movement, along with being out rebounded 17-5, were the dominant factors to being down double-digits at the end of the first quarter.

“We just didn’t play well,” said Ryun Williams, head coach of CSU’s Women’s Basketball team.
“Air Force came out in that first quarter and had a big quarter … We could never really just get anything going.”

Air Force’s Riley Snyder and Briana Autrey were two standouts of the half registering six-points each.

For the Rams, the second quarter was more of the same scoring a total of 15 points through 20 minutes of action. Surprisingly, this game was a tale of two halves.

“Personally, I know I got the team together and said ‘we have to play together’ I think personally we played the first half very separate and very individualized,” said Mackenzie Ellis, guard for CSU. “So playing together that’s what got us really good shots and pushed us to start to come back.”

Ellis led the rams on a personal 8-0 run to get the second half of play underway. Unfortunately for the senior guard, her game-high 19 points weren’t enough for the Rams in the end.

Kaelin Immel, Emily Conroe, Autrey and Snyder of Air Force all finished in double figures. If you combine all of four of their totals, they still outscored the Rams’ final score 53-48.

Air Force’s stout defense kept the Rams under 50 points for the fourth time this season, ultimately leading their way to victory with a final of 60-48.

The Rams finish the season with a 12-18 record as Air Force will advance to the next round to face-off against Boise State Monday.