Air Force women take historic tourney win over CSU

LAS VEGAS • Raimee Beck had attempted 1,298 shots for Air Force before she squared up behind the 3-point line with less than two minutes remaining against Colorado State.

Beck had never experienced a win at the Mountain West Conference Tournament. The Falcons had a chance to beat the Rams, trailing by just one point. On shot No. 1,299 of her career, perhaps the greatest career in Falcons women’s basketball history, Beck tried to will it in.

“That one, I was like ‘Please let this one go in if any of them go in,’” Beck said.

Beck’s shot fell, Air Force’s defense didn’t allow a point the rest of the way, and the Falcons held on to a 66-63 victory at the Thomas and Mack Center. Ninth-seeded Air Force was 1-11 at the Mountain West Tournament before Tuesday. Fittingly, Beck, who had 16 points and 15 rebounds, finished the win by blocking the fourth-seeded Rams’ final 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

Air Force, which improved to 9-21, will play its second-round game against Utah today at 5:30 p.m. Mountain time.

Beck was Air Force’s closer, but sophomore Alicia Leipprandt carried the Falcons for most of the game. Colorado State grabbed an eight-point lead in the first half by using its size advantage to get easy baskets inside, but Leipprandt answered back.

Leipprandt, who scored 24 points Saturday against New Mexico in her first start since Jan. 8, was a matchup problem for the Rams’ forwards. She consistently drove by them, and hit 7-of-10 first-half shots for 17 points. She scored on a driving layup in the final seconds of the first half to put Air Force ahead 35-31 at the break.

“She just got by everyone,” Colorado State forward Sam Martin said. “As a team we couldn’t guard her.”

Leipprandt finished with 26 points, but picked up her fifth foul on a charging call with 1:54 remaining and the Falcons trailing by a point. But Air Force, whose only win at the conference tournament before Tuesday was against Colorado State in 2007, remained confident. Coach Andrea Williams has instilled a new attitude in a team that didn’t win a conference game either of the past two seasons, and a pregame song didn’t hurt.

“Funny story, when we’re coming out of the Hard Rock Hotel today, Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing,’ was playing,” Beck said. “I knew we weren’t going to lose, so I think that’s our new song.”

Journey makes for a good story, but Colorado State’s defensive strategy is what gave Air Force its opening. The Rams switched to a zone defense late in the game. Beck, Air Force’s all-time leader in 3-pointers in Division I games, saw the zone and thought she would get a chance to knock down an outside shot. Beck is Air Force’s lone senior, and her clutch 3-pointer and block at the end extended her career by at least another game.

“Her look and demeanor was even more hungry tonight,” Williams said.