LAS VEGAS — The historic season for Air Force women's basketball continues.
After their most successful season as a Division I program, 3 Falcons received honors by the Mountain West Conference in their end of the year awards.
On Sunday, the conference announced Air Force head coach Chris Gobrecht was named MW Coach of the Year, while senior guard Cierra Winters received Defensive Player of the Year recognition.
A record year, orchestrated by one heck of a coach. pic.twitter.com/Mp9Dsz7XYJ
— Air Force Women's Basketball (@AF_WBB) March 6, 2022
In her seventh-year as the Falcon's head coach, Gobrech guided Air Force to a 17-12 overall record and a 11-7 finish in the Mountain West, which is the program's first winning season since becoming Division I in 1996.
Under the direction of Gobrecht, Air Force finished the regular season Top 5 in the league's standings and will enter the 2022 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Women's Basketball Championship as the No. 5 seed, earning a bye to the quarterfinals for the first time in program history.
For Winters, this is her first postseason honor. She finished conference play averaging an MW-high 2.4 steals per game, while collecting 43 total steals on the 18-game conference season. The senior's 78 total steals rank 13th in the country, while her 2.7 steals per game are 21st in the nation.
Winters helped Air Force hold Conference opponents to an MW-low 58.4 points per game. The El Paso, Texas, native becomes only the second player (Kaelin Immel, 2017-18) in the program history to earn an individual All-Conference award since the Falcons joined the league in 1999.
The definition of a 🔒 down defender.
— Air Force Women's Basketball (@AF_WBB) March 6, 2022
Congrats Cierra! pic.twitter.com/pFzYf8sXQW
Senior guard Riley Snyder headlined the MW All-Conference team. Snyder, who is now the all-time Division scorer in Air Force history, averaged 15.4 point per game this season (5th in the Mountain West).
This is the second conference honor for Fruita Monument native, as she was named to the MW honorable mention team in 2020-2021.
Our two leading ladies!
— Air Force Women's Basketball (@AF_WBB) March 6, 2022
Riley headlines the MW All-Conference team, with the Defensive Player of the Year picking up All-Defensive honors too. pic.twitter.com/l6BaPwE0L8
Air Force will now face Nevada in the opening round of the conference tournament in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center. Tipoff on Monday is set for 3:30 p.m. The Falcons fell in both games to the Wolf Pack this season.
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