LAS VEGAS - Madison Smith and Jo Huntimer hope this isn't the end.
Air Force's two seniors could see their careers bookended by postseason appearances, but they'll have to spend nearly a week waiting if it will happen.
The Falcons (18-14), who fell to Wyoming in the Mountain West Tournament quarterfinals on Monday, won't earn an invitation into the 68-team NCAA Tournament, but they could well be in the mix for the 48-team Women's National Invitation Tournament or the new 32-team Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament.
The WNIT will announce its field on March 17. It is unclear when the WBIT will make its selections.
The Falcons entered Monday ranked 167th in the NCAA Net rankings, so a spot among the 148 teams in the postseason is certainly within reason. And it's not all based on merit, as some teams eliminate themselves from the secondary tournament based on an unwillingness to play or pay the costs associated with them.
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That won't be an issue for a program eager to stretch this season out a little more.
"We certainly hope we've done enough," Falcons coach Stacy McIntyre said. "Clearly you want to get to 20 wins, but at the end of the day you don't like to see your seniors -- their last thoughts of the season are of the third and fourth quarter. And also -- not just our seniors, but so that the juniors and sophomores realize that we expect to win and that we expect to go to the postseason."
Air Force has advanced to the postseason just once, when the seniors were freshman in 2021-22. That team won 18 games before advancing to the WNIT, where it won a program-record 19 games.
"We're very proud of the program and where it's come the last four years," Smith said. "We definitely came in at the right time of Air Force women's basketball. Our senior class our freshman year took us all the way to the NIT. Hopefully we can do the same for our underclassmen.
"But the program has come a long way in the time we've been here. And we're really excited to see where it's going in the future."