MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 9, 2026

Stacy McIntyre

Milahnie Perry

Emily Adams

Thomas & Mack Center

Air Force Falcons

Postgame Press Conference

Air Force 68, Boise State 66.

THE MODERATOR: We're ready to begin with Air Force. We have student athletes Milahnie Perry, Emily Adams, Coach Stacy McIntire. Coach, let's start with you. Some thoughts on tonight's game?

STACY McINTYRE: Gosh, we are just in disbelief. You know, every single game from the beginning, you know, Wyo, San Diego State, and now Boise State, what I'm most proud of is we had a great game plan. We executed that game plan, and just stayed poised down the stretch.

For a team that's not been here and not been in a game like that in the Mountain West Conference Tournament just says a lot about the fight out of this team and especially with these young ladies.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. For both of you, you come in as the 9th seed and are advancing to the title game as the first-ever -- as the lowest seed to ever do so. How much sweeter does this make that for you?

MILAHNIE PERRY: Can't even put it into words. We're ecstatic. We felt like we had something to prove. I felt like a lot of teams didn't respect us, and that was a problem for us. I'm glad that we showed why you should respect us.

EMILY ADAMS: Exactly.

Q. Emily, for you, how do you approach a game like tonight where Boise State has a lot of size and they're throwing it all at you constantly?

EMILY ADAMS: Just relying on my teammates kicking it out as much as I can. Look what they did. They made all their shots. What can I ask for?

Q. 33 yesterday; 27 today. Just what has been clicking for you the last couple of days, and you mentioned in your last answer that you guys have something to prove. What do you feel like you're proving?

MILAHNIE PERRY: Well, to the first part of that, I think it was just important to let the game come to me and be able to trust my teammates, because I know that coming into each game, they would send two, three people at me, so just being able to kick that out.

I know my teammates are great shooters, great scorers, and so I'm glad that they showed that.

And I just feel like as a conference, we weren't respected as much. I'm just going to leave it at that (laughing).

Q. You said you're in disbelief, but after having those first two wins, are you guys starting to believe that this is possible? How much is that confidence showing itself in the way you're playing when the game starts to not go your way?

MILAHNIE PERRY: I think it's more surreal. We believed that we could do it, and that's why we did. But it was just important to continue to stay calm and keep doing the things that got us to the point, got us this far.

Q. Milahnie, you at least tied the scoring record for the tournament, so that's another record for you. Can you explain what's been going on with you over the past about month and a half, because it's been like this for a while now?

MILAHNIE PERRY: I think it's just leaving it all out on the court every time I step on it, knowing that this is my last season, so not taking that for granted.

Q. Playing in foul trouble, how did that impact the way you were able to play down the stretch?

EMILY ADAMS: Are you talking to me? I'm guessing since I was the one in foul trouble. I knew I couldn't be as aggressive on defense. I had to watch myself a little bit more.

It was very frustrating to be in foul trouble, but acknowledging that and trying to still help the team as much as possible was the goal.

Q. The two three-pointers that Keelie hit -- or three, however many it was, especially in the second half. You've seen her do that a lot over the years and you've also seen her have ups and downs as a teammate. How nice is that to see from her? Kind of describe her abilities as a shooter.

MILAHNIE PERRY: She's an exceptional shooter. I feel like as a shooter, that comes with it, having just low points where it doesn't seem like anything is hitting, but that doesn't lower our confidence in her. I know that she's a good shooter, and she showed that.

Q. Then when the buzzer sounded, Emily, you're on the bench. Were you watching the time and the play? Milahnie, I assume were you kind of surprised when you heard the buzzer sound?

MILAHNIE PERRY: I don't know how much time was on that clock. I think it was 10 seconds.

EMILY ADAMS: I think so. I think it started with 10.

MILAHNIE PERRY: That was the longest 10 seconds of my life.

EMILY ADAMS: Mine too.

MILAHNIE PERRY: I'm glad I finally heard it. I was waiting for it, waiting for it, and then when I heard it, fireworks.

Q. What was it like? I've seen pictures of the locker room celebrations over the last two days. How did this one compare?

EMILY ADAMS: Oh, my gosh, it was out of this world. Completely out of this world. So proud of us.

Q. Was there someone kind of centered, highlighted tonight?

MILAHNIE PERRY: As a team we couldn't do this with just one person. Everyone did their job, so I think just as a team, we're all centered.

EMILY ADAMS: This was a team win.

Q. Coach, the first one is for you. You said that you guys stuck to the game plan and you had a really good one. Could you detail for me what was the game plan, what are the areas that you're really happy your team followed through with?

STACY McINTYRE: Well, Boise State is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the conference. You know, we specifically said we couldn't let 32 or 4 and 14 go off in the first half, and we did a great job defending the three-point line.

You know, Boise State is just a prolific scoring team. They're excellent in transition.

What's important is just we had that game plan. They believed in it. We believed in it. We stayed with it throughout those four quarters.

Q. Then just a follow-up. Emily had gotten her fourth foul with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter -- and Emily, shout out to you for the minutes you played down the stretch -- but Coach, there was a lot of trust there in leaving her in the game and not maybe resting her for a couple of minutes and then making sure she could finish the game. Tell me your thought process in keeping her in.

STACY McINTYRE: Well, that's what you hope from a senior. Just that, you know, this isn't the first time she's been in foul trouble. She's been playing this post defense for so long. Just revisited how important it is to do those little things in the post.

I think that we're not surprised just that she was able to sustain that type of effort with that many fouls.

THE MODERATOR: We'll dismiss the student-athletes at this time. Questions for Coach.

Q. Can you just expand on the efforts on defense, what it took, especially in the first and fourth quarters, to keep their top three scorers at bay and hold them to only 23 points tonight combined?

STACY McINTYRE: I mean, we have continued just this week, and you know, when you get to tournament play, I mean, you have a couple of hours to prepare. You know, having played Boise State twice this year, we knew Natalie Pasco. I mean, she had hit at least seven threes on us in those two games and just acknowledging the fact that when No. 1 was not turning the ball over, I think Boise State is great once they get out in transition, especially off of turnovers.

It says a lot that you have two seniors and a lot of juniors on the floor that they can, you know, take instruction and then follow that game plan when they're in the game.

Q. Now, when we're looking at tomorrow, you only have so many possible opponents left, both of which are teams that you played close one time, a little bit less close the other. When we're looking at it, CSU being one of those, what would it mean to -- what does it mean to potentially face down against an in-state rival in the Mountain West Championship?

STACY McINTYRE: Well, I mean, Colorado State is a great team. We did play them close at our place and with some distance between us at their place. I guess it says a lot about the talent in Colorado and what a game an Air Force versus Colorado State game looks like. It's always a battle and has been for the last couple of years.

While it means a lot, we're just going to celebrate this for a couple of hours and then get ready to move forward.

Q. You touched on Emily's foul situation. Jayda was also in the same boat. You started both of them in the second half with three fouls. How much conversation was maybe keeping them off? I guess what was the tipping point in deciding you were going to ride with them?

STACY McINTYRE: At halftime we just said we got to go and show our hands, make sure we're smart, and you know, again, you got a senior and you have a junior, and you just have to trust.

Q. Keelie, again, she's hot and cold as a lot of shooters are. How important was her performance, her contribution in getting this done?

STACY McINTYRE: Well, 4 for 8 from three. We were sitting on the bench at halftime, and we just said, wow, she's got to hit some shots for us. You know, how amazing is just with the type of season that she's had, just like you said, hot and cold.

For her to be able to step up in a game like this and knock down four threes says a lot about her.

Q. You've been in basketball as a long time, as a player, coach. How does this run compare to anything you've experienced in the game?

STACY McINTYRE: It's unlike anything. You know, we've been building this program at Air Force for many years. Clearly I've been here for multiple years. I remember what it was like many years ago.

So just, you know, not just for this team. I can't say enough about our coaching staff. But just for everyone that's here and supporting Air Force women's basketball, yes, it means a lot to us, but it means a lot to everyone.

Q. To get it done, this wasn't a perfect game by any stretch. There were a lot of missed free-throws, things like that. What do you feel like that says that it's not like playing you're over your heads and getting this done; you're kind of playing your brand of basketball and that it's able to yield these kind of results.

STACY McINTYRE: Well, we know this game is a game of runs. That was the message in every timeout. Okay, this is a game of runs. They're going to make a run. We're going to make a run. We are going to make a run. We just had to stay solid and, again, as we talked about earlier, just stick to that game plan and just keep everybody calm.

I think just having that leadership out on the floor and having Milahnie Perry pull the team, even after those time-outs and just giving that additional instruction and just being that leader on the floor made all the difference.