In a sense, the seniors on the Air Force women’s basketball team are in denial. And while many times that is a negative, in this case it’s a good thing.

Yes, Saturday’s game against BYU is their final home game. Yes, the season hasn’t been what they’ve hoped it would be. Yes, the end will be difficult.

But, “I don’t think we look at it as the end of the line just yet,” center Kim Kreke said earlier this week.

The Falcons, like their male counterparts, have not won a Mountain West Conference game this season. The women’s senior players – Kreke, guard Brooke Cultra and forward Dana Loveless – have experienced only 33 victories in four seasons and just nine in Mountain West Conference play.

But they cling to a couple of philosophies, by deeds as much as words, that will be their legacy.

The first? “There’s a lot more to the game than just winning,” Cultra said. “There is work ethic, an attitude that hopefully (our teammates will) take with them after we’re gone. Our efforts haven’t been in vain by any means.”

And the other is that of the immortal philosopher Yogi Berra: It ain’t over till it’s over.

“Anything can happen in the conference tournament,” Kreke said. “CSU knocked off Utah in the conference tournament last year (a No. 9 seed beating a No. 1). We’re in the same position CSU was last year.”

But all three seniors admit they have thought about the end of their careers.

Especially Loveless, of St. Louis, whose senior season lasted just 8 minutes. She tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee and sprained her ankle in the opener against Northern Colorado.

“I’ve been missing it since I got hurt,” said Loveless, who scored five points in that game. “I have to keep a positive attitude, and the positive right now is graduation. Whatever comes after that, I’m ready for it.”

That kind of attitude, coach Ardie McInelly says, has been the seniors’ strength.

“The things they do, the things they say, the examples they set, the underclassmen can look up to them,” the coach said, her voice ever-so-slightly cracking with emotion. “They definitely have been ambassadors for the academy. I have been proud of the way have represented the academy and our team.

“We may not have a winning record right now, but we’ve got kids who are winners in our program, kids who are going to be successful.”

Kreke, of Salem, Ill., and Cultra, of Onarga, Ill., have put in decent seasons, both averaging more than 30 minutes a game. Kreke leads the MWC in rebounding (9.4/game), is second in blocked shots (1.56/game) and averages 9.3 points. Cultra is tied for 12th in the conference in scoring (11.5/game) and is the team’s leading shooter among regulars (.390).

They have led an underclass-dominated team.

“If you think about the Air Force women’s basketball program in two years,” Kreke said, “put those freshmen and sophomore as juniors and seniors, just think how much game experience they’re going to have.”

With three more fans. Loveless will work at the academy in the diversity office and Kreke will help coach at the academy prep school. Cultra has received a foreign assignment.

“I just try to keep it in perspective, basketball coming to an end,” Cultra said. “We’ve devoted so much time to the game in our lives. It’s an end in some ways, but it’s the beginning in a lot of other ways. …

“Basketball is what I’ve wanted to do, what I came here to do. But there’s a lot of other things to like.”

Air Force senior Brooke Cultra Photo by KEVIN KRECK, THE GAZETTE

Kevin Kreck