LAS VEGAS – As Air Force kept reeling off victories at the Mountain West Championships, coach Stacy McIntyre said she fielded one question more than any other.

What was different?

The Falcons had failed to consistently find their stride through an uneven 13-17 regular season. This squad needed a fourth-quarter escape act to avoid a home loss to an NCAA Division II program. So why in Las Vegas, facing elimination and long odds in every round, were they able to win three games in three days before finally falling to Colorado State 56-42 after a halftime tie in the championship game?

“What’s different this week? This team has wanted to win all year. The difference this week is just that they didn’t want to lose,” McIntyre said. “You know, that is something that you hope that carries you through a season. … We’re very proud that we had that attitude and that mentality in this conference tournament.”

The question now – aside from will there be more games this season – is if that shift in mentality can stick, making these four days truly program-changing.

“I think these four days just show what we are capable of no matter what happens throughout the season,” junior Alexis Cortez said. “We went through a lot of adversity as a team. Each and every player has kind of gone through something and came out the other end stronger.

“I think this just proves how capable and how special we are no matter what circumstances we have.”

Of course it won’t simply be as simple as keeping a mental switch in the “on” position. The team will say goodbye to seniors Milahnie Perry and Emily Adams, who carried the scoring load down the stretch of the season. Both earned all-tournament team honors from the Mountain West.

Perry was the tournament MVP after scoring an event-record 92 points in four games.

“It really just established the confidence,” said Perry, Air Force’s career and single-season scoring leader. “We knew what we were capable of, and just being able to actually do it and just show everyone, that really helped us with our confidence and knowing what we had to do going into the next few games to prepare us.”

The Falcons didn’t win the tournament, but they won over many in attendance. Most not wearing CSU green were supporting Air Force in Tuesday’s final, including a large student following from conference newcomer Grand Canyon and airmen from nearby Nellis Air Force Base whom the academy recruited via the Tickets for Troops program. Former superintendent Rich Clark (retired lieutenant general), who now serves as executive director of the College Football Playoff, flew out for the game and sported an Air Force pullover.

“Wasn’t going to miss this,” Clark said.

No Air Force women’s team has generated this kind of interest and support. All adding to the new selling points to take on the recruiting trail.

“I mean, it matters. You have not just all the support and so many people that came to support this team and this program (Tuesday), but … also just overall the effect that it has on the program and where this program will continue to go,” McIntyre said.

“I’ve been zeroed in and locked in for many years on recruiting. When you have a team that is as successful as this team has been in this conference tournament, it matters. Our goal is to replace the great seniors in your program, but at the same time just feel the impact that they’ve made and the effect it can have on recruiting and the effect that their leadership has on those juniors moving forward.”

The cupboard certainly won’t be bare. The Falcons have a deep junior class that includes Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Jayda McNabb, Cortez, Keelie O’Hollaren and Marissa Hargrave. Freshman Bhret Clay became a mainstay. But there were also a slew of players who didn’t get a chance to flash their ability because the program was stocked with experienced upperclassmen. This is new territory for a program that, for so long, had to take any help it could find as soon as basic training was complete.

Whatever comes next, McIntyre felt the Falcons left their best on the floor at the Thomas & Mack Center.

No Air Force team, men’s or women’s, had won more than one game in the Mountain West tournament.

This squad won three.

It would have surprised no one if the Falcons had exited Saturday in the tournament’s opening day. Instead, they remained through the conclusion.

“I think we squeezed every drop out of just everybody on this roster,” McIntyre said. “Our coaching staff was phenomenal just with their commitment and these young ladies’ commitment to excellence.”