ANCHORAGE ? Guard Pamela Findlay nearly posted a triple-double and sank the game-winning shot with 5 seconds left to give Air Force a 62-61 victory over Butler in the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout women's third-place game at Sullivan Arena on Wednesday.

Senior guard Dawn Higginbotham had 13 points off the bench to lead the Falcons (2-2), while Findlay and junior forward Alecia Steele chipped in 11 points each. Butler (1-3) got a game-high 16 points from freshman center Susan Lester.

The Falcons jumped to a huge 30-11 lead midway through the first half, but the Bulldogs started their comeback with an 8-0 spurt at that point and closed to within 33-27 at the half.

Sparked by the hot-shooting Lester (7-12 FG, 2-3 3FG, 5 reb), the Bulldogs came back to tie it 57-57 with 2:46 to play. The Indianapolis school took its first lead of the night when Lester knocked down her fifth straight shot with 18 seconds showing.

But Air Force didn't panic and got the ball to Findlay (5-11 FG, 12 reb, 7 asst), who drove the lane and laid in the winning basket. Butler got a lost shot off by senior guard Jackie Closser (13 pts), but it bounced long off the rim.

Anchorage native Letricia Castillo scored nine points for Air Force.