11/21/2001 - Women's Basketball
Navy Wins on Davidson's Buzzer Beater
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Courtney Davidson's driving layup with 3.8 seconds left in the game gave Navy a dramatic come from behind 72-71 victory over Appalachian State, Wednesday night in Alumni Hall.
Navy (2-1) trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half, thanks in part to Appalachian State (1-2) connecting on seven three-point field goals and shooting 51.5 percent from the floor. The Mids stayed in the game by making eight of 11 attempts from the free throw line and went into the locker rooms at halftime trailing, 41-34.
ASU still led by seven points at 47-40 when the Mids went on a 9-0 run take their first lead of the game at 49-47 with 11:35 left in the game. The score would again be tied at 53-53 with 8:13 on the clock when the Mountaineers went on a 6-0 run of their own to take a 59-53 advantage. ASU would again lead by seven at 65-58 when Navy started yet another comeback.
Alison Luchsinger (So., Lusk, Wyo.) drilled a three-pointer and Catherine Dunn (So., Aberdeen, N.J.) made one of two free throw attempts to pull Navy to within two points at 65-62 with 4:10 to play. Maile Shimoda (So., Orange, Calif.) was fouled with 3:49 on the clock and made the first free throw but missed the second. Bryanna Herring (So., Columbia, Md.) scooped up the offensive rebound for the Mids and made a layup to tie the score at 65-65.
Both teams had a pair of opportunities to score but couldn't until Shimoda was fouled with 1:36 to play and made one of two free throws to give Navy a 66-65 lead. Eight seconds later, Mountaineer Tiffani Johnson was fouled while attempting an short inside shot and made both free throws. Shimoda was again fouled on the inbounds pass and her two free throws returned the lead to Navy at 68-67.
Appalachian State's Tiffany Johnson was fouled with 65 seconds left in the game, and her two free throws gave the Mountaineers a 69-68 advantage until Shimoda made a jump shot with 38.2 seconds left to make the score Navy 70, ASU 69.
The Mountaineers pushed the ball down the floor and with 14 seconds left Joanie White was fouled while making a shot from inside the lane to give ASU a 71-70 lead. White missed the free throw and the ball quickly found its way into the hands of Davidson (So., New Oxford, Pa.) before she reached halfcourt. Davidson sliced her way through the ASU defense down the right side of the court, went around a pick and connected on a soft leaner as she approached the baseline with just 3.8 seconds left on the clock.
ASU quickly inbounded the ball and threw a long pass to Joanie White who, while being harassed by Dunn, saw her game-winning shot roll off the rim at the buzzer.
The final 11 minutes saw six ties and eight lead changes, with six lead changes alone in the final 1:36.
"The last play was for me to drive and either shoot it if I was open or kick it to someone if I was covered," said Davidson about what she remembers to be the first game-winning shot she has ever hit.
"In one of the last timeouts, we set up three different plays for our next three possessions so we weren't running the same play twice," said Navy head coach Joe Sanchez. "On each one, the team did a nice job of not only recognizing who was open, but getting them the ball.
"I thought one of the keys to the comeback was our offensive rebounding. That and our ability to kick the ball inside when it was open, or pass it back out if our big people were covered."
Navy's defense held Appalachian State to 27-percent shooting from the floor in the second half and allowed just one three-point field goal. Navy grabbed 13 offense rebounds in the second half and shot 37.5 percent from the field after intermission. Navy outrebounded ASU, 52-41, and recorded six blocked shots on the night. The Mids were 20 of 29 from the free throw line in the game, while Appalachian State was nine of 14.
Navy was led by Maile Shimoda who scored 18 points, with all but three coming in the second half. Shimoda accounted for six of Navy's final-10 points. Bryanna Herring scored 14 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds for the Mids, while Davidson scored 14 points. Davidson's lone field goal in the second half was the game winner.
Joanie White and Tiffani Johnson each scored 16 points for Appalachian State.
Navy plays each of its next four games on the road, starting Sunday afternoon at San Diego State.
