11/23/2001 - Women's Basketball
Navy Women's Basketball Game Notes - at SDSU

Links associated with this release:
0
0
0

Navy at San Diego State

On the heels of its dramatic last-second 72-71 victory over Appalachian State Wednesday night, the Navy women's basketball team will play the first of four-straight games away from Alumni Hall, Sunday afternoon at San Diego State.

Navy Review

After losing its season opener at the College of Charleston, the Midshipmen have put together back-to-back wins to move one game above .500 (2-1).

Courtney Davidson scored 14 points and just one second-half field goal Wednesday against the Mountaineers, but the basket came with 3.8 seconds on the clock and proved to be the game winner. Davidson leads the team in scoring at 21.3 points per game and has grabbed five rebounds in all three games this season.

Bryanna Herring had her second-straight strong game for Navy, totaling 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds against ASU. Herring is averaging 19.5 points and 12 rebounds over the last two games.

Maile Shimoda had her first breakout game of the season for Navy Wednesday night. Shimoda scored 15 of her team-high 18 points after halftime, and accounted for six of Navy's final-10 points of the game.

San Diego State Preview

The Aztecs enter Friday night's game against UC San Diego with a 1-1 record. SDSU won its season opener against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 63-54, then dropped a 74-60 decision at California.

Three players are scoring in double figures for the Aztecs, who are led by Atim Otti at 15.0 points per game. She is joined by Jamey Cox (12.0 ppg) and Claire Swinbeck (10.5 ppg). Ashonda Williams leads San Diego State with 7.5 rebounds per game.

Series History

This will be the first meeting between Navy and San Diego State.

Navy vs. Mountain West Conference

Wednesday's contest will be the fourth game Navy has played against a team from the Mountain West Conference. Navy has a 2-0 record against Air Force, as well as a 0-1 record against Nevada-Las Vegas. The Mids will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., on Jan. 5 to challenge academy-rival and MWC-member Air Force.

Navy Results vs. MWC

Navy 52, Air Force 49 (Nov. 22, 1996, at Gate City Classic in Pocatello, Idaho)

@UNLV 74, Navy 56 (Jan. 4, 2000)

@Navy 56, Air Force 38 (Jan. 3, 2001)

A Look Ahead

Navy will play Wednesday night at Towson in a 7 p.m. game at the Towson Center. The Tigers enter this weekend with an 0-2 record and will play at Duquesne Nov. 24 prior to playing host to the Midshipmen.

2000-01 Recap

Despite using a largely untested roster consisting of 11 freshmen and sophomores, Navy finished the 2000-01 campaign with a 10-18 overall record and placed fifth in the Patriot League with a 4-8 mark. The Mids doubled their victory total from the 1999-2000 season.

Navy's freshmen were thrown into the fire from the start of the season. By the end of the year, four freshmen were in the starting lineup on a regular basis.

Courtney Davidson finished her freshman season by becoming just the second player in Navy history to lead the Mids in scoring. She totalled 324 points on her way to garnering Second-Team All-Patriot League and league all-rookie team accolades.

Maile Shimoda appeared in just 25 games last year as a freshman, but still set a school record for most three-point field goals (48) as a freshman. She joined Davidson on the league all-rookie team.

Adrienne Roseti set a Navy freshman record with 21 blocked shots on the season and became just the fourth freshman in Navy history to lead the team in rebounding.

Navy said goodbye to 2000-01 team captain Jennifer Bombinski at the end of the season. Bombinski averaged over 10 points and nearly six rebounds a game for the Mids in her final campaign in Annapolis.

Seeing the World

The Navy women's basketball team will be spending much of its early season on the road. The Mids play six of their first seven games of the season away from Annapolis, with all six of those games being played in different states.

Navy opened the season in South Carolina (College of Charleston), then travelled further south to play in Florida (Jacksonville). The Mids held their home opener this past Wednesday night, but now travel cross country to California for Sunday's encounter with San Diego State.

Navy will return to its home state of Maryland Wednesday, but will remain on the road as the Mids play at Towson. Two days later, Navy will head north to New York state for a contest at Albany. The Mids will close the difficult stretch of road contests Dec. 5 when they travel to West Virginia to take on Marshall.

All told, the Mids will play 14 road games in nine different states this season, traveling a total of 12,667 miles.

Navy Travel Odometer

Miles Traveled this Season 665

Roundtrip Miles this Trip 4,592

Miles Remaining After Trip 7,410

Total Miles on Season 12,667

On the Road

Sunday's game at San Diego State begins a stretch when the Midshipmen will play four-straight games on the road. This stretch marks the 14th time in Navy's 25 seasons it will play a minimum of four-straight regular-season games away from Annapolis.

Navy has had surprising success when on these extended road trips. This Mids have posted winning records in eight trips, finished with .500 records on three trips, and losing records on just two trips.

Year W-L

1981-82 3-1

1982-83 2-2

1982-83 4-0

1987-88 2-2

1988-89 3-1

1989-90 2-3

1992-93 2-2

1992-93 3-1

1995-96 5-0

1997-98 3-1

1997-98 3-1

1998-99 3-1

1999-2000 0-6

Three-Point Shots

Navy is looking to continue its reliance on the three-point shot this season. The Mids set a Patriot League record last year with 176 three-point field goals made.

Individually, both Maile Shimoda and Courtney Davidson smashed the Navy freshman record last season of 30 three-point field goals, finishing with 48 and 47, respectively.

The Midshipmen have made at least one three-point field goal in 112 consecutive games. The last time Navy was held without a three pointer was Nov. 23, 1997, vs. Sacramento State.

Trying for Three

A victory Sunday would give Navy its first three-game winning streak in over two seasons. The last time Navy won at least three-straight games was an eight-game winning streak from Dec. 19, 1998-Jan. 19, 1999.

This will be Navy's third attempt since that eight-game streak to win three-consecutive games.

Fast Start for Davidson

Courtney Davidson has picked up this season right where she left off at the end of the 2000-01 campaign.

Last year, Davidson scored 324 points and joined Colleen Cassidy (1978-79) as the only freshman to lead Navy in scoring. At the end of the year, she was named Second-Team All-Patriot League and garnered all-rookie team honors.

Davidson started this season with a career-high 28-point effort at the College of Charleston, followed by a 22-point showing two days later at Jacksonville. She tied a career high with four three-point field goals in both games. She also was deadly from the free throw line, sinking 16 of 17 attempts from the charity stripe.

Wednesday against Appalachian State, Davidson scored 10 points in the first half, then was limited to just two free throws and one field goal after halftime, but her one field goal proved to be the game-winner with 3.8 seconds left on the clock.

Davidson has done more than just score points this season. She has grabbed five rebounds in all three games and ranks second on the team with seven assists.

Courtney - Part II

Davidson has connected on 12-straight and 20 of 21 free throws this season. Dating back to last season, she has made 28 of her last 29, as well as 42 of her last 45.

Courtney has played all 40 minutes in each of Navy's last two games and has missed only five minutes of playing time on the entire season.

Accepting Charity

Navy has had great success at the free throw line through the first three games of the season, connecting on 77.8 percent of its attempts (63 of 81).

Navy had an exceptional day at the line at Jacksonville, making 14 of 15 second-half free throws, as well as 21 of 24 attempts from the foul line on the day.

Courtney Davidson, whose 76.7 percent from the free throw line last season was the second-best percentage by a Navy freshman, again leads the team this season at 95.2 percent (20 of 21).

Like Davidson, Bryanna Herring has just one miss on the season, having made nine of her 10 attempts. Maile Shimoda also is shooting the ball well from the line, having made 12 of 15 attempts (80 percent), while Alison Luchsinger has made seven of her 10 free throw attempts (70 percent).

Additionally, Navy is getting to the free throw line a lot this season. The Midshipmen have shot 81 free throws this year, making 63 of them. As a comparison, the Mids have made one fewer free throw than their foes have taken (64).

One-Point Games

Navy's victory Wednesday over Appalachian State ended a string of six-straight losses in games decided by three points or less.

Prior to the ASU win, the last time Navy won a game decided by three points or less was 60-59 victory over Colgate, Feb. 26, 1999.

Patriot League Predictions

Navy was tabbed to place sixth in the Patriot League in voting done by the league's coaches and sports information directors.

2001-02 Patriot League Pre-Season Poll

Rk. School (1st Votes) Pts.

1 Holy Cross (13) 96

2 Bucknell (3) 87

3 Lehigh 64

4 American 54

5 Army 48

6 Navy 46

7 Colgate 32

8 Lafayette 21

Final 2000-01 Patriot League Standings

Patriot League Overall

Team W-L Pct. W-L Pct.

Holy Cross 11-1 .917 21-8 .724

Bucknell 9-3 .750 20-9 .689

Lehigh 7-5 .583 16-14 .533

Army 5-7 .417 19-10 .655

Navy 4-8 .333 10-18 .357

Lafayette 3-9 .250 7-21 .250

Colgate 3-9 .250 7-22 .241

Career Days for Herring

Bryanna Herring had put together two great games in a row.

The sophomore played just 23 minutes one week ago at Jacksonville, but scored in double figures in both halves and finished the day with a career-high 25 points. Her previous scoring high was 12, set in a pair of games last season.

Herring connected on nine of 14 attempts from the field and drilled seven of her eight free throw attempts against the Dolphins. Herring also led Navy with eight rebounds and added three steals.

Wednesday against Appalachian State, Herring scored 14 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds for the second double-double of her career. Eight of her rebounds came on the offensive end.

She is averaging 19.5 points and 14 rebounds over the last two games.

Maile Shimoda

As she did last year, Maile Shimoda had her first strong game of the season against Appalachian State.

Last season as a freshman, Shimoda scored a career-high 21 points against the Mountaineers. Wednesday, Shimoda scored all but three of her team-high 18 points after halftime, while accounting for six of Navy's final-10 points.

Shimoda played well each of Navy's first two games of the season, totalling 10 points against both College of Charleston and Jacksonville.

On the season, Shimoda ranks second on the team with 12.7 points per game, and leads the Mids with both eight steals and eight assists.

N-Star

One of the great rivalries in all of sports is the Army-Navy series. Plebes yell "Beat Army!" in Bancroft Hall, "Beat Army!" is on every weight in the Naval Academy weight room, and "Beat Army!" is yelled at the end of the Navy Blue and Gold, the Academy alma mater.

Regardless of the sport, every Army-Navy game is considered the highlight of the season for players, coaches and fans alike. Navy has won the overall series against Army in 11 of the past 13 seasons. During the 2000-01 season, Navy went 25-11 against Army, including a 16-6 record in N-Star competitions.

Now entering its third decade of the series in women's basketball, Navy holds a 19-17 advantage over its chief rival. Navy had posted a 5-13 record against Army prior to the arrival of head coach Joe Sanchez, but since has won 14 of the 18 games played, including six of the seven N-Star games.

New Face on the Bench

Glenn Rigney has joined the Navy women's basketball coaching staff, it was announced at the start of the season by head coach Joe Sanchez.

Rigney has served as varsity head coach of the girl's basketball program at the Maclay School in Tallahassee, Fla., since 1993, winning four district titles and compiling a 190-59 record.

Prior to his tenure at the Maclay School, he served as head girl's coach of both the Trinity High School (Trinity, N.C., 1988-93) and Westchester Academy (High Point, N.C., 1985-87) programs.

In addition to his numerous years on the high school level, Rigney was on the men's basketball staff at UNC-Greensboro for four seasons (1981-85). He is a 1979 graduate of Miami (Fla.).