12/16/2001 - Women's Basketball
Defense Propels Navy to Win Over UMBC
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Maile Shimoda's two free throws with 7.2 seconds remaining in the game were enough to give the Navy women's basketball team a 47-45 victory over Maryland-Baltimore County, Sunday afternoon at Alumni Hall. The victory gives Navy (5-3) its first three-game winning streak since the 1998-99 season.
The start of the game saw UMBC (4-4) open up a nine-point lead at 15-6 with 12:52 left in the half, but Navy responded by going on a 9-0 run of its own to tie the score with 6:03 left before halftime. The Mids outscored the Retrievers 12-8 down the first-half stretch and took a 27-23 lead into the locker room.
The second half saw neither team's offense able to take control of the game. The largest lead of the second half was four points, an advantage Navy held twice.
Navy took a 42-41 lead on a pair of free throws by Adrienne Roseti (So., Williamsville, N.Y.) with 4:21 left in the game, then Shimoda (So., Orange, Calif.) hit an offbalanced three-point field goal to give the Mids a 45-41 advantage with 2:29 left on the clock.
UMBC eventually tied the game at 45-45 on field goals by Millette Green (2:10) and by Sheila Johnson (32 seconds left). With barely a one-second difference between the game and shot clocks, Navy brought the ball down the court and played for one shot. After a Navy timeout, Shimoda was fouled by Jessie Brown as she started a drive to the basket. Shooting in a bonus situation, Shimoda calmly sank both free throws to give Navy the two-point lead.
After a UMBC timeout, the Retrievers pushed the ball down the court and found Matea Pender above the three-point circle. Her shot at the buzzer went wide, giving Navy the narrow victory.
Navy played the game without leading scorer Courtney Davidson (So., New Oxford, Pa.) who twisted her ankle in the Navy shootaround Sunday morning.
"Our defense was key today," said Navy head coach Joe Sanchez. "We knew without Courtney we would have some difficulty playing our usual uptempo game. Points were going to be hard to come by, so we knew if we were to win our defense would have to rise to the occasion."
Navy won despite shooting a season-low 34.8 percent from the field for the game, including 25.9 percent in the second half. UMBC shot 30.5 percent from the field in the game, outrebounded Navy by one (39-38), and forced two more turnovers than the Mids did (21-19). Navy, however, made 13 of 18 free throws in the game -- including five of seven after halftime -- while UMBC made just five of eight for the game.
Alison Luchsinger (So., Lusk, Wyo.) led Navy in scoring with 11 points, with Shimoda right behind her with nine. The two players each tallied a Navy-high seven rebounds in the game.
"Alison is pretty quiet on the floor," said Sanchez. "You really don't notice her contributions until the end when everything is added up. As for Maile, she was the one who we wanted on the line in that situation. She is a great pressure shooter."
UMBC was led by Pender who finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Navy will be back in action Wednesday and Thursday when the Mids play host to the Navy Classic at Alumni Hall.
