12/5/2001 - Women's Basketball
Women's Basketball Beats Marshall
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Navy converted 17 of 20 second-half free throws to put away Marshall, 71-61, Wednesday night before a Marshall-record crowd at the Henderson Center in Huntington, W. Va.
Navy (4-3) gradually built a 29-22 lead late in the first half, but the Thundering Herd (3-3) took a 31-29 lead on field goal by Cassie Hackworth with eight second left in the half. Navy's Maile Shimoda (So., Orange, Calif.) took the inbounds pass and drilled a 25-foot three point field goal at the buzzer to give the Mids a 32-31 lead at halftime.
"Maile's three was key," said Navy head coach Joe Sanchez. "It gave us a lot of momentum heading into the locker room."
The Mids opened the second half on a tear, scoring 17 of the first 20 points and taking a 49-35 lead with 15:14 remaining in the game. Adrienne Roseti (So., Williamsville, N.Y.) began the half by scoring six of the first eight points for Navy. Courtney Davidson (So., New Oxford) closed the run by scoring on a fastbreak, then on the next Marshall possession stole the ball at halfcourt, and made a layup and a free throw for a three-point play.
Navy survived two long droughts when they did not score a field goal in the second half. The Mids did not convert a field goal for over seven minutes (15:14 to 8:07), as well as for over six minutes (7:03 to just 59 seconds). Navy remained in the lead by converting a combined 11 of 12 free throws during those two shooting droughts.
Shimoda led Navy with four three-point field goals and finished the game with a season-high 19 points, with Davidson totaling 16 points and Roseti adding a season-high 13 points and nine rebounds.
One of the highlights for the Midshipmen was the appearance in the game of senior team captain Kristen Kavanaugh. With much of her hometown of Ironton, Ohio -- a 20-minute ride from Huntington -- in the stands, Kavanaugh played just one minute due to illness, but drilled a first-half three-point field goal before she left the game.
"These last few days have been amazing," said Kavanaugh. "That three was the biggest basket I have ever hit in my life. I couldn't have planned it any better."
Navy narrowly outrebounded Marshall, 35-33, and was outshot in the game 44 percent to 39, but made 22 of 26 free throws, while the Herd made 12 of 17.
Navy, which won back-to-back games just once last season and no times during the 1999-2000 campaign, has now posted two-straight wins twice in the first-seven games of the 2001-02 season. The Mids will try for their first three-game winning streak since the 1998-99 season Sunday, Dec. 16 when the Mids play host to UMBC.
