1/26/2002 - Women's Basketball
Jensen Sparks Navy to Win Over Army
Links associated with this release:
0
0
0
Elaine Jensen scored a career-high 10 points in the first half, while Bryanna Herring scored 18 second-half points to help lead Navy to a 71-60 victory over Army, Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.
Jensen (Sr., Coarsegold, Calif.) entered the game and promptly scored back-to-back baskets to put Navy (10-9, 2-4 Patriot League) up 13-9 with 8:34 to play in the first half. Navy held a 19-18 lead when Courtney Davidson (So., New Oxford, Pa.) converted a three-point play, followed by Jensen again scoring back-to-back baskets to give the Mids a 26-18 lead with 2:32 left in the half. The Black Knights would close the half on a 6-0 run to narrow the Navy lead to 28-26 at intermission.
After the two teams started the second half by trading field goals, Davidson again converted a three-point play to start a 16-4 Navy run. Herring (So., Columbia, Md.), who scored just two points in the first half, scored eight-straight Navy points during the run, which boosted Navy's lead to 46-32 with 12:35 left in the game. Army (8-11, 3-3) cut the deficit to eight points -- 53-45 -- on a three-point play from Katie Macfarlane, but Navy responded by going on a 10-2 run, with the final-five points coming from Herring. Following her three-point play, Navy's lead was 63-47 with four minutes left on the clock.
Navy, which never trailed in the game, connected on 40.9 percent of its shots and committed just 13 turnovers in the game. Army outrebounded the Midshipmen, 47-32, but totalled 24 turnovers and shot 36.1 percent from the field.
Navy was led by Herring's 20 points, with Davidson scoring 14 and adding three assists. For the first time in her career, 5-7 point guard Maile Shimoda (So., Orange, Calif.) led Navy in rebounding with a career-high eight boards.
Army's Macfarlane recorded a double-double to lead all players with 22 points and 13 rebounds.
"You just have to be ready to play every game," said Jensen, whose previous best scoring outburst was nine points. "You never know when you are going to get that chance to play."
"We were much more patient on the floor today," said Navy head coach Joe Sanchez. "We made the extra pass, we found the open person on offense and rotated well on defense."
Navy has now won back-to-back games after losing six-straight contests.
"We are not going to think about those other games, except for what we learned from them," said Herring.
Navy will close the first half of the Patriot League season Tuesday night when the Mids make the short drive to Washington, D.C., to face American in a 7 p.m. game.
