2/20/2002 - Women's Basketball
Mids Run Winning Streak to Three
Links associated with this release:
0
0
0
Five players scored in double figures and Navy used a 20-3 second-half run to defeat American, 67-50, Wednesday night at Alumni Hall.
The first nine minutes of the game saw five ties, with the last coming at 15-15 with 11:06 to play in the half. Bryanna Herring (So., Columbia, Md.) scored five of the next seven points as Navy (13-13, 5-8 Patriot League) opened up a 22-15 lead, which soon grew to 30-19 with just under two minutes to play in the half. The teams went into halftime with Navy holding a 31-24 lead.
The star of the first half was Elaine Jensen (Sr., Coarsegold, Calif.) who, after being honored along with classmate Kristen Kavanaugh (Sr., Ironton, Ohio) as part of Senior Night festivities, scored the first-six points for the Mids and finished the half shooting 4-of-4 from the field for eight points and six rebounds.
American (12-13, 7-6) roared out of the locker room at the start of the second half, scoring the first-seven points and tying the game at 31-31 less than one minute into the second half. Navy held a 35-33 lead when the Mids opened up the game with its 20-3 run to take a 55-36 advantage with 7:22 to play in the game. Five different players scored for Navy during the run, which included Lauren Zapf (Jr., Cumberland, Md.) drilling a trio of three-pointers in a span of just over two minutes.
"I was able to get the ball in a good position to shoot," said Zapf. "They were laying off me a bit so I had some time to get it away."
Over the final seven minutes of the game, the Navy lead dwindled to as few as 16 points, but at times grew to as many as 22 points.
Navy shot 35.6 percent from the field, while holding American to 28.8-percent shooting on the night. Navy also controlled the glass, grabbing 51 rebounds on the night to 41 for the Eagles.
The 50 points scored by American was 36 points fewer than Navy allowed in the first meeting of the season between these two teams, 23 points below its Patriot League average and was a season low.
"We played very good defense tonight," said Navy head coach Joe Sanchez. "We were able to control the tempo and we executed very well on both ends of the floor."
Balance was the key word in looking at the statistics. Five players scored in double figures for Navy and four players grabbed at least seven rebounds for the Mids. Adrienne Roseti (So., Williamsville, N.Y.) led Navy in scoring with 12 points, while also hauling in seven caroms, Zapf scored a career-high 11 points, Jensen finished shooting 5-of-5 from the field for a career-high tying 10 points and a season-high eight rebounds in just 11 minutes of court time, Courtney Davidson (So., New Oxford, Pa.) scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and Herring finished with 11 points and eight boards.
The 17-point margin of victory was Navy's largest in a league game since an 18-point win over Colgate in January of 1999. Navy's three-game winning streak also is the longest league winning streak for Navy since four-straight wins during the 1998-99 campaign.
"The key to tonight's win, as well as all of our recent wins, was a good start to the game," said Jensen.
Navy will close the regular season Saturday in the annual N-Star game at Army. The game will be carried live on WNAV-AM 1430, with tipoff time slated for 2:45 p.m.
