11/27/2004 - Women's Basketball
Mids Earn First Win of the Season
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Carly Meyer (So., Orlando, Fla.) scored a career-high 25 points to help lead the Navy women's basketball team to an 80-66 victory over Troy, Saturday afternoon in Alumni Hall. The win was Navy's first of the season after a pair of losses, while the Trojans fell to an identical 1-2 record on the young year.
"Our focus in practice all week was to have more patience on the offensive end," said Navy head coach Tom Marryott. "We moved the defense much better today, which gave us easier looks. Lauren Skrel (Jr., Walnut Creek, Calif.) did a terrific job of keeping us organized on offense. She had a lot to do with our patience.
"I was very happy with the way we rebounded from our games last week. I also was excited to see us not only playing with great effort, but also playing smart for 40 minutes."
The Midshipmen held a 27-21 lead with just under seven minutes to play in the first half when Meyer drilled a three-pointer to start the Mids on a 10-2 run which gave Navy a 37-23 lead with four minutes left in the half. The teams went into the locker room with Navy holding a 41-25 lead. Both Meyer and Nikki Curtis (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla.) tallied 10 points for the Mids during the opening half, one that saw Navy outrebound the Trojans by seven, 22-15, and convert 13-of-14 free throws to just 4-of-5 for Troy.
The Trojans whittled Navy's lead down to 12 points -- 45-33 -- nearly three minutes into the second half when Curtis grabbed her own offensive rebound and scored to start Navy on a 12-1 run over the next three minutes. Meyer followed Curtis' basket with a pair of free throws then, after a free throw by Troy's Audrey Muse, Meyer hit a three-pointer, scored on a jumper and hit another triple to give Navy a 57-35 lead with 14:12 to play in the game.
Meyer finished the game 7-of-14 from the field, sank 4-of-5 three-point field goals and made all seven of her free throws in her career-best effort. Curtis and Skrel also ended the game with new career highs. Curtis totaled 18 points to top her previous best of 14 points, while Skrel more than doubled her previous career high of seven points by tallying 15 against the Trojans. Skrel also added five assists in the game, while Curtis tied Abi Campbell (Sr., Richmond, Va.) for Navy rebounding honors with seven.
"It was nice to see Carly looking to score," said Marryott. "Even though it is early in the season, you can see her teammates getting her the ball in a nice position to score."
After totaling 59 turnovers in losses to Cal Poly and California last week, Navy turned the ball over just 16 times against the Trojans. The Mids also controlled the boards, grabbing 13 offensive rebounds and 37 overall for an advantage of 13 caroms. Navy also bounced back at the free throw line Saturday, converting 27-of-32 attempts from the line.
"It was nice to see us not only make free throws, but also get to the free throw line a lot today," said Marryott. "We were much stronger inside than we were last week, which led to our free throw opportunities. We aso took better care of the basketball today. We weren't great, but it was better. "
Navy will take to the road for a pair of games next week with contests at UMBC Wednesday at 7 p.m. and at St. Bonaventure Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
