12/28/2004 - Women's Basketball
Navy at Air Force Game Notes

Files associated with this release:
12-30 Air Force Game Notes

Navy Women's Basketball Game Day Information
Navy at Air Force * Thursday, Dec. 30 * 7 p.m. (EST)
Clune Arena (5,939) * Colorado Springs, Colo.
Navy Radio -- none
The Series -- Navy leads, 3-1
Last Game -- Navy 73, Air Force 60 (D29, 2003; Annapolis, Md.)


Navy -- 4-5
# Pos. Player PPG RPG
12 G Lauren Skrel 7.7 5.6*
30 G Ashley Pelzek 10.9 4.3
20 F Carly Meyer 9.8 4.8
41 F Nikki Curtis 11.2 6.1
44 C Kate Hobbs 9.3 4.6
* -- Assists Per Game

Last Game -- Navy 57, Delaware State 37, D23, Annapolis, Md.
Next Game -- at Delaware State, J3, Dover, Del.

Head Coach -- Tom Marryott, (Castleton State '85)
Record at Navy -- 17-22 (Second Season)
Overall Record -- 17-22 (Second Season)

Air Force -- 3-7
# Pos. Player PPG RPG
04 G Letricia Castillo 12.5 5.4
25 G Lauren Henderson 5.7 4.7*
21 F Jennifer Roesch 5.7 4.1
32 F Alicia Steele 11.9 8.0
33 C Brianna Thomas 4.5 3.1
* -- Assists Per Game

Last Game -- San Diego 80, Air Force 78 (OT), D22, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Next Game -- at Army, J3, West Point, N.Y.

Head Coach -- Ardie McInelly, (Boise State '82)
Record at Air Force -- 17-77 (Fourth Season)
Overall Record -- 94-139 (Ninth Season)


Tipping Off
The Mids take to the road for a Dec. 30 contest at Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo. Navy enters the game following its first back-to-back victories of the season in winning last week's Sheraton Barcelo Navy Classic.


Navy Review
Navy posted a pair victories in winning last week's tournament in Alumni Hall. The Mids advanced to the title game with a 69-46 win over Morehead State, then claimed the program's eighth tournament title in 16 events with a 57-37 win over Delaware State.

Navy's defense sparked the Mids to the victories, holding its two foes to 26.5-percent shooting from the field and just 41.5 points per game. Navy also controlled the glass in both games, averaging 19 offensive rebounds and 48 caroms per game, while surrendering an average of 31.5 rebounds a contest.

Both Kate Hobbs and Ashley Pelzek recorded double-doubles in the opening round win over Morehead State, with each being the first in the careers of both players. Hobbs tallied 16 points and 10 caroms against the Lady Eagles, while Pelzek scored 11 points and hauled in a career-high 10 boards in the game. Point guard Lauren Skrel almost became a third Mid to tally a double-double, instead finishing with nine points and nine assists.

Pelzek was the leading scorer in Navy's title game victory over Delaware State, drilling four three-point field goals and finishing with 14 points. She was one of five Mids to score at least six points in the game.


Air Force Preview
The Falcons enter the game with a 3-7 record, but are 10 points away from being 6-4. Air Force has lost two home games in overtime -- one by one point and one by two points -- and dropped another home game by four points.

Five different players are leading Air Force in each of the five statistical categories: Letricia Castillo in scoring (12.5 ppg), Alicia Steele in rebounding (8.0 rpg), Lauren Henderson in assists (4.7 apg), Ellen Jaeschke in blocks (1.4 bpg) and Jennifer Rosch in steals (1.5 spg).

Air Force is outrebounding its opponents by nearly seven boards a game -- 42.5-35.6 rpg -- and is forcing more turnovers than the Falcons have committed -- 18.7-17.1 topg. Where Air Force has been hurt this year is the three-point line. The Falcons are surrendering 7.4 triples a game, while connecting on 4.6.


Navy vs. Air Force Series
The Mids hold a 3-1 lead in the series with Air Force. Navy won last season's meeting in Annapolis, but Air Force won two years ago in the inaugural meeting in Colorado.


Conference Matchups
Navy has posted a 3-4 all-time record against teams from the Mountain West Conference, while Air Force enters the game with an 8-10 mark against the Patriot League.


Ashley Pelzek
One of Navy's offensive sparks over the last four games has been Ashley Pelzek. The junior shooting guard entered the season having drained 14 career three-point field goals. Over the last four games alone she has connected on 15 triples and has made at least three treys in each of the four contests, while averaging 16 points per game.

FG-A FG% 3FG-A 3FG% Pts.
Prov. 8-12 .667 5-9 .556 22
Jax 6-10 .600 3-4 .750 17
MSU 4-11 .364 3-7 .429 11
DSU 5-9 .556 4-8 .500 14
Total 23-40 .575 15-28 .535 64


Lauren Skrel
Point guard Lauren Skrel continues to take good care of the basketball for the Mids. The junior leads the Patriot League in both assists per game -- 5.33 -- and in assist/turnover ratio -- 2.63.

Last week she totaled 15 assists in the Sheraton Barcelo Navy Classic, the second-highest two-game total in tournament history, while turning the ball over a combined seven times.

She has tallied five or more assists in six games this season, and recorded a double-double of points and assists against Providence (13 pts., 10 asts.) for only the 10th time in Navy history.


Nikki Curtis
An eight-point outing in Navy's last game against Delaware State marked just the second time this season in which Nikki Curtis has failed to score in double figures. The senior post player leads the Mids with 11.2 points per game, while also topping the Navy charts with 6.1 boards per contest.

Curtis entered this season with career averages of 2.3 points and 2.1 rebounds a game.


Top-Five Mids
Several Mids rank among the top-five players in the Patriot League in a number of statistical categories ...

Lauren Skrel
1st in assists -- 5.56 apg
1st in assists/turnover ratio -- 2.62
5th in steals -- 2.00 spg

Kate Hobbs
5th in field goal pct. -- 49.2%

Ashley Pelzek
5th in three-point FGM/Game -- 2.11

Carly Meyer
1st in free throw pct. -- 84.0%

In the team rankings, Navy ranks first or second in five categories ...

1st in rebounding margin -- +5.2
2nd in scoring defense -- 59.2
2nd in rebounding offense -- 37.9
2nd in rebounding defense -- 32.7
2nd in offensive rebounds -- 13.33


Service Selections
Each of the three seniors on the Navy basketball team received their first choice for service assignment. Abi Campbell and LaTesha Ford will be surface warfare officers, while Nikki Curtis will become a Navy pilot.


Home Sweet Home
Navy has posted a 4-0 record in home games this season, but is still in search of its first victory away from Annapolis. In addition to the difference in record, Navy also has been statistically a different team depending upon its venues.

Home (4-0) Road (0-5)
FG% .436 .400
3FG% .449 .288
FT% .797 .670
PPG 69.5 56.4
Opp PPG 47.8 28.5
RPG 41.0 35.4
Opp RPG 28.5 36.0


Trends
The Mids have led at halftime in six of its nine games (4-2 record).
Navy is 4-0 when leading with five minutes to play in the game, 0-5 when tied or trailing at the five-minute mark.
Navy has recorded a higher field goal percentage than its foes in eight games this season (4-4).
Navy has won the rebounding battle in seven games (4-3).
The Mids have committed more personal fouls than their foes in all but one game (3-5).
Navy is 0-5 this year when committing more turnovers, 4-0 when forcing more turnovers.
Navy is 4-1 when its bench scores more points than the opposing bench, 0-4 when scoring fewer points.


Three-Point Streak
Navy has connected on at least one three-point field goal in 203-consecutive games. The last time the Mids were held without a three-pointer was Nov. 23, 1997, vs. Sacramento State.


Well Traveled
Navy opens the season with four of its first-five games and eight of its opening-12 games away from Alumni Hall. The Mids will play road games in California (two games), Maryland, New York, Florida, Colorado, Delaware and Virginia during those 12 contests.

In addition to playing two more games later in the season in New York, the Mids also will compete in Pennsylvania (three games), Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., this season.


Nearly 400 Wins
Now in its 28th season, Navy has totaled 399 victories in the program's history.

Win # Date Score
1 D7, 77 Navy 77, Johns Hopkins 33
100 J13, 84 Navy 60, West Liberty 52
200 J8, 91 Navy 74, Davis & Elkins 53
300 N19, 97 Navy 65, Iona 50
399 D23, 04 Navy 57, Delaware State 37


Next Up
Two more games remain on Navy's schedule prior to the start of Patriot League play. The Mids will play J3 at Delaware State, followed by a J5 contest at Radford before playing host to Lafayette on J8 in the league opener.


Chart Climbers
Abi Campbell has moved into sixth place on Navy's career three-point field goals made list.

Navy Career Three-Point FG Made
1. 245 Courtney Davidson, 2001-04
5. 119 Heather Brand, 1990-93
6. 90 Abi Campbell, 2002-pres.

Kate Hobbs needs two more blocks to move into 12th place in Navy history for career blocked shots.

Navy Career Blocked Shots
1. 93 Yolanda Ray, 1991-94
11. 24 Courtney Davidson, 2001-04
12. 20 Emily Harman, 1983-85
13. 19 Kate Hobbs, 2004-pres.


How Others Are Doing
Opponent Conference W-L Navy vs.
Cal Poly Big West 5-2 L
California Pacific-10 6-4 L
Troy Atlantic Sun 2-5 W
UMBC America East 5-3 L
St. Bonaventure Atlantic 10 3-6 L
Providence Big East 0-9 W
Jacksonville Atlantic Sun 3-5 L
Morehead State Ohio Valley 2-7 W
Delaware State MEAC 2-4 W
Air Force Mountain West 3-7
Radford Big South 1-6
Brown Ivy League 6-2

Overall Opponent Record 38-60 (.387)
Record of Teams Navy has Beaten 6-25 (.193)
Record of Teams Navy has Lost to 22-20 (.523)