1/18/2005 - Women's Basketball
Brown Defeats Navy in Women's Hoops
Brown broke open a one-point game early in the second half with an 11-0 run and held on for a 64-54 victory over the Navy women's basketball team, Tuesday night at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I.
The first half saw the Mids outshoot the Bears, 47.6-34.4percent, but Brown tallied 10 offensive boards to Navy's two and went into the locker rooms holding a 31-27 advantage.
Navy scored on three of its first-four possesions of the second half to take a 33-32 lead less than three minutes into the half. A Nikki Curtis (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla.) field goal a short time later pulled the Mids back to within one point at 38-37. However, Brown would score on each of its next five possessions as Navy turned the ball over four times and missed a pair of field goal attempts and took a 49-37 lead over the Mids with 12:34 left in the game.
The Mids would climb no closer than nine points oer the rest of the contest.
While second-chance points were the story of the first half, turnovers would determine the outcome of the second half. The Mids turned the ball over 12 times in the second half while forcing only eight turnovers after intermission.
"Rebounding and turnovers have been trouble for us all season and that was again the case tonight," said Navy head coach Tom Marryott. "We didn't box out in the first half and we didn't take care of the basketball in the second half."
Brown made only one more field goal than Navy did on the night -- 22-21 -- and both teams made six three-point field goals, but Brown converted 14-of-18 free throws and the Mids sank only 6-of-11 attempts.
The Bears dominated the boards, 41-34, including an 18-11 advantage on the offensive glass.
Curtis led the Mids with 14 points and 11 boards, while Lena McAfee posted a game-high 15 points for the Bears.
Brown defeated its third Patriot League opponent of the season and improved to 9-5 on the year, while the Mids fell to 6-10.
Navy will return to its Patriot League season this weekend with games Friday against Holy Cross and Saturday against Army. Both games will be played in Alumni Hall, with Friday's tilt starting at 7 p.m. and Sunday's Star Game tipping off at 1 p.m.
