1/20/2005 - Women's Basketball
Mids Play Host to Holy Cross Friday and Army Sunday

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HC/Army Notes

Game Day Information
Holy Cross at Navy * Friday, Jan. 21 * 7 p.m.
Alumni Hall (5,710) * Annapolis, Md.
Navy Radio -- None
The Series -- Holy Cross leads, 26-4
Last Game -- Holy Cross 79, Navy 80 (F22, 2004; Annapolis, Md.)


Navy -- 6-10, 2-1
# Pos. Player PPG RPG
12 G Lauren Skrel 8.1 5.5*
30 G Ashley Pelzek 8.9 4.1
34 G Abi Campbell 6.8 4.8
41 F Nikki Curtis 11.9 6.5
44 C Kate Hobbs 8.8 4.4
* -- Assists Per Game

Last Game -- Brown 64, Navy 54; J18, Providence, R.I.
Next Game -- Army; J21, Annapolis, Md.

Head Coach -- Tom Marryott (Castleton State '85)
Record at Navy -- 19-27 (Second Season)
Overall Record -- 19-27 (Second Season)


Holy Cross -- 8-8, 3-0
# Pos. Player PPG RPG
05 G Laura Aloisi 3.3 5.3*
10 G Sarah Placek 4.7 3.3
34 G Maggie Fontana 9.0 5.0
33 F Brittany Keil 13.7 7.3
00 C Lisa Andrews 19.7 6.0
* -- Assists Per Game

Last Game -- Holy Cross 66, Colgate 65; J15,Hamilton, N.Y.
Next Game -- at American; J23, Washington, D.C.

Head Coach -- Bill Gibbons (Clark '81)
Record at Holy Cross -- 401-180 (20th Season)
Overall Record -- 401-180 (20th Season)


Game Day Information
Army at Navy * Sunday, Jan. 23 * 1 p.m.
Alumni Hall (5,710) * Annapolis, Md.
Navy Radio -- None
The Series -- Navy leads, 23-19
Last Game -- Army 65, Navy 60 (F28, 2004; West Point, N.Y.)


Army -- 9-7, 2-1
# Pos. Player PPG RPG
12 G Cara Enright 10.4 3.5
25 G Rejera Arnold 0.9 1.1
34 G Jen Hansen 11.9 3.3*
13 F Lindsay Brent 9.5 6.9
14 F Shavonne Holden 8.1 5.4
* -- Assists Per Game

Last Game -- at American; J21, Washington, D.C.
Next Game -- at Lehigh; J27, Bethlehem, Pa.

Head Coach -- Sherri Abbey-Nowatzki (SUNY-Fredonia '89)
Record at Army -- 84-105 (Seventh Season)
Overall Record -- 103-133 (Ninth Season)


Tipping Off
Navy is home a pair of games in Alumni Hall this weekend when the Mids play host to Holy Cross Friday night and Army Sunday afternoon. The game against the Crusaders will tip at 7 p.m., with the Star and Army-Navy Trophy Game against the Black Knights scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.


Navy Review
Navy stepped out of conference for the final time Tuesday night when the Mids dropped a 64-54 decision to Brown in Providence. Brown held a one-point late early in the second half when the Bears went on an 11-0 run to pull away from the Mids for good.

Navy was outrebounded by Brown, 41-34, including an 18-11 deficit in offensive boards. The Mids also committed 12 of their 23 turnovers in the second half.

Nikki Curtis led Navy with 14 points and 11 rebounds, notching her second double-double of the season in the process.

The Saturday prior to the Brown game, Navy dropped its first Patriot League game of the season with a 65-53 setback at Lehigh. As in the Brown contest, the game against the Mountain Hawks was a tight one. Also as in the Brown game, the hosts broke open a one-point game with a large run, this time a 9-0 run with just six minutes left in the game.

The Mountain Hawks dominated the boards against the Mids, hauling in 41 boards to Navy's 19, and converted 11-of-16 free throw attempts while Navy made only three trips to the foul line all night. Those two statistics offset Navy's 9-0 advantage in three-point field goals made.

Lauren Skrel tallied a career-high 18 points in the game to lead the Mids.


Holy Cross Preview
Holy Cross makes its annual trip to Annapolis with a 3-0 record in the Patriot League and an 8-8 record on the entire season.

Lisa Andrews leads the Crusaders in scoring at 11.6 points per game, narrowly edging teammates Brittany Keil (10.6 ppg) and Sarah Placek (9.9 ppg) for scoring honors. Keil is the top rebounder on the squad at 5.8 boards a game, while Placek's 43 assists is tops on the team.

The Crusaders lead the Patriot League in three-point field goal percentage (37.2-percent) and in steals (10.56), and stand second in the league in three-point field goals made a game (5.44).


Navy vs. Holy Cross Series
Holy Cross holds a 26-4 lead in the series with Navy, including a 22-4 advantage in Patriot League regular season contests.

With a 10-3 record, Holy Cross has won more games in Alumni Hall than any other Navy opponent (Army and Bucknell in second with six wins apiece).

The two teams split last seasons meetings, with the road team winning each contest.

Five of the last-seven games in the series have been decided by single digits, with three of those contests determined by three points or less.


Common Foes
Both Navy and Holy Cross have defeated Providence this season, with the Mids posting a 72-42 win over the Friars and the Crusaders recording a 68-40 victory.
Army Preview

Entering a Friday night game at American, Army has posted a 2-1 mark in the Patriot League and a 9-7 record on the entire season. The Black Knights have won back-to-back games over Bucknell and Cornell since a recent 70-53 loss to Holy Cross.

Jen Hansen leads the Black Knights in both scoring (11.9 ppg) and assists (3.3 apg) and is tied for second in the Patriot League at 2.69 three-point field goals made a game. Lindsay Brent leads Army with 6.9 rebounds a contest.

Army leads the Patriot League in scoring defense this season. The Black Knights are allowing 59.1 points a game this season, one-half of a point less than the second-place Mids are giving up. Army also is leading the league with 6.25 three-point field goals made a game.


Navy vs. Army Series
Navy holds a 23-19 lead in the series with Army, including a 15-11 lead in Patriot League regular season games. Navy holds a slim 7-6 in games played in Alumni Hall.

Through 42 games in the series, Navy is narrowly outscoring Army, 64.3-60.9 points per game (Navy, 2,701 points; Army, 2,559 points).

Navy won the initial meeting between the two service academies last season to run its winning streak to three games, but the Black Knights evened the season series and snapped Navy's winning streak with a five-point win in West Point.

The latter victory by Army meant the home team won the Army-Navy Trophy Game for the fourth-straight season. The 2005 Trophy Game is this Sunday.

Recent Army-Navy Trophy Games
Date Site Result
F17, 01 Ann. Navy 81, Army 59
F23, 03 W.P. Army 75, Navy 67
M1, 03 Ann. Navy 86, Army 85 (3 OT)
F28, 04 W.P. Army 65, Navy 60


Common Opponents
While Navy has suffered losses to Air Force and Brown this year, Army has posted wins over both programs this season.

Each of Navy's games against the two opponents took place on the road, while Army played host to each school.


Next Up
Navy goes back on the road for four more games starting next weekend with games J28 at Colgate and J30 at Bucknell. The road swing will end with contests F4 at Holy Cross and F6 at Army.

The latter game at Army will end a 34-day stretch where Navy will have played seven of its nine games away from home.


Outside Shooting Warming Up
Navy has started to rely more on its three-point shooting lately, averaging 7.7 three-point field goals made over its last-three games.

On the season, Navy has connected on five or more three-point field goals in nine of its 16 games.


Patriot League W-L
Navy began the 2004 Patriot League season with three-straight losses and only one win in its first five games. Since those opening five games last season, Navy has recorded a 7-5 league record.


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.


Double-Double Update
There have been 26 double-doubles recorded by Patriot League players this season, with Navy accounting for a league-high seven of them.

2004-05 Double-Doubles by Team
7 Navy
5 Lehigh
4 American
3 Lafayette
2 Army, Colgate, Holy Cross
1 Bucknell

2004-05 Double-Doubles by Navy
2 Nikki Curtis
1 Abi Campbell, Kate Hobbs, Carly Meyer,
Ashley Pelzek, Lauren Skrel


Rare Double-Double
Of the 26 double-doubles, only one included assists and that performance was by Navy's Lauren Skrel. The junior point guard tallied 13 points and 10 assists D10 against Providence to record a double-double with assists for just the 10th time in Navy history.


Mids Win 400th Game
Navy's victory over Lafayette marked the 400th in the program's history. Now in its 28th season of varsity competition, the Mids have posted a 401-323 all-time record (.554)

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
400 J8, 05 Navy 59, Lafayette 46


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 -- 5.50 -- and in assist/turnover ratio -- 2.38.

Earlier this season she recorded a double-double with assists for just the 10th time in Navy history as she poured in 13 points and dished out 10 assists -- against only two turnovers -- D10 against Providence.

Prior to Christmas she totaled 15 assists in the Sheraton 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 10 games this season.

In addition to her playmaking ability, Skrel also has developed into an effective scorer this year. She scored a career-high 18 points J15 at Lehigh, setting career highs with seven field goals and a trio of three-point field goals made.

Skrel is shooting 43.4-percent from the field (43-of-99) and 50-percent from behind the three-point line (13-of-26) on the year.


Campbell Reaches/to Reach 100
With a pair of three-point field goals J18 at Brown, Navy senior team captain Abi Campbell reached the 100-career three-point field goals made mark. She stands sixth in Navy history with that total, as well as fifth at Navy with 47-career three-pointers made during Patriot League games.

With appearances in both of Navy's games this weekend, Campbell will become the 22nd player in Navy history to have played in 100-career games.


Abi Campbell/Ashley Pelzek
Either Abi Campbell or Ashley Pelzek (or both) have scored in double figures in 11 of Navy's 16 games this season, and at least one of the two players has made multiple three-point field goals in 12 games, as well.

Pelzek's 31 triples on the year leads the Navy offense, while Campbell is tied for second (with Carly Meyer) with 20 three-pointers.

Both players also have been forces on the boards this year, with Campbell hauling in four or more rebounds in 10 games and Pelzek tallying four or more caroms in nine games.

Pelzek has scored in double figures in back-to-back games and is shooting just under 50-percent from both the field (9-of-20) and from behind the three-point line (7-of-16), while averaging 3.5 three-point field goals made a game.

Campbell, meanwhile, has drilled multiple three-point field goals in four of her last-five games and is shooting 35.5-percent from the field and (16-of-45) and 32.2-percent (10-of-31) in three-point attempts and averaging 2.0 triples a game during this five-game span.


Nikki Curtis
Nikki Curtis began the season by scoring in double figures in seven of Navy's opening eight games and averaging 13.5 points per game during that span. After reaching double digits only once over the next four games, she has since produced four-straight games with 10 or more points, including a career-high 24 points J12 at American.

In addition, she is shooting 59.6-percent from the field over the last-six games and 62.2-percent over the last-four games.

Curtis not only leads the Mids in scoring at 11.9 points per game, she also is tops on the team with 6.5 rebounds a game, thanks to hauling in five or more boards in nine-straight games and in 14 games on the season.

Curtis' Recent Games
Opp. FG-A FG% Pts. Reb.
at Del. St. 2-4 .500 5 5
at Radford 4-8 .500 8 5
Lafayette 6-8 .750 13 5
at American 9-14 .642 24 8
at Lehigh 6-10 .600 12 7
at Brown 7-13 .538 14 11
4-Game Totals 28-45 .62.2 63 31
Ave. 15.8 7.8
6-Game Totals 34-57 .596 76 41
Ave. 12.6 6.8


Rebounding
What was once Navy's strength on the season has quickly turned into one of its biggest concerns -- rebounding.

Navy entered its J12 game at American having outrebounded nine of its 13 opponents on the season and stood atop the Patriot League with a +4.7 rebounding margin.

Since that game, though, the Mids have lost the battle of the boards in three-straight games and are being outrebounded by an average of 10 boards a game.

2004-05 Rebounding
Games Navy Reb. Opp. Reb. +/-
#1-13 38.9 34.2 +4.7
#14-16 29.3 39.7 -10.4

Especially worrisome has been Navy's recent inability to not only keep its opponents off the offensive glass, but its failure to haul in its own offensive boards.

2004-05 Offensive Rebounding
Games Navy Reb. Opp. Reb. +/-
#1-13 13.2 12.2 +1.0
#14-16 8.0 15.7 -7.7


Bench Troubles
Another recent problem over the last few games has been the lack of production from Navy's bench. In the last three games, Navy's bench has totaled 20-percent of the minutes in the games (125 of a possible 600 minutes), but has scored only 7.9-percent of the team's points (13 of a possible 177).

In back-to-back losses to Lehigh and Brown, Navy's bench players were on the court for 19.5-percent of the time (78 of 400), but scored only two points (of 107, 1.8-percent).


Trends
Navy is 6-0 when leading with five minutes to play in the game; 0-10 when tied or trailing at the five minute mark.
Navy has recorded a higher field goal percentage than its foes in 13 games this season (6-7).
Navy has won the rebounding battle in nine games (5-4).
The Mids have committed more personal fouls than their foes in all but two games (4-10).
Navy is 5-4 when making five or more three-point field goals in a game; 1-6 when making four or less.


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

Nikki Curtis
2nd in field goal pct. -- 48.7%
5th in rebounds -- 6.5 rpg
5th in offensive rebounds -- 2.38 orpg

Carly Meyer
1st in free throw pct. -- 87.2%

Ashley Pelzek
4th in three-point field goal pct. -- 37.8%
4th in 3-pt. FGM/Game -- 1.94 fgmg


Lauren Skrel
1st in assists -- 5.50 apg
1st in assists/turnover ratio -- 2.38

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

1st in defensive field goal pct. -- 37.3%
2nd in rebounding margin -- +1.9 rpg
2nd in scoring defense -- 59.6 ppg
2nd in opponents rebounding -- 35.2 rpg


Three-Point Streak
Navy has connected on at least one three-point field goal in 210-consecutive games. The last time the Mids were held without a three-pointer was Nov. 23, 1997, vs. Sacramento State.


Well Traveled
Navy opened the season with four of its first-five games and eight of its opening-12 games away from Alumni Hall. The Mids played 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.


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. 100 Abi Campbell, 2002-pres.

... as well as fourth at Navy in career Patriot League games.

Navy 3-Pt. FG Made in P.L. Career
1. 123 Courtney Davidson, 2001-04
2. 66 Yolanda Ray, 1992-94
66 Maile Shimoda, 2001-04
4. 47 Abi Campbell, 2002-pres.

Additionally, with 98-career games played, Abi Campbell is closing in on becoming only the 22nd player in Navy history to have played in 100-career games.

Kate Hobbs stands 12th in Navy history for career blocked shots.

Navy Career Blocked Shots
11. 24 Courtney Davidson, 2001-04
12. 22 Kate Hobbs, 2004-pres.