1/21/2005 - Women's Basketball
Holy Cross Shuts Down Navy Rally
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- After Navy sliced a 16-point deficit down to just six points, Holy Cross broke the game open with a 21-2 run to put away from the Mids for good in a 73-48 victory over Navy, Friday night at Alumni Hall.
Holy Cross (9-8, 4-0 Patriot League) connected on six of its first-seven shots of the game, while Navy (6-11, 2-2 Patriot League) missed its opening five attempts as the Crusaders jumped out to a 12-3 lead less than four minutes into the game. The Crusaders eventually opened up its largest lead of the first half at 23-7 before going into the locker rooms holding a 29-18 advantage.
Navy outrebounded the Crusaders in the half, 24-13, but turned the ball over 15 times and shot just 27.3-percent from the field, while forcing Holy Cross into only five turnovers and allowing the visitors to connect on 37.9-percent of their attempts.
Holy Cross would again hold a lead of as much as 16 points early in the second half, including a 40-24 advantage four minutes into the half. Navy would slowly chip away at the deficit and closed to within six points at 44-38 with 12:24 left to play.
Nikki Curtis (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla.) started Navy's comeback with a pair of free throws, then Lauren Skrel (Jr., Walnut Creek, Calif.) would soon hit a three-point goal and, after stealing the ball, scored on layup to pull Navy to within 40-31. The Crusaders scored on their next possession, but Adrienne Maeser (Jr., Voorhees, N.J.) answered right back for the Mids with a field goal of her own.
After a pair of free throws by Holy Cross, Carly Meyer (So., Orlando, Fla.) hit a jumper and Kate Hobbs (So., Wexford, Pa.) followed with a basket and a free throw to take the Mids as close as they would come at 44-38.
Both teams came away empty on their ensuing two possessions, but Holy Cross would score on five of its next seven times down the floor to regain its 16-point lead with just under nine minutes left on the clock.
Navy shot just 30.9-percent from the field, effectively tying its season-low shooting percentage of 30-percent. Navy's starting five shot a collective 21.4-percent (9-of-42) on the night. The Mids also turned the ball over 25 times on the evening, the most for the team during the young league campaign.
Holy Cross, meanwhile, shot 47.4-percent from the field for the game and committed 14 turnovers.
Individually, Meyer came off the bench to lead the Mids in scoring with 12 points, while Curtis recorded her second double-double in as many games with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Maggie Fontana's 18 points and Lisa Andrews' 16 points led all players in the game.
"We didn't play with a lot of confidence tonight," said Curtis.
Navy will be back in Alumni Hall Sunday when the Mids play host to Army in the annual Star Game starting at 1 p.m.
"Army plays a very aggressive defense, as does Holy Cross," said Navy head coach Tom Marryott. "We will need to be more prepared to play against that style of defense than we were tonight."
