Jan. 24, 2006
Box Score
Complete box score in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - After scoring only eight points through the first 14 minutes of the game and trailing by 12 points, the Navy women's basketball team outscored American 62-40 over the remainder of the game to post a 70-60 victory over the Eagles, Tuesday night in Alumni Hall. The victory improves Navy record on the season to 10-8 overall and 3-2 in Patriot League games, while the Eagles fall to 4-15 on the season and 1-5 in league contests.
"We really struggled at the start of the game on the offensive end," said Navy head coach Tom Marryott. "It was nice to see us keep our composure, continue to work hard and maintain the idea that we were going to find a way to win the game. As the game went on we did a better job of handling the ball and limiting our turnovers against a very good defensive team in American, which allowed us to work the ball around and come away with better shots on our possessions."
Navy put itself in a hole right from the beginning of the game, missing 11 of its first 13 shots from the field and four of its first six free throw attempts, as well as turning the ball over 12 times over the first 14 minutes of the contest, all of which led to a 20-8 deficit for the Mids.
American would soon hold its largest lead of the game at 30-17 with just over one minute left to play in the half. Navy started to show signs of life on offense over the last 70 seconds of the half as Ashley Pelzek (Sr., East Longmeadow, Mass.) scored five points in that span, including a jumper just before the buzzer, to send the Mids into the locker room for intermission trailing by only eight points at 30-22.
As the second half began, Navy slowly began to work the deficit down and trailed by only four points at 39-35 on a layup from Kalen Kropa (Fr., Reidsville, N.C.) with 11:24 left to play in the game. American, however, would quickly score the next five points to jump in front again by nine points with 10:34 left on the clock.
The Mids would answer right back with a 22-2 run of their own which gave Navy a 57-46 lead with 5:39 left in the game. Navy's inside-outside game sparked the run, with post players Kate Hobbs (Jr., Wexford, Pa.) and Betsy Burnett (Jr., New Holstein, Wis.) scoring eight points and guards Kropa, Pelzek and Emily Cordle (Fr., Rome, Ga.) combining for four three-pointers and totaling 15 points during the five-minute stretch.
American would slice the Navy advantage down to six points following a three-pointer from Tala Hadavi with 2:36 left to play, then forced Navy into a miss from the field. The Eagles came away empty on their ensuing possession as Tara Williams was called for an offensive foul. Navy marched down the floor and Pelzek gave the Mids some additional breathing room when she connected on her seventh three-point field goal of the game to give Navy a 66-57 lead with 95 seconds remaining in the game.
After starting the game by missing 11 of its first 13 attempts from the field (15.3 percent), Navy closed the game by connecting on 21 of its final 36 shots (58.3 percent). The Mids turned the ball over 16 times during the first half, but only five times after intermission. The 48 second-half points scored by the Mids is the most in a half this season, while the rally from an eight-point halftime deficit is Navy's largest halftime comeback since rallying from an identical margin to Columbia four years ago.
In addition to connecting on a career-high seven triples in the game, Pelzek set a new career high by totaling 25 points. Despite playing only 18 minutes, Kropa set career highs with eight points and seven assists and did not turn the ball over. Cordle totaled just one turnover in 24 minutes of playing time, while tying a career-high with six points and hauling in a career-best three rebounds. Navy post players Hobbs and Burnett combined for 19 points, 16 rebounds and five assists.
Hadavi led American with 24 points and hauled in a game-high 10 caroms.
Navy will take to the road Saturday for a 4 p.m. game at Bucknell.
