Nov. 28, 2006
Box Score in PDF Format
Final Stats
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The Navy women's basketball team sliced a 15-point second half deficit down to just one point, but Long Island converted several free throws down the stretch as the Blackbirds held off the Midshipmen, 51-49, Tuesday night in Brooklyn.
"It was a great comeback by our team," said Navy head coach Tom Marryott. "They kept working hard throughout the game and always believed they could win."
The Blackbirds (4-3) held a 29-14 lead with 15:55 remaining to play, but the Mids (2-4) eventually pulled to within one point at 48-47 with 55 seconds left in the game on a basket by Betsy Burnett (Sr., New Holstein, Wis.).
Long Island worked the shot clock down to under five seconds when Navy's Ali Currier (Jr., Columbia, S.C.) was whistled for fouling Valerie Nainima as she was attempting a baseline jump shot. Nainima both free throws to give the Blackbirds a 50-47 lead with 31 seconds left to play.
On the ensuing Navy possession, Carly Meyer (Sr., Orlando, Fla.) missed a jumper but grabbed the offensive rebound along with a LIU player. With Navy having the possession arrow pointed its way, the Mids maintained possession with 14 seconds left on the clock.
Meyer would miss another shot, then Currier would miss, before Hobbs grabbed the ensuing carom in the lane and scored to pull the Mids back to within one point at 50-49 with 3.4 seconds left to play.
The Mids then quickly fouled Nainima with 2.1 seconds left. She would miss the first attempt from the foul line, but made the second to make it a two-point margin.
Navy's low-lining inbound pass to Kate Hobbs (Sr., Wexford, Pa.) bounced out of her hands as she turned towards the basket, which allowed time to run out before the Mids were able to get a shot off.
Neither team's offense started the game well as Long Island held just a 20-10 lead at intermission. The Blackbirds did not score a point over the final 12:15 of the first half, but Navy tied a school record-low by scoring only 10 points in the half on 4-of-13 shooting from the field and turning the ball over 15 times. The Blackbirds shot 32.1 percent from the field during the first half (9-of-28) and committed 10 turnovers of their own.
After shooting just 30.8 percent from the field during the first half, Navy shot a sizzling 72.0 percent from the field during the second half. Pacing the Navy offense was Meyer, who converted 11-of-14 shots from the field during the second half and totaled all 23 of her points in the game after intermission. The Mids also turned the ball over just six times after halftime.
Long Island's offense also improved over the final 20 minutes as the Blackbirds shot 52.9 percent from the field during the second half. Long Island made 11-of-15 free throw attempts during the second half and 12-of-19 in the game, while the Mids were just 2-of-5 from the line after halftime and 4-of-10 from the stripe in the game.
Navy will next be in action Friday when the Mids play at Saint Francis (Pa.) in a 7 p.m. game.
