Mids Start Fast to Post Victory at Home

Jan. 9, 2007

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Runs of 12-0 to start the game and 8-2 to begin the second half helped propel the Navy women's basketball team to a 54-44 victory over Lehigh, Tuesday night in Alumni Hall.

"How we started the game and the second half were key tonight," said Navy head coach Tom Marryott. "Improving our starts to each half has been a focus for us lately. Our starts tonight gave us enough of a cushion to withstand Lehigh's runs at us."

The Mids (6-9, 1-1 Patriot League) opened the game by connecting on five of their first eight shots from the field, while the Mountain Hawks (5-11, 0-2 Patriot League) misfired on their initial 10 shots of the game, which allowed Navy to take a 12-0 lead seven minutes into the tilt. The Navy advantage would eventually hit 15 points (22-7) before a late Lehigh run sliced the margin down to seven points (28-21) at halftime.

A pair of free throws by Lehigh's Kristen Dalton one minute into the second half narrowed the score down to five points at 28-23, but Navy scored the next eight points to extend the lead back to double digits at 36-23 with 16 minutes remaining in the game. The Mids were 4-of-5 from the field during the sprint, while Lehigh was 0-of-4 from the field with a pair of turnovers during the same span.

The Mountain Hawks regrouped and again cut the Navy lead back down to five points at 41-36 with seven minutes left in the game. Margaret Knap (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) promptly hit a three-pointer on Navy's next time down the floor, then converted a pair of free throws one minute later to boost the margin to double figures with 5:30 remaining in the game.

Lehigh would climb no closer than eight points over the remainder of the game.

"We were able to answer Lehigh's runs pretty effectively," said Marryott. "Our defense throughout the game was very strong, and we did a nice job of limiting Lehigh to one shot on most of their possessions."

The Mids shot 38.9 percent from the field and converted 5-of-13 three-point field goal attempts (38.5%) in the game, while the Mountain Hawks shot 30.8 percent from the field and made just 2-of-16 attempts from behind the three-point line (12.5%). Navy also held a 41-32 advantage on the glass and tallied 10 steals to five for Lehigh.

Carly Meyer (Sr., Orlando, Fla.) scored 13 of her Navy-high 16 points in the first half, but dished out three of her four assists after halftime and tallied 11 boards in the game to finish with her third double-double of the season. Kate Hobbs (Sr., Wexford, Pa.) just missed a double-double with 8 points and 10 rebounds.

Lehigh's Adrienne Blount led all players with 18 points and just missed a double-double of her own with nine boards.

The Mids will remain at home Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. game against Lafayette.

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