Nov. 24, 2007
Box Score
Box Score in PDF Format
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Colorado State's Juanise Cornell broke open a tied game with baskets on three-straight possessions to spark the Rams to a 59-53 victory over the Navy women's basketball team, Friday night at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo. The game concluded the opening night of the two-day Rocky Mountain Invitational.
"I thought we played pretty well against a good team from a major conference in their building," said Navy head coach Tom Marryott. "Offensively, we attacked the basket throughout the game. We made some mistakes early, though, and they came back to haunt us."
Colorado State opened up an 18-8 lead nine minutes into the game, but the Mids went on an 11-2 run to pull to within one point at 20-19 with just over five minutes remaining before halftime. The teams would eventually go into the locker rooms at intermission with the Rams holding a 29-22 lead thanks to shooting 50 percent from the field and the Mids connecting on just 30 percent of their field goal attempts.
The Rams quickly opened up nine point leads over the Mids at both 31-22 and 33-24 early in the second half. Navy slowly chipped away at the deficit and when Kelly Altschul (So., Highland Village, Texas) dropped in a basket she tied the game at 42-42 with just over seven minutes remaining in the game. It was Altschul's third-straight field goal for the Mids.
The Rams were unable to get a shot off on their next possession until Cornell made a short turnaround jumper in the paint just before the shot clock expired to allow CSU to take a 44-42 lead. Cassie Consedine (Fr., Bartlesville, Okla.) missed a three-point attempt on Navy's next possession, then Cornell sank another jumper to increase the margin to four points. After the Mids turned the ball over, Cornell made her third consecutive bucket to make the score 48-42 in favor of the Rams with a little more than five minutes showing on the clock.
Angela Myers (Fr., San Antonio, Texas) was fouled on Navy's next possession and after making the first attempt she also converted her second, but the point was wiped out when she was called for a lane violation. Britney Minor promptly made a driving jumper for the Rams while being fouled, with her free throw with 4:35 left to play capping a 9-1 run that gave Colorado State a 51-43 lead.
The Mids were only able to close to within five points over the remainder of the game.
After shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half, the Rams cooled down somewhat to only a 41-percent effort in the second half. Conversely, the Mids shot 42 percent from the floor after intermission.
Navy held a 36-25 advantage in rebounds and forced the Rams into 16 turnovers while in turn committing 15 turnovers.
Individually, Consedine tallied 15 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocks for Navy, K.C. Gordon (So., Vienna, Va.) added 12 points in just 26 minutes of playing time and Myers contributed 11 points and seven boards to the Navy effort.
Cornell's 14 points paced the Rams in the game.
Navy (2-5) will now play Kent State Saturday at 7 p.m. EST in the consolation game of the tournament, while Colorado State (1-4) will play Creighton in the championship game at 9 p.m. EST.