Mids Survive Raiders Rally; Tie for Fourth in League

Feb. 24, 2007

HAMILTON, N.Y. - The Navy women's basketball team nearly let a 20-point second-half lead evaporate, but a game-winning three-point field goal at the final horn by Colgate's Melanie Cargle allowed the Mids to escape with a 54-52 victory over the Raiders, Saturday afternoon in Hamilton, N.Y.

With the victory Navy ends the regular season tied for fourth place in the final Patriot League standings with a 6-8 record, while Colgate ends the year in eighth place with a 4-10 record.

Navy receives the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament and will play No. 4 American in a quarterfinal round game March 3 in Alumni Hall.

"We played just well enough to win," said Navy head coach Tom Marryott. "We were fortunate to have built a large enough lead to hang on."

Neither offense enjoyed a productive first half. Navy used a 10-0 run to take an 18-9 advantage, with Margaret Knap scoring five of her first half 11 points during the run. From there, however, Navy could manage just one field goal over the remainder of the half. Navy's defense did its job, however, holding Colgate to just one field goal and one free throw over the final 12 minutes of the half to allow the Mids to take 20-12 lead at intermission.

The Mids picked up the pace in the second half with Carly Meyer scoring 10 of Navy's opening 14 points after intermission as Navy built a 40-20 lead, and the advantage remained 19 points with 5:19 left on the clock.

At that point Colgate found its shooting touch over the remainder of the game, while Navy's offense hit a lull. Colgate made 5-of-8 shots from the field, committed just one turnover and made 7-of-7 attempts from the foul line, while the Mids missed all three of their shots from the field, turned the ball over six times and converted just 3-of-8 foul shots during the same time span.

Navy's final two misses from the line came with 10 seconds to play when Kalen Kropa missed a pair of shots that could have sealed the victory. Instead, Colgate grabbed the rebound, put the ball in the hands of Cargle who hurried the ball down the floor. Her nearly straightaway shot from the top of the key arched over the outstretched arms of Meyer, hit the back of the rim and bounced off.

The Mids ended the game shooting 34 percent from the field, made six three-pointers and converted 14-of-20 free throw attempts. The Raiders, meanwhile, shot 30 percent from the field, made a pair of three-pointers and made 19-of-24 free throw attempts.

Meyer scored 15 of her Navy-high 17 points in the second half, with Knap scoring 15 points in the game and Betsy Burnett adding 13.

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