Nov. 13, 2008
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy women's basketball team will open its 2008-09 season Friday night when the Midshipmen play host to Ohio in a 7 p.m. game in Alumni Hall. The Midshipmen will then take to the road Sunday for the short drive to our nation's capital for a 2 p.m. game at Howard.
Season tickets for all 26 Navy men's and women's home games are available for just $200 for Admiral's Row members (must be an Admiral's Row member of Blue and Gold), $130 for a reserved seat and $65 for students (high school and below). Single-game tickets cost $8 for each adult and $4 for students age 17 and under. Tickets are available by logging on to www.NavySports.com or by calling the Navy Ticket office at 1-800-US4-NAVY.
The first 100 kids to enter the doors of Alumni Hall Friday will receive a free Navy t-shirt. All U.S. Naval Academy faculty and staff may receive up to four free tickets to the game by showing their USNA identification card at the Alumni Hall ticket window prior to the start of the game. Additionally, participants of the 2008 Navy summer basketball camp also may receive up to four free tickets to the game when arriving at Alumni Hall.
All fans in attendance are then invited to "Meet the Mids" and receive an autographed team poster following the conclusion of the game.
A live audio and video stream from Friday's game against Ohio will be available to Navy All-Access subscribers starting at 6:55 p.m. Subscribers will be able to receive audio and video streaming from every Navy home game this year, nearly every Navy Patriot League road game and at least an audio stream from select Navy road games. Subscription packages start at $6.95 for one month and run $49.95 for a 12-month subscription.
Live statistics from Friday's game, and from every Navy men's and women's home game, is available for free through the Gametracker feature found on www.NavySports.com(.)
Friday's game against Ohio marks the beginning of Navy's 32nd varsity season. The Midshipmen have compiled a 19-12 record in their previous season-opening games, including a 7-2 record when starting a new season at home. The game against the Bobcats is the first time in eight years in which the Mids will be opening a season with a game in Alumni Hall.
The Mids officially began practicing four weeks ago, and first-year head coach Stefanie Pemper has been pleased with the progress the team has displayed during this time.
"Practices are going well and our two scrimmages were very helpful," said Pemper. "Temple and Morgan State presented some unique challenges that prepared us well for Ohio University and Howard. Competition is a great teacher and we would not be where we are right now without those scrimmages.
"I am pleased with our development offensively and defensively and know we will continue to grow in both areas. More than X's and O's these first three weeks have been about developing our chemistry, good habits, poise and how we communicate. I trust the players will continue to buy in, stick together and stay positive as games get under way."
While this is Pemper's first season at Navy, it also marks the final season in the careers of seniors Emily Cordle (Rome, Ga.), Whitney Davidson (New Oxford, Pa.), Kalen Kropa (Reidsville, N.C.) and Emily Lyren (Wadsworth, Ohio). Pemper gives a lot of the credit for the development of the team to the leadership displayed by the foursome of seniors.
"The seniors have been great; we are very lucky to have them," said Pemper. "They are consistent in their focus and enthusiasm for what we are doing, and have been very respectful of change. Their leadership has been strong. Whitney and Emily Lyren were pretty confident right out of the gate; Kalen and Emily Cordle seem to be finding their confidence just in time. They all will play important minutes this weekend."
After three weeks of practices, the team started to prepare itself for its season opener against Ohio over the last few days. But while thoughts naturally were turning towards the games, there was still work to be done before the games began.
"These last few practices are about fine-tuning some things on the court and making sure we are prepared for special situations," said Pemper. "We want to work hard and be focused but stay loose as well.
"We're excited, as all teams are, to open the season. Nothing an opponent does will surprise me; the keys for us are to be steadfast as competitors and to stay composed through the ups and downs that are a part of basketball. We're ready."
Ohio posted a 20-13 record last year and placed third in the Eastern Division of the Mid-American Conference with a 10-6 league mark. Now under the direction of first-year head coach Semeka Randall, the Bobcats return three starters and 10 letter winners from last year's squad.
Friday's game will mark the third consecutive season that the Mids and the Bobcats will have faced each other. Ohio has picked up victories over Navy in both of those meetings, winning a 72-49 decision two years ago in Athens, Ohio, and an 81-52 contest 11 months ago in Alumni Hall. The Midshipmen won the inaugural game over the Bobcats six years ago.
Just like the Mids and the Bobcats, Howard also has a coach who is in her first year at the school. Niki Reid Geckeler has taken over the reins of the Howard program that compiled a 4-26 record last season. The Bison lost all five of their starters from a year ago, but do return nine letter winners from the 2007-08 squad that placed eighth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with a mark of 3-13.
Navy and Howard also will be squaring off for the third consecutive season, with Sunday's game being the first game during this brief span to be played on Howard's home court. The two teams resumed their dorman series in the consolation game of the Seton Hall Basketball Classic in the fall of 2006. Navy recorded a 77-67 victory that day, as well as a 71-50 triumph last year when the teams met in Alumni Hall.
Navy holds a slim 3-2 lead in the all-time series with Howard, with the teams having split the two previous games that have been played in Washington, D.C.
2008-09 Navy Season Outlook
After fielding one of the youngest squads in program history last year, a veteran group of players is prepared to take to the court during the 2008-09 season for the Navy women's basketball team. While all but one of Navy's 2007-08 letter winners returns to the team this fall, they will be guided by a new coaching staff led by head coach Stefanie Pemper.
Pemper arrives on The Yard after compiling the fourth-highest winning percentage in NCAA Division III history (.830) during her 10 years as the head coach at Bowdoin. The Polar Bears advanced to the NCAA Tournament in all but one of her 10 seasons and played in the national title game in 2004.
Hired in April, Pemper is excited about the players she will be working with this season.
"What I expected and what I've witnessed is pretty consistent," said Pemper. "I believe in young people and their desire to buy in, make changes and contribute to something special. That's what our staff is experiencing now. I'm not as concerned with where the team is at; I need to see if they have the energy and the maturity to develop some new habits, work hard and focus on whatever task is at hand. So far we're really enjoying working with them."
With an entirely new staff to the Naval Academy, Pemper and her assistants have spent much of their energies on getting to know the players and beginning to instill their new philosophies on them. That focus will continue once the season begins.
"For the most part our goals are the same for out-of-season training and pre-season practices," said Pemper. "Our main priority is to get to know these women as players and as people, to facilitate them getting to know each other better and to build a solid foundation of fundamentals and values, on the court and off the court. We're trying to test their mental and physical toughness to see what we're working with, and as a result we hope they grow in confidence and aptitude in both areas. Certainly when we get on the court in mid-October, we'll need to broaden our goals from fundamentals and strong habits, to strategic understanding and execution in preparation for our first game."
While the ultimate goal for every team is to win league games and league titles, Pemper also has other goals for the 2008-09 Navy basketball team.
"Success to me is always measured by being on the same page and getting a lot out of what you have," said Pemper. "With a new coaching staff, new players, and new opponents, none of us really know what we have yet. What we do know is that we didn't play to our ability last year and quite frankly we beat ourselves too often. Successful teams play with pride every day and value the process and the building of relationships with their teammates, coaches, and staff, as much as the results. Like all teams, we're working to establish a championship team culture with integrity, maturity, and an appreciation for each other and our time spent together."
Returning Players
The 2008-09 Navy women's basketball team is not short on experience. Whereas the 2007-08 squad had players who totaled just 41 starts and 424 points in their collective careers entering last season, this year's team has combined for 181 starts and 1,896 career points.
There was just one senior on Navy's roster last year, but Pemper will be looking to this year's four-member senior class to share the leadership role this year and help guide the team through the season.
"I told our seniors that a team's season is dictated by the morale and leadership example of the upperclass players more than anything else," said Pemper. "The basketball season is long. The goal is to play to our ability, to appreciate challenges and to compete. Generally, veteran players have more maturity and poise than others. They've been around the block and know how to filter out distractions and pay attention to what we can control.
New Players
Added to the 10 returning players from last year's team are a pair of freshmen in Erin Edwards and Liz Moten, two players who Pemper is excited to have on the roster for what they bring both on and off the court.
"We've liked Liz and Erin's energy," said Pemper. "Erin really pushes herself physically and leads by example in that sense already. She has a very professional approach to being on our team that belies her youth. Liz's personality brightens a room. She has shown signs of a leadership style that is very effective, that of a person who others genuinely like, and will therefore follow. We're excited to have both of them in the program. My sense is they'll both make our team better this year."
Non-Conference Schedule
Navy plays 10 of its 15 non-conference games this year away from the friendly confines of Alumni Hall. After opening the season at home against Ohio, Navy hits the road for three straight games before closing out November with a trio of home games. It is then back on the road for all but one of Navy's remaining seven non-league games in December and early January.
Included on the overall slate of games are contests against four teams the Mids defeated last year and a pair of teams Navy lost to during the 2007-08 season.
New to the schedule are games against Winston-Salem State, Dayton, Saint Francis (Pa.), Penn and Towson, as well as each of the teams the Mids either will (Texas State) or could possibly face (Columbia, Long Island), at the Tyler Ugolyn Columbia Classic.
The Mids will face programs this year that represent 11 different conferences, including the Mid-American Conference, Ivy League, America East Conference and Mountain West Conference.
"We're coming off a tough season so I think our goal with non-conference games is to develop the confidence that comes from playing well and winning competitive games," said Pemper. "Certainly another goal of non-conference games is to establish a consistent rotation of players for the Patriot League who have proven that they'll compete mentally and physically every night."
Patriot League Outlook
2008-09 Patriot League Pre-Season Poll
1. Holy Cross (90 pts. / 8 first place votes)
2. Lehigh (83 / 6)
3. American (75 / 2)
4. Army (60)
5. Bucknell (53)
6. Lafayette (38)
7. Navy (35)
8. Colgate (14)
2008-09 Pre-Season All-League Team
Alex McGuire, Army (Sr., G)
Briana McFadden, Holy Cross (Jr., G)
Bethany O'Dell, Holy Cross (Jr., G)
Alex Ross, Lehigh (Jr., G)
Cassie Consedine, Navy (So., C)
The Patriot League season appears to once again be a wide-open race during both the regular season and the league tournament, which will be hosted by Lehigh.
Over the last three years, six of the eight teams in the league have finished among the top-four placings in the league at least once, all but two of the programs have won at least one Patriot League Tournament game and one-third of the collective league tournament games have been won by a lower-seeded team.
Individually, six of the 11 first or second-team all-league honorees in the league return to their respective teams this season, a list that includes Navy's Cassie Consedine who was tabbed as the 2008 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and as a second-team all-league performer.
"My feeling on the Patriot League every year will be that it's going to be extremely competitive," said Pemper. "There are great coaches and competitive women throughout the league, and Patriot League institutions have a lot of pride."
Offense
Pemper will be looking to kick-start the Navy offense a bit this season. The team has averaged less than 55.0 points per game in each of the last two seasons.
All too often last year, Navy's possessions ended as the result of a turnover. Making matters worse, the Mids ranked sixth in the league in field goal percentage, seventh in three-point field goal percentage and shot the second-fewest number of free throws in the Patriot League.
Where Navy did excel was in sharing the basketball as the Mids led the Patriot League in assists per game with an average of 13.33.
Among the leading goals for Pemper's offense this season is to pick up the speed of the game to give Navy more scoring opportunities.
"We want to push the ball in transition, to execute, to make smart reads, to work together to get a high percentage shot, to be balanced and have versatility, to limit unforced turnovers, to get to the foul line, and to get second shots," said Pemper.
Defense
On the defensive end of the floor last year, the Mids ranked sixth in the Patriot League in defensive field goal percentage and seventh in scoring defense and turnovers forced. These numbers were in spite of record-breaking shot blocker Cassie Consedine and Angela Myers, who ranked fourth in the league in steals per game.
"Our goal first, and foremost, is to be a consistently determined defensive team," said Pemper. "We also want to find those small weaknesses that most teams have and not allow opponents to do what they prefer to do. We need to be able to execute certain defensive fundamentals, while at the same time know our individual strengths in a given situation and support each other where needed. We want to defend in transition, limit high percentage shots, secure defensive rebounds, and start our break with a good outlet."
Backcourt
Returning Players (2007-08 Averages)
Kristin Bowen -- 3.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.1 apg
Emily Cordle -- 4.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.7 apg
Whitney Davidson -- 5.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.3 apg
K.C. Gordon -- 7.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.0 apg
Kalen Kropa -- 4.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.6 apg
Emily Lyren -- 1.5 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.3 apg
Angela Myers -- 5.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.5 apg
Navy's starting backcourt returns intact from the 2007-08 season.
Kalen Kropa and Angela Myers both started all but a small handful of games last year, giving the Mids a double point guard look. They both surpassed 100 assists on the season and helped Navy tally an assist on 71 percent of its field goals a year ago. Kropa has now dished out over 100 assists in back-to-back years and enters her senior season ranked second in school history for the most assists tallied in Patriot League regular season games.
Additionally, the Kropa-Myers tandem combined for over 8.0 rebounds a game last season, with Myers ranking second in the league in offensive caroms. Myers also became just the fourth freshman in Navy history to lead the Mids in steals with 55 thefts on the season.
Returning on the wing for Navy is the trio of Emily Cordle, Whitney Davidson and K.C. Gordon. It was not uncommon to see two of the aforementioned three players on the floor at the same time when Navy went to a four-guard set.
Davidson ranked second on the team with 21 three-point field goals made last year and handed out the most assists among non-point guards on the team.
Gordon, who was playing basketball for the first time in several seasons last year after spending her initial season at Navy competing on the soccer team, was named to the all-tournament team at the Rocky Mountain Invitational. After a see-saw start to the year as she returned to the sport, Gordon picked up her scoring average by nearly eight points a game from the first eight half of the league season to the last half (9.2 ppg vs. 1.5 ppg). She would finish the season ranked second on the team in scoring and third in rebounding.
While Gordon stepped up her game as the season went on, no player improved more over the last 10 games of the year than Cordle. She had totaled just 10 points and two rebounds on the year against Patriot League opponents entering the sixth game of the league season, but averaged nearly 8.0 points and 4.0 rebounds a game over the remainder of the year. She set new career scoring bests four times and new single-game rebounding highs twice over the final 10 games of the campaign.
Emily Lyren saw her 2007-08 season slowed and then cut short by injuries. The now senior started three of the opening four Patriot League games last year. Bowen, meanwhile, also played her best basketball of the season over the opening few games of the league campaign. She will look to be a more consistent performer this season as a junior.
Frontcourt
Returning Players (2007-08 Averages)
Kelly Altschul -- 3.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.8 apg
Cassie Consedine -- 13.7 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.3 apg
Morgan Hill -- 4.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.7 apg
Cassie Consedine put together one of the top freshman campaigns in Navy history last year. She ended the year a field goal away from totaling 400 points, became just the third freshman in league history to lead the Patriot League in rebounds per game and her 72 blocked shots surpassed the Navy single-season record by 23 rejections. Additionally, she led the Mids with 26 three-point field goals made on the season.
More impressive than her overall numbers on the season was her consistency. Consedine reached double figures in points in all but four games last year, grabbed five or more boards in 28 of her 29 contests and tallied multiple blocked shots in 20 games.
For her efforts, Consedine joined Kim Jackson (1994), Becky Dowling (1995) and Laurie Coffey (1996) as the lone Mids to be tabbed as the Patriot League Rookie of the Year.
When Navy did have multiple post players in the lineup, the spot next to Consedine was filled by either Kelly Altschul or Morgan Hill. The duo combined to play 1,000 minutes on the year while scoring nearly 250 points and hauling in close to 175 caroms.
Regardless of where they are on the floor, Pemper has the same goals for every player on the team.
"Compete, play with poise, keep team morale high, take care of the ball, shoot with confidence, set a tone defensively, go after rebounds and loose balls, find smart lanes to drive, know our offenses and defenses and limit silly fouls.
"In the backcourt, we also want our guards to push it in transition, get us into our offenses most effectively, recognize good match-ups for Navy, utilize the post, and communicate so everyone knows what we're doing on the court.
"In the frontcourt, it is important our post players run the floor harder than their opponent does, recognize their match-up, set good screens and open effectively off of them, and have good helpside defense.
