Nov. 30, 2008

Box Score

Complete Box Score in PDF Format

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy women's basketball team overcame a slow start to the game on offense and an 11-point first-half deficit to record a 55-45 victory over Delaware State, Sunday afternoon at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

The Mids (4-4) struggled to find a rhythm on offense over the opening 11 minutes of play, connecting on just one of its first 14 shots from the field. Though Delaware State (1-4) was a bit more successful from the floor than the Mids were during this time (6-of-16), the Lady Hornets were only able to build a 16-5 advantage.

Delaware State soon held a 25-15 lead with two minutes left to play in the half, but a pair of free throws from Kalen Kropa (Sr., Reidsville, N.C.) and a layup from Morgan Hill (Jr., Portales, N.M.) allowed the Mids to close to within 25-19 at halftime.

"The end of the first half was when things started to fall into place for us," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "We had some players who were a little tight at the start of the game, and I think Angela (Myers) and Kalen really carried us during the first 14 minutes of the game. Both Morgan and Erin (Edwards) made some nice plays towards the end of the half and that really got it started for us."

Navy carried its momentum from the end of the first half into the start of the second half. After the two teams traded field goals to start the final 20 minutes of play, the Mids went on a 9-0 run to take its first lead of the game at 30-27. K.C. Gordon (Jr., Vienna, Va.) started the run with a three-point field goal, then she grabbed an offense rebounded and converted the second-chance opportunity to pull Navy to within one point at 27-26. Whitney Davidson (Sr., New Oxford, Pa.) was fouled on Navy's next possession, and her two free throws allowed the Mids to take their first lead of the game at 28-27. A jumper by Angela Myers (So., San Antonio, Texas) closed out the 9-0 run for Navy.

The Lady Hornets responded with a three-point field goal of their own to tie the game, but the Mids scored the next seven points to take a 37-30 advantage with 12:25 remaining in the game.

Gordon found Cassie Consedine (So., Bartlesville, Okla.) inside and the sophomore center scored an easy bucket to break the 30-30 tie. A Davidson steal led to Myers being fouled while attempting a shot, and her ensuing two free throws gave Navy a 34-30 lead. One minute later, another Davidson steal set up Hill for a basket and foul shot to give the Mids the seven-point lead and cap a 22-5 run going back to the end of the first half.

After Navy converted just five field goals in the entire first half, the Mids started the second half by sinking six of their first eight shots from the floor.

Delaware State would close to as few as six points at 44-38, but the Mids scored the ensuing nine points to take a 53-38 advantage with 80 seconds remaining on the clock.

Navy's sluggish first half in which it shot 17.2 percent from the floor was balanced out by the Mids connecting on 57.9 percent of their shots during the second half. Conversely, Delaware State shot roughly 30 percent from the field during both halves of play. The Mids also were helped by converting 21-of-26 free throw attempts in the game, with the Lady Hornets shooting 8-of-16 from the charity stripe on the afternoon.

Five Mids tallied at least eight points in the game, with Myers scoring a team-high 12 points. Both she and Consedine grabbed nine rebounds on the afternoon, while Hill scored nine points and hauled in a career-high tying seven caroms.

Delaware State's Jameka Smith led all players in the game with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, which included a 2-of-2 effort from beyond the three-point line.

Navy now takes to the road for seven of its next eight games, a stretch that begins Wednesday afternoon when the Mids play at UMBC. That game is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m. and will be televised live on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN).