Jan. 3, 2009

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- A Raimee Beck three-point field goal with 23 seconds left broke a tie game and allowed the Air Force women's basketball team to record a 65-62 victory over Navy, Saturday afternoon at Clune Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Both teams surrendered double-digit leads during the course of the game. Air Force scored (4-9) the opening eight points of the contest and soon built a 25-15 advantage with nine minutes remaining in the half. The Mids (6-8) responded by closing the half on a 22-5 run to head into intermission with a 37-30 lead.

After Navy's lead dipped to as low as five points in the early part of the second half, the Mids were able to extend the advantage to as many as 13 points -- 53-40 -- with 10:15 left in the game. The Falcons would cut into the margin over the next several minutes, but a K.C. Gordon (Jr., Vienna, Va.) three-point field goal boosted the Navy lead back to eight points with 6:32 showing on the clock.

"We had good momentum going, but there was still a lot of time left," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper.

Navy would connect on just one field goal over the remainder of the game.

Air Force quickly scored 10 of the next 11 points to regain the lead at 59-58 on a triple from Beck with 2:26 left to play. A pair of free throws from Angela Myers (So., San Antonio, Texas) on Navy's next possession, however, gave the Mids a 60-59 lead with 2:12 remaining. The Falcons tied the game on their next trip down the floor when Kathleen Schjodt made 1-of-2 free throw attempts with 1:43 left on the clock.

Navy's ensuing possession saw Cassie Consedine's (So., Bartlesville, Okla.) short field goal attempt slowly roll around and off the rim and into the hands of Air Force's Kim Kreke with 80 seconds left to play. The Falcons soon found Brooke Cultra open underneath the basket and she converted the inside attempt to give Air Force a 62-60 lead with 1:02 left on the clock.

The Mids put the ball back into the hands of Consedine on their ensuing possession and she converted a short jumper to tie the game with 56 seconds showing on the clock. Beck would then drill her aforementioned three-point attempt to give Air Force the 65-62 lead.

Navy tried to get several three-point attempts off on its final trip down the floor, but couldn't manage to launch a shot until Whitney Davidson (Sr., New Oxford, Pa.) got one off with five seconds left. Her attempt bounced high off the side of the rim and into the hands of Myers who hurried to get outside of the three-point arc before the clock expired. Her eventual attempt, which was no good, came just after the final horn sounded.

"We need to do a better job of reacting to changes opponents make against us," said Pemper. "We also did not do a good job of defending Air Force's three best players. We left Beck unguarded at the end of the game."

After not tallying an offensive rebound in the first half, Air Force hauled in 11 offensive caroms in the second half which led to nine second-chance points. The Mids totaled 12 offensive rebounds and eight second-chance points in the entire game.

The Falcons also forced Navy into eight turnovers in the second half while committing just three turnovers after halftime themselves.

Consedine and Myers both recorded double-doubles for the Mids in the game. Consedine totaled 16 points and 12 boards -- as well as four blocked shots -- while Myers finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Beck and Kreke both scored 18 points for the Falcons, with Kreke adding 10 caroms of her own.

Navy will close out its non-conference season Monday night when the Mids play at Fordham.