Nov. 13, 2009

Box Score

ELON, N.C. -- The Navy women's basketball team scored the final four points of overtime to post a 70-67 victory over High Point Friday evening at Alumni Gym in Elon, N.C. The game, the first of the season for both teams, was played as part of the Phoenix Classic on the Elon University campus.

"We feel great about being able to get the win today," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "We felt we were in good position most of the game, then High Point took a little lead late in regulation. We made a nice little run down the stretch. I know we felt that we had a great chance to win the game in regulation, and I am sure High Point feels the same way."

It was a back-and-forth contest throughout the 45 minutes of play. After the lead changed hands 10 times during regulation, it was exchanged another five times during the five-minute overtime period. Navy took an early 64-60 lead at the start of the extra period when Angela Myers (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) scored on a four-point play 12 seconds into the frame.

High Point, which was picked as the pre-season favorite to win the Big South Conference, scored the ensuing five points to take a 65-64 lead with 3:41 left to play, then a layup by K.C. Gordon (Sr., Vienna, Va.) gave the lead back to the Mids 12 seconds later. Both teams came away empty on their next possession, then Shamia Brown scored on a layup to give the Panthers a 67-66 lead midway through the period. However, those would be the final points High Point would tally in the game.

Myers was fouled on Navy's next trip down the floor and her two free throws put the Mids in front 68-67. High Point turned the ball over on its next two possessions, but the Mids missed a pair of shots from the field on their next two trips down the floor. After a missed shot by Brown with a little more than one minute to play, Navy had a pair of shots on its ensuing possession. Neither went in, however, and the Panthers took possession with about 40 seconds remaining.

LaTeisha Dean would hoist a three-point attempt for High Point with 24 seconds to play, but her errant carom was hauled in by Navy's Cassie Consedine to return the ball back to the Mids. Eventually Navy freshman Jasmine Pitts (Long Beach, N.Y.) was fouled with nine seconds showing on the clock. She sank both free throws to give Navy a 70-67 lead.

High Point rushed the ball down the floor but missed a field goal attempt. The ball fell into the hands of Pitts, who was immediately fouled with two seconds left. This time, however, she missed both attempts but High Point was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded to end the game.

"We mixed in some zone on defense down the stretch and it was effective," said Pemper.

Both teams enjoyed brief six-point advantages over the other during the second half of play, with the Navy advantage coming a little more than one minute into the half and High Point's lead coming with nine minutes left. The Panthers would eventually hold a late 60-58 lead over the Mids until Myers scored on a layup with 50 seconds showing on the clock. An offensive foul on Brown gave the Mids the ball with 29 seconds left, but Destini Henderson (Fr., Huntsville, Texas) missed a shot for the Mids with 12 seconds remaining, which gave High Point possession. The ball would soon be knocked out of bounds underneath the High Point basket with the Panthers maintaining possession and just a few seconds remaining. After a timeout, Jurica Hargraves missed a three-point shot at the buzzer for the Panthers.

"It was a classic game where you felt every basket was a big basket," said Pemper. "We made some turnovers that were a little uncharacteristic for us and our shot selection also wasn't as good as we need it to be. We also had some foul trouble, especially in our backcourt. With that in mind, it was nice to be able to overcome some adversity and win an imperfect game like this. High Point is very athletic and played hard the whole night. We're thrilled with the outcome."

As would be expected in a tight game, the statistics between the two teams were very close. Both teams shot about 41 percent from the floor, while High Point held a narrow 42-38 advantage over Navy in rebounding. The Mids connected on 7-of-19 three-point field goal attempts and were 11-of-19 from the charity stripe, while the Panthers were 4-of-12 from beyond the arc and made 15-of-24 shots from the free throw line.

Consedine totaled 22 points in the game and hauled in a career-high 14 rebounds. She also tallied one block on the night, which was enough to give her sole possession of the Navy career blocked shots record. She has now posted 125 blocks over her 59-game career. Myers converted 8-of-10 attempts from the free throw line to help her score a career-best 19 points in the contest. The duo of juniors was joined in double figures by Pitts, who tallied 10 points.

Navy will play tournament-host Elon Saturday at 9 p.m.