Nov. 16, 2009

Final Stats

ATHENS, Ohio -- Two days after overcoming a 23-point first-half deficit to defeat Elon, the Navy women's basketball team rallied from an eight-point second-half deficit to post a 55-51 victory over Ohio, Monday evening at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.

The win improves Navy's record to 3-0 on the season, while Ohio fell to 0-2 on the young year. This is the first time since the 1997-98 season that the Mids have started a season with three consecutive wins. Navy opened that campaign with a 5-0 record.

"It's nice to know what we have to do in order to play well," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper of the team's start to the year. "With winning three road games to start the season (all in a span of four days), I think we have developed some confidence in our abilities and what we can do."

Except for about a 40-second stretch, Ohio led for the entire first half. What was key, though, was that its largest lead was only five points. After the Bobcats took a 24-23 lead into halftime, they opened the second half on a 9-2 run to quickly take a 33-25 lead less than three minutes into the half. Navy closed to within two points at 33-31, but Ohio opened the margin back up to seven points at 38-31 with 12:48 showing on the clock.

Ohio then held a 40-34 lead with 11:16 left to play when the Mids began to chip away at the deficit again. Jasmine Pitts (Fr., Long Beach, N.Y.) began the run with a field goal and a pair of free throws, Angela Myers (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) pulled the Mids to within one point on a free throw and then gave Navy a 41-40 lead with two free throws, Cassie Consedine (Jr., Bartlesville, Okla.) followed with a jumper and Chey Arvin (Fr., Noblesville, Ind.) sank two free throws to close out the run. In all, Navy went on an 11-0 run to take a 45-40 advantage with 4:12 remaining in the game.

Ohio ended its scoring drought on its next possession on a layup by Tina Fisher, but Consedine grabbed an Arvin missed shot and then connected a 35-foot three-point field goal attempt as the shot clock buzzer sounded to give Navy a 48-42 lead with just over three minutes remaining.

"We didn't have good energy in the first half," said Pemper. "We weren't executing well. Then Cassie drilled that three-pointer, the bench erupted and we really came to life."

The Bobcats made several runs at the Mids, but they were thwarted each time. Ohio closed to within three points (48-45) with 2:15 left to play, but the next Navy possession saw K.C. Gordon (Sr., Vienna, Va.) convert a three-point field goal. Ohio then closed to within two points at 51-49 with just under one minute left to play. Pitts missed a three-point attempt for Navy, but Ohio missed a game-tying field goal attempt with 20 seconds left.

Myers hauled in the errant carom and was immediately fouled. After waking to the other end of the floor she sank both attempts from the charity stripe to make it a 53-49 game. Ohio sliced the margin in half again when Ashley Fowler made a jumper with nine seconds left. Myers found the ball in her hands again and the Bobcats once again fouled her. She again calmly sank both free throws to tally what would prove to be the final points of the game.

"It really was one of those grind it out games," said Pemper. "We shot pretty well from three-point range, but turned the ball over 19 times. Ohio had great success on the boards, but didn't convert many of its opportunities into points."

Ohio made 20 field goals in the game to Navy's 14, but the Mids converted six three-point field goals to two for the Bobcats. Navy also was 21-of-25 from the foul line while Ohio was 9-of-18 from the charity stripe. Ohio enjoyed a 49-30 advantage over Navy on the glass, a tally that included a 26-5 advantage on the offense boards. However, those 26 offensive boards led to only 13 second-chance points for the Bobcats.

Navy had five players score at least eight points in the game, with Consedine's 11 leading the team. She also added seven rebounds and two blocks on the night. Pitts added 10 points, Gordon and Myers tallied nine points apiece and Kristin Bowen (Sr., Monroesville, N.J.) added eight points to the Navy effort.

The Mids will return to Annapolis to open the home portion of their season this weekend in Alumni Hall as part of the Navy Classic. Friday's games feature Liberty playing Tulane at 4:45 p.m., followed by Navy taking on Loyola at 7 p.m. The consolation game for the tournament will be played Saturday at 4:45 p.m., with the title tilt slated to tip at 7 p.m.

An audio and video stream from all Navy home games this year can be viewed by subscribers to Navy All-Access. A one-month subscription costs $9.95 a month, while the 12-month subscription fee is $79.95. More information on its offerings can be found at the Navy All-Access link at www.NavySports.com(.)