Nov. 20, 2009

Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Eleven three-point field goals on offense and a stingy second-half defense allowed the Navy women's basketball team to post a 67-57 victory over Loyola Friday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis. The win improves Navy's record to 4-0 on the young season, while Loyola falls to 2-1 with the loss.

The victory also advances the Midshipmen into the championship game of the Navy Classic to be played Saturday at 7 p.m. against Liberty. The Lady Flames moved into the title tilt with a 63-52 victory over Tulane. The consolation game between Tulane and Loyola will be played Saturday at 4:45 p.m.

"I was very pleased with our defense effort," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper.

After Navy jumped out to an early six-point lead in the first half, Loyola rallied and soon took a 22-17 lead with just under six minutes remaining before intermission. The Mids would close the half on a 10-2 run to take a 27-24 lead into the locker rooms, then scored seven of the first eight points of the second half to build a 34-25 lead less than 90 seconds into the second half.

Loyola soon narrowed the margin down to three points at 34-31, but another 10-2 run by Navy gave the Mids a 44-33 lead with 12 minutes left to play. The closest the Greyhounds would come to the Mids over the remainder of the contest was seven points, while Navy would lead Loyola by as many as 15 points.

While Navy was connecting on 11-of-24 three-point field goals, Loyola finished the game converting 9-of-20 attempts from beyond the arc. Leading the Navy effort from the outside were Angela Myers (Jr., San Antonio, Texas), Cassie Consedine (Jr., Bartlesville, Okla.) and Chey Arvin (Fr., Noblesville, Ind.). The trio ended the game a combined 10-of-15 from beyond the three-point line, with Myers sinking four treys and Consedine and Arvin connecting on three triples apiece. Meanwhile, Loyola's Meredith Tolley connected on 6-of-11 three-point field goals attempts.

"We definitely have some people who can shoot the three-point shot," said Pemper. "Having post players who can step out and hit the `three' is great for our team confidence."

Additionally, Navy shot 43.8 percent from the floor during the second half, while holding Loyola to a 25-percent effort from the field after halftime. Both teams hauled in 39 rebounds during the game and each kept very good care of the ball; Navy forced Loyola into just 12 turnovers, while the Greyhounds forced only 10 turnovers by the Mids.

"Turning the ball over just 10 times is a great effort for our team," said Pemper. "Three of them came at the very end of the game, so to go most of the game with just seven turnovers was a good showing for us."

Consedine would finish the game with 19 points, Myers tallied 14 points and Arvin scored 13 points. Tolley led all players on the night with 22 points.