Nov. 24, 2009
Final Stats
DOVER, Del. -- Strong starts to both halves provided enough of a cushion for the Navy women's basketball team to withstand a late Delaware State rally and post a 52-43 victory Tuesday night at Memorial Hall in Dover, Del.
The Mids (5-1) began the game by scoring the first seven and 10 of the opening 12 points of the contest. Delaware State (1-3) slowly chipped away at the margin and soon pulled to within one point at 21-20 with 2:35 left in the half. Navy would close the half on a 6-0 run to head into the locker rooms with a 27-20 advantage.
After the Hornets scored the opening basket of the second half, they went the ensuing nine minutes without connecting on a field goal. Their next bucket was not recorded until 10:25 was left in the game and it narrowed the Navy lead down to 12 points at 39-27. During the nine-minute drought Navy forced Delaware State into nine turnovers and a 0-of-6 effort from the field.
The Navy advantage was soon increased to 13 points when a pair of free throws from Angela Myers (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) made the score 43-30 with 6:57 left to play. At that point it was Navy's turn to struggle from the field. The Hornets went on a 7-0 run over the next 90 seconds to close to within six points at 43-37 with 5:24 remaining on the clock.
The Mids would turn the ball over on their next possession, but the Hornets missed a pair of shots on their ensuing trip down the floor before being whistled for a loose ball foul with 4:50 left to play. The foul sent K.C. Gordon (Sr., Vienna, Va.) to the free throw line and she connected on both attempts to increase the Navy lead to eight points at 45-37. Delaware State was limited to one shot on its next possession, then Jasmine Pitts (Fr., Long Beach, N.Y.) promptly drilled a three-point field goal to give Navy an 11-point advantage with just over four minutes left in the game.
"We wanted to respond as a team to how we played Saturday against Liberty" (when Navy scored 11 second half points), said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "We wanted to see some good court leadership and I think we saw that tonight. Angela and K.C. especially did."
The two teams combined for 45 turnovers in the game, with Navy's 24 turnovers leading directly to 25 Delaware State points and the Mids tallying 17 points following the 21 turnovers by the Hornets.
Navy shot about 36 percent from the floor in both halves, while Delaware State shot 35 percent in the first half before being limited to 18 percent shooting in the second half. The Mids were 12-of-14 from the foul line in the game, while the Hornets were 12-of-19 from the free throw line.
Myers led Navy with 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Gordon scored 10 points for the Mids and Cassie Consedine (Jr., Bartlesville, Okla.) added eight points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
"We did what we had to do to win the game," said Pemper. "We didn't make great decisions with the ball at times, but we had people like Jasmine, Cassie and K.C. hit some big shots for us."
Navy will remain on the road for games this weekend in San Antonio, Texas. The Mids will play Friday against UTSA before facing Western Illinois Saturday.
