Dec. 21, 2009
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The last game in the 2009 calendar year for the Navy women's basketball team will take place Tuesday night when the Midshipmen play host to Air Force at 7 p.m. in Alumni Hall.
Live statistics from the game will be available at no charge on www.NavySports.com(.) Additionally, a video stream of the game will be available to Navy All-Access subscribers through www.NavySports.com(.) The subscription prices for Navy All-Access, which includes a video stream of every Navy home men's and women's basketball game and all of Navy's Patriot League away games, are $9.95 for a one-month package and $79.95 for a 12-month annual package.
Several promotions also are being offered to fans wanting to attend the game. All fans who bring a canned food item with them to Alumni Hall that day for donation to the Navy Food Drive will receive a ticket to the game for $3. Additionally, all City of Annapolis employees and their friends and families can receive $3 admission to the game by using a special online promocode. That code can be found by clicking on "Tickets" at www.NavySports.com(.)
All non-Department of Defense stickered vehicles will not be allowed access to the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy. Those fans without a sticker must park at nearby Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium ($5.) and ride the free shuttle bus to-and-from Alumni Hall.
The Mids have dropped three of their last four games (a win over Penn and losses to UMBC, Delaware and Towson) to see their record fall to 7-5 on the season. Navy's offense has struggled during this stretch of time. The Mids are averaging 52.3 points per game over the last four games, while their defense has held foes to a 58.3 points-per-game average.
Navy has relied greatly on its three-point shooting over this recent stretch of games. The Mids are shooting 43-of-118 (36.4%) from two-point range while connecting on 31-of-117 (26.5%) of their three-point shots during the last four games. Conversely in this same span, Navy foes are 72-of-170 (42.4%) in their two-point shots and 16-of-48 (33.3%) from outside of the three-point arc.
Individually, Cassie Consedine (Jr., Bartlesville, Okla.) and Kristin Bowen (Sr., Monroeville, N.J.) have accounted for a good chunk of the Navy offense of late. Consedine is averaging 12.8 points per game over the last four games, while Bowen is averaging 12.0 points per game.
Tuesday's game will be the eighth in the series between the two service academies. The home team has won each of the previous six games that were played on one of the respective home courts (Navy also has a neutral site win in the series to hold an overall lead of 4-3). Each of the last two meetings have been determined by three points.
Last year's game played in Colorado saw Air Force emerge with a 65-62 victory over Navy. The Mids held a 53-40 lead with 10 minutes left in the game and an eight-point advantage with over six minutes showing on the clock. An eventual 11-2 run, however, gave the Falcons a 59-58 lead with 2:26 left in the game. The game would be tied with less than 30 seconds remaining when Raimee Beck hit a three-point shot to give Air Force a 65-62 advantage. Navy misfired on its lone three-point field goal attempt taken before the buzzer sounded.
Both Consedine and Angela Myers (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) posted double-doubles in the game. Consedine recorded 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Myers contributed 14 points and 10 caroms. With 19 points, Beck was the lone member of the 2009-10 Air Force team to score in double figures in last year's game.
Air Force made the cross country trip to Annapolis Sunday carrying a 2-8 record on the season. After starting the season with a 1-2 record over their first three games of the year, the Falcons have since dropped six of their last seven games. This includes a 62-45 loss Saturday at home to Bradley, a setback that extended Air Force's skid to three consecutive games.
The Falcons as a team are averaging 56.9 points per game this season and allowing foes to average 66.9 points per game. Their last three games (losses to Drake, Denver and Bradley) have seen the Falcons outscored by an average of 70.3-58.0 points per game.
Beck leads Air Force in both scoring (15.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg) this year, ranks second on the squad in both assists (23) and steals (13) and has played 375 of a possible 400 minutes this season. In addition to having made 21 of the team's 44 three-point field goals this year, with 150 points to her credit she has nearly doubled the tally of the next-highest scoring player on the team (Alicia Leipprandt, 77 points).
