Dec. 6, 2009

Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Cassie Consedine (Jr., Bartlesville, Okla.) scored 11 of Navy's first 13 points of the second half to help the Midshipmen open up a double-digit lead over Penn and eventually post a 65-51 victory over the Quakers Sunday afternoon at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

The Mids (7-3) went into halftime holding a 27-19 lead over the Quakers (0-7). The Navy advantage was cut to 27-22 after Penn's Amy Donovan opened the second half scoring with a three-point field goal. Consedine promptly scored on an inside shot for the Mids, which was answered by a field goal from Caroline Nicholson to make the score 29-24. Consedine would follow by sinking a pair of free throws before recording a steal and going nearly three-quarters of the court to score on a layup while being fouled. Her old-fashioned three-point play gave the Mids a 34-24 advantage.

After a missed shot by the Quakers, K.C. Gordon (Sr., Vienna, Va.) scored on a shot from inside of the paint to give Navy a 12-point cushion. Penn would soon convert a Navy turnover into a layup, but Consedine hit a layup of her own followed by a jumper to increase the Navy margin up to 14 points.

"We definitely were trying to go inside to Cassie," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "On the whole, she really didn't shoot the ball all that well today, but her start to the second half was a big boost for us."

Penn would quickly narrow its deficit down to nine points at 40-31, but Kristin Bowen (Sr., Monroeville, N.J.) and Erin Edwards (So., Hockessin, Del.) tallied back-to-back three-point field goals on Navy's ensuing two possessions to give the Mids a 46-31 lead with 12:30 left on the clock.

Penn slowly chipped away at the deficit and was able to pull to within eight points on a pair of occasions. The first time Navy answered with a pair of free throws by Gordon, then after a layup by Nicholson made the score 55-47, Megan Matheny (Fr., Lexington Park, Md.) drilled a three-point field goal to give Navy a 58-47 lead with exactly five minutes showing on the clock.

"Megan made some nice passes out there today," said Pemper. "It had been awhile since she had made a three-pointer, but that one she hit was important."

Both teams saw their offenses struggle at the start of the game. The Mids misfired on 10 of their first 11 shots from the field while the Quakers began the game just 2-of-8 from the floor. Additionally during this same span, Navy committed three turnovers and Penn turned the ball over six times. As a result, both teams ended the first half shooting just 36 percent from the floor. The second half was much crisper for both teams, though. Navy shot 48.1 percent from the field after halftime while Penn converted on 40 percent of its shots from the floor during the final 20 minutes of play.

The Mids were helped to the victory by strong shooting from the foul line. Navy was 11-of-12 on the night from the charity stripe (91.7%), while Penn was 6-of-13 (46.2%) from the foul line.

Consedine tallied 13 points in the game and came up one rebound short of her fourth double-double of the season. Bowen and Chey Arvin (Fr., Noblesville, Ind.) joined Consedine in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Angela Myers (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) contributed six points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Jess Knapp scored 16 points for Penn to lead all players in the game, with Kim Adams and Sarah Bucar both adding 11 points for the Quakers. Like Consedine, Knapp and Adams each fell one carom short of a double-double.

"We're happy to come away with the win today," said Pemper. "It wasn't a great 40-minute game. We know Penn is in rebuilding mode, but they played hard so we had to as well."

Navy's next contest has the Mids traveling to take on Delaware Friday in a 7 p.m. game in Newark, Del. The Mids will then return home on Sunday, Dec. 13, to play host to Towson (2 p.m.).