Late Army Run Gives Black Knights Win Over Navy

Feb. 21, 2009

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Army held the Navy women's basketball team to one field goal over the last five minutes of play as the Black Knights closed the game on a 12-4 run to defeat the Midshipmen 58-50 Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall in Annapolis, Md. The contest served as the annual Star Game between the service academies.

After the teams went into halftime with the score knotted at 26-26, Army (17-10, 7-5 Patriot League) went on an 11-2 run early in the second half to take a 43-35 lead over Navy (13-14, 6-6) with 11:30 left in the game. The Mids immediately responded with an 11-3 run of their own to tie the score again at 46-46 with just under six minutes left to play.

Army would break the tie on a free throw by Nalini Hawkins with 5:29 left to play. The next three possessions of the game saw Navy turn the ball over on a travelling violation, Army have three field goal attempts before the Mids grabbed a rebound, and a missed shot by Navy. From there, Laura Baranek drilled a three-point field goal for Army, Navy turned the ball over again and Army's Alex McGuire scored on a layup to give the Black Knights a 52-46 lead with 3:13 left on the clock.

Navy pulled to within two points on a pair of Angela Myers (So., San Antonio, Texas) free throws with 1:02 left in the game, but Army connected on six of eight free throws down the stretch to close out the contest.

Navy missed eight of nine shots from the field and turned the ball over four times over the last 5:30 of the game. Conversely, Army was 2-of-6 from the floor, committed just two turnovers and sank the aforementioned free throws during this same span to seal the victory.

"I think toughness was the difference at the end of the game," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "We didn't execute as well as we needed to, we didn't have as much individual physical toughness when we needed it and we didn't always keep pur poise. It is disappointing to have those types of breakdowns when you are playing your rival."

Army shot 40.7 percent from the floor and was 2-of-5 from beyond the three-point line during the second half of the game, while Navy connected on just 26.7 percent of its shots from the field and missed eight of its nine three-point attempts after halftime. The Black Knights also forced Navy into seven second-half turnovers while committing just four second-half turnovers of their own.

K.C. Gordon (Jr., Vienna, Va.) connected on 5-of-7 shots from the floor on her way to totaling a Navy-high 14 points in the game. She was joined in double figures by Myers, who tallied 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Mids.

Army's Erin Anthony connected of 3-of-3 three-point attempts on her way to scoring a game-high 19 points on the afternoon.

Navy will close the home portion of its season Wednesday night when the Mids play host to American in a 7 p.m. game in Alumni Hall.

Patriot League Standings (two games remaining)
1. Lehigh, 10-2
2. American, 8-4
T-3. Army, 7-5
T-3. Bucknell, 7-5
T-3. Holy Cross, 7-5
6. Navy, 6-6
7. Lafayette, 2-10
8. Colgate, 1-11

Print Friendly Version