Jan. 13, 2010

Final Stats

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- A quick start to the game provided Lehigh with enough of a cushion to hold off several rallies by the Navy women's basketball team to post a 64-56 victory over the Mids, Wednesday night at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa. Both teams saw their respective Patriot League records move to 1-1 with the result.

Navy (9-8) found itself playing from behind right from the start of the game. Chey Arvin (Fr., Noblesville, Ind.) connected on Navy's first field goal attempt of the night, a three-pointer just 30 seconds into the contest. However, that would be Navy's lone field goal over the first seven minutes of the game as the Mids missed their ensuing six attempts from the field and turned the ball over an additional five times during this span. Kristin Bowen (Sr., Monroeville, N.J.) finally ended the Navy scoring drought with a three-pointer of her own that made the score 16-6.

"We had some costly turnovers early on," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "We were able to beat their press and put ourselves in a good position, but we threw the ball away."

The Mids still trailed by double figures at 24-13 midway through the half, but Navy slowly started to chip away at the deficit. Navy closed to within 26-23 on a three-pointer from Megan Matheny (Fr., Lexington Park, Md.) with four minutes left to play in the half and very nearly made it a one-point game when on its next possession a short jumper from Cassie Consedine (Jr., Bartlesville, Okla.) fell halfway down the cylinder before spinning out. Lehigh would end the half on a 9-4 run that gave the Mountain Hawks a 35-27 advantage at the break.

Both offenses struggled at the start of the second half as the first points of the half were not scored until four minutes of playing time had elapsed. Lehigh (14-3) was the first team to find any kind of rhythm and that allowed the Mountain Hawks to build a lead of as many as 13 points at 45-32 with a little more than 13 minutes showing on the clock.

Just as they did in the first half, the Mids slowly worked their way back into the contest. Eventually Bowen made a free throw with 6:19 left that allowed Navy to close to within three points at 51-48. The next possession, however, saw Lehigh's Alexa Williams grab an errant field goal attempt from teammate Erica Prosser and score on the putback while being fouled. Her resulting free throw gave Lehigh a six-point lead.

Both teams missed shots from the floor on their next respective times down the floor, then Arvin tallied a field goal with just under five minutes left that pulled Navy to within 54-50. Alex Ross connected on a bucket on the next Lehigh trip to take the margin back to six points then, after a Navy missed shot, Courtney Dentler made a shot of her own to give the Mountain Hawks a 58-50 advantage with 3:45 showing on the clock. Navy turned the ball over without getting a shot off on its next trip, which was followed by a Ross three-pointer that made the score 61-50 with 2:25 left to play in the game.

"I was pleased with our ability to rally in both the first and second halves," said Pemper. "We shot the ball very well in the first half and our offensive rebounding was a strength in the second half. I also thought we executed our defensive game plan pretty well. The difference down the stretch was turnovers and our missing a few shots while Lehigh made them."

Navy shot just under 40 percent for the game, while Lehigh finished the contest shooting 51 percent from the floor. Both teams were very effective from three-point range on the night as the Mids connected on 9-of-22 attempts from outside of the arc and the Mountain Hawks ended the game tallying eight triples on 15 attempts.

Navy held a 33-24 advantage on the glass, while the Mids turned the ball over 20 times and forced the Mountain Hawks into 14 turnovers.

Angela Myers (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) led Navy with 14 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. She was joined in double figures by teammates Arvin with 11 points and K.C. Gordon (Sr., Vienna, Va.) with 10 points. Also having a good night offensively for the Mids were Erin Edwards (So., Hockessin, Del.) and Bowen, both of whom tallied nine points.

Consedine, who has led Navy in scoring all season, was held scoreless in the game. She missed all six of her shots from the field and did not make a trip to the foul line.

Prosser and Emily Gratch both scored 14 points in the game for Lehigh.

Navy will return to the Lehigh Valley Saturday for a 1 p.m. game against Lafayette.