Jan. 23, 2010

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A 39-8 run turned a 15-point, first-half deficit for the Navy women's basketball team into a 16-point, second-half lead over Army as the Midshipmen went on to post a 64-53 victory over the Black Knights Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

After both offenses started the game a little sluggish, Army (8-11, 2-3 Patriot League) was the first to find any form of rhythm. The Black Knights connected on 11 of their first 24 attempts from the field and quickly built a 27-12 advantage on a field goal from Molly Yardley with just over five minutes remaining in the first half. Navy (11-9, 3-2) had missed on 14 of its first 18 shots from the floor and turned the ball over nine times at that point of the game.

"I didn't think the pace of the game was getting away from us at that point," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "I felt that if we could make some shots and get some stops we could find ourselves right back in the game."

Beth Reed (Sr., Indianapolis, Ind.) responded on the ensuing Navy possession with her first three-point field goal of the season and the second of her career. That would start what would turn out to be a first-half closing 13-0 run for the Mids that pulled them to within two points of the Black Knights at intermission.

Army's Erin Anthony would tally the opening points of the second half on an layup, but the Mids scored the next six points to take the lead at 30-29 on a free throw from Megan Matheny (Fr., Lexington Park, Md.). Army's Nalini Hawkins sank a pair of free throws of her own on Army's next trip down the floor that resulted in the lead changing hands again. Navy scored the next five points to regain the lead at 35-31, with the margin quickly cut in half (35-33) on a layup by Hawkins at the 13:31 mark of the game.

Navy answered with a field goal by Cassie Consedine (Jr., Bartlesville, Okla.), and her bucket sparked a stretch of five minutes and 30 seconds where the Mids scored 12 straight and 16 of the next 18 points to take a 51-35 advantage with 7:58 remaining. That stretch was capped by back-to-back layups from Angela Myers (Jr., San Antonio, Texas).

From the time of Reed's trey through the latter layup by Myers, the Mids connected on 15-of-22 shots from the field and turned the ball over just twice. Meanwhile, Army missed 19-of-22 field goal attempts during the 39-8 run by the Mids.

Army made a run at Navy and scored the next seven points to slice the margin down to single digits at 51-42 following another field goal from Hawkins. The Mids responded with a 6-0 run of their own to increase the lead back to 15 points at 57-42 with four minutes remaining on the clock. Army chipped away at the margin and soon closed to within eight points at 59-51 with two minutes left to play. The Mids would close the game by connecting on 5-of-8 attempts from the foul line to seal their first win over Army in Alumni Hall since the 2003 season.

"We started the game a little tight," said Pemper. "But you could see us start getting into it more as the game went on. I'm really happy for our players. To beat Army at home is very exciting."

The field goal percentages of the second half told the story of the game. Navy shot 52 percent from the floor (13-of-25) while Army made just 32.4 percent of their field goal attempts (11-of-34). For the full 40 minutes of play, the Mids connected on 44.9 percent of their field goal attempts, made seven three-point field goals and shot 13-of-20 from the foul line. Conversely, the Black Knights finished the game shooting 34.4 percent from the floor, made four three-point field goals and were just 5-of-9 from the charity stripe.

Myers, who dished out 11 assists in Navy's win over Holy Cross Wednesday night, finished the game with 16 points, six assists, five rebounds and one steal. She was joined in double figures by teammates Kristin Bowen (Sr., Monroeville, N.J.), who was 4-of-8 from beyond the three-point arc on her way to tallying 14 points, and K.C. Gordon (Sr., Vienna, Va.), who notched the first double-double of her career with 11 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.

Army's Hawkins also had a strong night offensively as she totaled 16 points and four assists, while teammate Erin Anthony just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine caroms.

Navy will close a three-game homestand Wednesday night when the Midshipmen play host to American.