Nov. 27, 2010

Final Stats

ORONO, Maine -- Florida outscored the Navy women's basketball team by a 13-2 margin over the final nine minutes of a 52-43 victory by the Gators over the Midshipmen Saturday afternoon at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine. The contest was the championship game of the Dead River Company Classic that was hosted by the University of Maine.

The game was a close affair from the very start of the afternoon. The score was tied seven times and the lead changed hands on 14 occasions in the contest. Neither team held a lead of over four points until the last two minutes of play.

"I'm pleased with how we came out at the start of the game with a lot of confidence and camaraderie, especially after a slow start Friday against Maine," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "We played a lot of zone today, more than we usually do and a new zone that we haven't used much. I was happy with how the team bought in to the game plan we presented them. Florida didn't look great against the zone and I think that was a credit to us. We needed to rebound better, but I loved the confidence and feistiness we played with."

Navy (4-2) took a 41-39 advantage at the nine-minute mark on a field goal by Cassie Consedine (Sr., Bartlesville, Okla.). The Gators (5-1) regained the two minutes later when a three-point field goal by Jordan Jones gave Florida a 42-41 lead. Navy tied the score at 42-42 less than one minute later when Angela Myers (Sr., San Antonio, Texas) converted a free throw attempt.

Neither team would score again until Jaterra Bonds sank a three-point field goal for Florida with 4:42 remaining. Myers would sink another free throw with 3:13 left on the clock to pull the Mids to within two points at 45-43, but that would be the last points tallied by the Mids.

Ndidi Madu sank a jumper at the three-minute mark to give Florida a 47-43 lead. Then, after Navy missed a field goal attempt on its next possession, the Gators ran the shot clock nearly all of the way to zero before attempting a shot. That attempt by Jordan Jones would miss but she grabbed her own missed shot to extend the possession. Lily Svete would miss a three-point field goal attempt, but Deana Allen hauled in the offense rebound while being fouled. She made one of two attempts from the line to push the margin up to five points with 1:57 remaining in the game.

Navy missed a shot on its ensuing trip down the floor, and that led to Azania Stewart converting a jumper for the Gators to make the score 50-43 with 1:26 showing on the clock. Jones stole a pass from Consedine with a little more than one minute left to play, which resulted in Lanita Bartley hitting a shot from inside of the paint with 54 seconds left to close out the scoring.

"I fell good about our zone after today," said Pemper. "I also like how we were able to communicate well through adversity. I saw us have confidence in what we can do as a team."

Both team shot around 30 percent from the field in the game, but Florida made 20 field goals and nine three-pointers to 13 field goals and five three-pointers for Navy. The Mids stayed in the game thanks to sinking 12 free throws (on 21 attempts) to just three (on eight attempts) for the Gators.

Florida also held a 45-33 advantage on the glass, including a 20-9 lead in offensive rebounds. However, the Gators scored just nine second-chance points off of those 20 opportunities.

Leading the Navy offense was Audrey Bauer (Fr., Lake Zurich, Ill.), who scored 13 points and to go along with four rebound sin just 24 minutes of playing time.

"I think this was the best game of Audrey's young career," said Pemper.

Angela Myers (Sr., San Antonio, Texas) tallied 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in the game. Both she and Consedine, who recorded eight points and four boards in the game, were named to the all-tournament team.

"We would not have been in games like this without the play of Angela," said Pemper. "But yesterday and today we had other people step up for us when Angela wasn't hitting her shots and turning the ball over more than she usually does. Opponents can't key on a player for us; we have five, six or seven players who can help us, not just one or two."

Navy will return home for games next weekend against Loyola (Fri., Dec. 3) and Delaware (Sun., Dec. 5).