Dec. 31, 2010
Final Stats
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Freshman Veronica Ffrench (Milton, Fla.), who was playing in her first game of the season, made a free throw to break a tied game with 1.7 seconds left on the clock to give the Navy women's basketball team a 63-62 victory over Air Force Thursday night at Clune Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo.
"This is as gratifying of a win as we have had in my three seasons here," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "This is the best team win we have had in that time. A lot of people stepped up for us. For us to win with Angela Myers (Sr., San Antonio, Texas) playing just 17 minutes (foul trouble) and Erin Edwards (Jr., Hockessin, Del). at home (due to a death in the family) -- our two best ball handlers -- against a team that pressed us as much as Air Force did is a great team effort."
The score was tied at 62-62 following a jumper from Air Force's (4-8) Kelsey Berger with 11.1 seconds showing on the clock. After a Navy (6-6) timeout, the Mids inbounded the ball to Myers at the Air Force free throw line. She took the ball up the right side of the court to just inside of the free throw line extended near the three-point line on Navy's offensive end. She threw the ball directly across the court to Ffrench who was a step inside of the three-point line when she received the pass. Ffrench dribbled several times while moving in a straight line to the free throw lane, then stopped and attempted a shot. Air Force's Camille Thompson swiped at Ffrench while she was shooting, but instead of distracting Ffrench she fouled her.
"Angela tried coming off a ball screen for a shot, but that wasn't there for her," said Ffrench of the last play. "She was smart enough to look for someone else without forcing it, and she was able to get the ball to me. Once I got it, I just drove with it."
"We wanted to set a ball screen for Angela but she couldn't get any separation," said Pemper. "We had talked in the past about throwing a skip pass in that situation, and she did that. Veronica had the presence to catch it and drive. Then we had no idea what was gong to happen on the free throw."
"I was a little nervous, but was excited," said Ffrench of her first trip to the free throw line of her career. "I said to myself, `I can make a free throw,' so I stepped back and took a deep breath before I shot it."
"Veronica is a super young woman who is very athletic, calm and poised," said Pemper of Ffrench. "We didn't get her until the end of the volleyball season, so we were happy to just get her some minutes."
After Ffrench's first attempt dropped through the net to break the tie, Air Force called timeout. Ffrench purposely missed the second attempt, with the miss being grabbed by Air Force. The Falcons called timeout immediately with 1.3 seconds left to play. Unable to find a player open down the court, the Falcons were forced to inbound the ball within 10 feet of the Navy basket. That led to an attempt that barely advanced past halfcourt as the buzzer sounded.
Air Force led by as many as 10 points in the first half (29-19) and went into the locker room at halftime holding a 38-33 lead. (Navy also trailed the Falcons by five points at halftime a year ago before winning, 54-48.) Navy quickly erased the deficit in the early part of the second half with an 8-0 run that gave the Mids a 41-38 lead three minutes into the half. Air Force responded with an 11-1 run that gave it a 49-42 lead with 13:20 showing on the clock before taking its largest advantage of the second half at 55-47 with 9:17 left to play.
A layup and three-point field goal by Audrey Bauer (Fr., Lake Zurich, Ill.) followed by a layup by Ffrench allowed the Mids to close to within 55-54 with 7:33 remaining. Alicia Leipprandt made a field goal for Air Force to make it a three-point game, but Navy responded with another layup by Ffrench on its next possession to again make it a one-point game at 57-56 with 5:57 left to play. After a missed jumper by Air Force, Jade Geif (Fr., Lakeview, Minn.) made a layup for the Mids to give Navy a 58-57 lead with five minutes remaining.
Both teams were unable to score over the next two and one-half minutes, with that drought broken on a pair of free throws by Chey Arvin (So., Noblesville, Ind.) that gave Navy a 60-57 lead with 2:33 left to play. After turnovers by both teams and a missed layup by Air Force, Alix Membreno (fr., Loxahatchee, Fla.) scored on a layup to give the Mids a 62-57 lead with 1:23 left to play.
Berger quickly made the score 62-60 on a three-pointer with one minute remaining. The Falcons then fouled Membreno with 42 seconds left to play, and she missed the front end of the bonus free throw opportunity. Berger would miss a jumper for Air Force with 24 seconds left, but Dymond James grabbed the errant carom for the Falcons, who immediately called timeout with 22.9 seconds left to play. Air Force took its time and soon Berger hit her jumper with 11.1 seconds left to knot the score at 62-62.
Navy shot 50 percent from the field and held Air Force to a mark of 36.7 percent from the floor in the second half of the game. Additionally over the final 20 minutes of play, the Mids held 19-15 advantage on the glass and committed only eight of their 20 turnovers in the game. Navy also was 6-of-11 from the foul line while Air Force was 0-of-2 from the charity stripe in the second half.
"We had a really strong, all-around second half," said Pemper.
Each of the nine Mids who took to the court played at least 10 minutes in the game, with none of them playing more than 28 minutes. Eight players scored at least five points for Navy in the game. Arvin led Navy with 13 points, Bauer scored 11 points and the duo each dished out a Navy-best four assists on the night. Additionally for the Mids, Geif added nine points and five board and Cassie Consedine (Sr., Bartlesville, Okla.) contributed eight points, eight caroms and three blocks.
Navy's freshman class of Bauer, Geif, Ffrench, Membreno and Kara Pollinger (Fr., Fort Gay, W.Va.), combined to score 35 of Navy's 63 points and grab 16 of Navy's 32 rebounds in the game. There were several lengthy spans of time where the quintet of plebes were on the court at the same time for the Mids.
"Chey had a really strong game for us, and Audrey was a very positive presence on the floor," said Pemper. "But they were far from the lone players to make plays in the game."
Berger and James both scored 13 points for Air Force, with James also tallying 12 rebounds.
Navy will remain on the road for its next game, a Saturday night contest at Seattle (10:30 p.m. EST).
