March 7, 2010
Final Stats
WORCESTER, Mass. -- A 24-7 run at the start of the second half helped American to record a 72-47 victory over the Navy women's basketball team Sunday afternoon at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass. The win by the second-seeded Eagles in the semifinal round of the Patriot League Tournament advances them to Saturday's championship game at top-seeded Lehigh. Meanwhile, the third-seeded Mids conclude their season with a 17-14 record.
The Eagles built a 27-18 lead over the Mids with five minutes left to play in the half, but a 10-2 Navy run allowed the Mids to slice the margin down to 29-28 with 40 seconds left in the half. American would connect on a pair of field goals before the half ended to take a 33-28 lead at intermission.
"I think we had the potential to be holding the lead at halftime," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "American hitting those two shots at the end of the first half hurt."
The two teams would sink field goals on their respective first possessions of the second half (35-30), but from there Navy would miss 19 consecutive shots from the field. Conversely, American would make 7-of-11 field goal attempts over the same time span as the Eagles built a 57-35 lead with 6:38 remaining in the game.
"It's hard to say why we missed so many shots," said Pemper. "American turned up their defensive intensity at the start of the second half and we may have rushed a few shots, but I thought we executed very well on offense and the majority of our shots were not only good ones but ones that we have hit in the past."
After shooting 37 percent (10-of-27) from the field in the first half, Navy shot only 19.4 percent (6-of-31) in the second half. The Mids broke multiple records with their 15 three-point field goals made during Saturday's quarterfinal round victory over Colgate, but Navy could muster only a 4-of-26 (15.4%) effort from three-point land Sunday against the Eagles.
American, in turn, would shoot 41.9 percent (13-of-31) from the floor in the first half before connecting on a sizzling 63.2 percent (12-of-19) of its field goal attempts after halftime.
Though the Eagles held a 39-29 advantage on the glass, Navy turned the ball over just six times on the afternoon while forcing American into 12 turnovers.
Navy's Cassie Consedine (Jr., Bartlesville, Okla.) led all players in the game with 20 points, while teammate Angela Myers (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) contributed 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. Team captain K.C. Gordon (Sr., Vienna, Va.) closed out her Navy career with nine points and six boards.
Four players scored in double figures for the Eagles. Pacing the squad was Liz Leer with 18, Raven Harris with 15 and Lisa Strack with 14.
