Jan. 7, 2011
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- After closing out its non-conference season with a decisive victory over Howard, the Navy women's basketball team will open up its Patriot League campaign Saturday when the Midshipmen travel to Lewisburg, Pa., to face Bucknell in a 7 p.m. contest.
A live video stream of the game will be available to Navy All-Access subscribers and live statistics from the game will be offered for free. Visit www.NavySports.com to access links to live statistics and to sign-in or subscribe to Navy All-Access. A one-month subscription costs $9.95, while the cost for a year-long subscription is $79.95.
The Mids have won two of their last three games to close out the non-league portion of their season with a 7-7 record. Most recently, Navy posted a 58-45 victory over Howard Tuesday night in Alumni Hall. Navy's recent balanced offense was on display against the Lady Bison as eight players saw at least 10 minutes of playing time and seven Mids posted at least five points in the game.
Six Mids are averaging at least 20 minutes of playing time this year, with four more averaging at least 10 minutes of action per game. Additionally, six players are contributing an average of at least five points a game and four are pulling down at least four caroms a contest.
Leading all players in scoring is Angela Myers (Sr., San Antonio, Texas). The team captain is averaging 12.8 points a game to go along with 5.1 assists (tops in the Patriot League), 4.5 rebounds and 2.6 steals (second in the league) per game. She enters Saturday's contest two points shy of tallying the 1,000th point of her career.
Also averaging in double figures is Cassie Consedine (Sr., Bartlesville, Okla.), who is scoring 11.8 points a game. The post player leads Navy with 32 three-point field goals made and 22 blocks and ranks second on the team with an average of 5.4 rebounds a game.
Next on the Navy scoring list is Jade Geif (Fr., Lakeview, Minn.), who is averaging 7.3 points a game while leading all players with a 7.1 rebounds-per-game average.
Rebounding has been one of Navy's strengths as a team this year. The Mids have won the battle of the boards in all but four games this season and hold a 3.3 rebounds-per-game edge over their foes through 14 games. Navy has compiled a 7-3 record in games during which it grabs more rebounds than its foes, and is 0-4 when hauling in fewer caroms.
The Mids also rank among the national leaders in the fewest fouls called against them this season. Navy was tied for the fourth-fewest fouls (12.9) in the country in the most recent nationally statistics that were released Monday. That average improved to 12.6 fouls a game the following day when Navy was whistled for only eight fouls in its game against Howard. Navy also leads the Patriot League and ranks 34th nationally with its average of 7.3 three-point field goals made a game.
Bucknell enters the game with a 3-9 record this season. All three of its wins have come at home (3-2).
Both Navy and Bucknell have suffered losses to Loyola and UMBC this year, with the final scores against the respective opponents being nearly identical. The Mids lost by three points to Loyola (57-54) and nine points to UMBC (65-56), while the Bison dropped a four-point decision to the Greyhounds (59-55) and a six-point contest to the Retrievers (63-57).
While the Bison are being outscored by an average of 10 points a game on the year (66.3-56.2 ppg), that deficit drops to just 2.2 points a game when the team plays at home (58.8-56.6 ppg).
Shelby Romine, who has garnered four rookie-of-the-week honors in the Patriot League this year, leads Bucknell -- and the Patriot League -- with a scoring average of 15.3 points per game, is tied for the team lead with 33 assists and ranks second on the squad with 16 steals. Joyce Novacek ranks second to Romine in scoring at 7.6 points per game and is grabbing 9.0 rebounds a contest. Her carom average leads Bucknell and ranks second among all league players.
Navy has won each of the last three games it has played against Bucknell. This includes wins by the Mids over the Bison last year by scores of 70-40 (in Annapolis) and 61-46 (in Lewisburg).
Bucknell holds a 27-18 advantage over Navy in the all-time series between the teams, including a 24-14 edge in Patriot League regular season games. The Bison have won 13 of the 20 previous games against the Mids that have been played in Lewisburg.
Navy was predicted to place third in the Patriot League at the start of the season. The Mids accrued 70 points in the voting of the league's coaches and sports information contacts. Meanwhile, the Bison tallied 31 points to place eighth in the tabulation. Navy finished in third place in the Patriot League last season with an 8-6 record, while Bucknell posted a 3-11 record to place eighth.
