Nov. 26, 2011

Final Stats

EMMITSBURG, Md. - An early 13-2 run provided enough of a cushion for Mount St. Mary's to defeat the Navy women's basketball team, 52-45, Saturday evening at Knott Arena in Emmitsburg, Md.

A pair of free throws by Rachel Mathews gave the Mountaineers (2-3) a 5-4 lead three minutes into the game. After a missed shot by the Mids (1-3), Ashley Christie drilled a three-point field goal for the Mount to make the score 8-4. Both teams would come away without a point on their next respective trips down the floor, then another Navy missed shot was followed by two free throws by Christie that gave the Mountaineers a 10-4 lead.

Jade Geif (So., Lakeville, Minn.) would then score on a layup on Navy's ensuing possession to make it a four-point game. After a Mount St. Mary's turnover and a Navy missed jumper, Christie scored on a layup to boost the margin for the Mountaineers back to six points at 12-6. Christie promptly stole the ball from Chantel Lavender (Jr., Trenton, N.J.) and scored on a layup, with Navy's next possession also being ended by a Mount St. Mary's steal. This one was recorded by Jessie Kaufman and it led to Sydney Henderson scoring on a layup to give the Mountaineers a 16-6 lead with 12:15 remaining on the clock.

The Mount St. Mary's cushion would hover between seven and 13 points over the remainder of the half. The teams would go into the locker room at halftime with the Mount holding a 29-20 lead.

The Mountaineers forced Navy into 11 first-half turnovers and turned those miscues into 12 points. Conversely, the Mids scored just five points following the six turnovers they forced Mount St. Mary's into during the half.

Mount St. Mary's, which entered the day averaging over seven three-point field goals made a game this season, connected on five triples in the first half.

After a three-point field goal by Christie opened the second half, Kara Pollinger (So., Fort Gay, W.Va.) drilled a three-point field goal for the Mids. That was soon followed by a pair of free throws by Alix Membreno (So., Loxahatchee, Fla.) that pulled the Mids to within seven points at 32-25 just three minutes into the second half.

Navy forced Mount St. Mary's into a missed shot on its next trip down the court, but that was followed by a missed jumper by Chey Arvin (Jr., Noblesville, Ind.) that would have made it a five-point game. Another miss by the Mount was followed by another steal from Christie. The theft led to a layup for Selina Mann that gave Mount St. Mary's a 34-25 lead with 15:41 left to play. That bucket started an 8-0 run by the Mount that gave them a 40-25 advantage with 12:28 remaining in the game.

The Mids had one more run in them as they soon scored seven consecutive points to slice a 14-point deficit in half -- 44-37 -- with 6:47 showing on the clock. Navy again forced Mount St. Mary's into a missed shot on its next possession, but came away from its next time with the ball without a point itself when Geif missed a shot of her own. That missed shot was followed by a Jessie Kaufman field goal that gave Mount St. Mary's a 46-37 lead with 5:41 left to play. Navy could pull no closer than seven points over the remainder of the game.

Navy took much better care of the basketball in the second half as the Mids committed just four turnovers over the final half of play. Additionally, Navy allowed the Mount to connect on just one three-point field goal in the second half.

Navy's offense connected on 8-of-28 field goal attempts in both halves of play (28.6%), which included a 7-of-24 effort (29.2%) from outside of the three-point arc.

"I liked the looks we were able to get," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "We just have to find a way to put the ball in the basket."

Meanwhile, its defense allowed the Mount to shoot at least 40 percent from the floor in both halves and 41.7 percent for the game.

The Mids had another strong night on the glass as Navy hauled in 12 more offensive (19-7) and total (39-27) rebounds than the Mount did. But the Mids could only tally 15 points after those 19 offensive caroms.

"I'm happy with our rebounding," said Pemper. "The effort was great. Basketball can be a little unfortunate in that it is like soccer or hockey where one team can take many more shots than the other but still lose. We had a lot more shots today, but Mount St. Mary's was the team to make more of them."

Pollinger paced Navy with a career-high 16 points in the game. The point guard, who shot 6-of-10 from the field and was 4-of-7 from beyond the three-point arc, also shared the Navy rebounding lead with a career-best eight boards. Having an uncharacteristic offensive night for the Mids was Geif, who scored eight points but was 3-of-14 from the field. Geif also grabbed eight boards and dished out a Navy-best three assists in 36 minutes of playing time.

"Kara was such a warrior for us out there tonight, right to the very end with that last three-point field goal," said Pemper. "And Jade is going to learn a lot from tonight with us going to her more and with the way teams are going to defend her."

Christie matched Pollinger's offensive output as she sank 6-of-9 field goal attempts and made two of her three three-point shots to score 16 points and lead the Mountaineers in scoring.

Navy will open a five-game homestand Monday night when the Mids play host to Air Force at 7 p.m. in Alumni Hall.