Feb. 9, 2011

Final Stats

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- An early 10-point run provided just enough of a cushion for Lehigh to post a 63-59 victory over the Navy women's basketball team Wednesday night at Stabler Arena, in Bethlehem, Pa.

The loss drops Navy's Patriot League record to 7-2, while the two-time defending league-champion Mountain Hawks improved to 5-4 with the victory. The Mids still remain in first place in the league standings, but their advantage over second-place American shrunk to just one game.

The score was knotted at 10-10 when Lehigh went on a 10-0 run to build a 20-10 advantage with 7:41 left in the first half. Navy closed to within four points at both 22-18 (3:50) and 28-24 (1:50) before the Mountains Hawks tallied the last five points of the half to take a 33-24 lead at the break.

Lehigh's Erica Prosser connected on 6 of 8 shots from the floor and sank both of her three-point field goal attempts -- including one trey as the first half ended -- to tally 14 first-half points.

Navy struggled with taking care of the ball in the first half, due in large part to the aggressive defensive pressure of Lehigh. The Mids committed turnovers on each of their first four possessions of the game and totaled 11 turnovers in the first half. The Mountain Hawks, who scored 15 points off of those Navy miscues, committed five first-half turnovers that directly led to just three points for Navy.

"Out of respect for us, Lehigh took the time to put together a great game plan against us, and it was effective," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "But we did respond better to what Lehigh was doing from midway through the first half to that last three-pointer at the buzzer. That shot was a bummer; we should have prevented it because we are better than allowing that."

Lehigh quickly scored the first four points of the second half to expand its lead to 13 points. Navy slowly chipped away at the margin and closed to within five points at both 45-40 (12:20) and 47-42 (11:53). Navy had chances to slice into the deficit on each of their next two possessions as the Mids came away with back-to-back defensive stops, but those trips back down the floor ended with a missed three-point and a missed field goal attempt.

The Lehigh lead soon grew to 53-46 before Jade Geif (Fr., Lakeview, Minn.) made a free throw and a layup to make it a 53-49 game with 5:35 left to play. After Alexa Williams made one of two free throws (54-49) for Lehigh, an Erin Edwards (Jr., Hockessin, Del.) field goal closed the margin down to three points at 54-51 with 4:12 left to play. The Mids promptly forced a jump ball on Lehigh's next possession and received the ball on the alternating arrow with 3:53 left. Lehigh then knocked the ball loose from the Mids to regain possession, but a missed shot gave Navy the ball again. The offensive trip for the Mids would end when Alix Membreno (Fr., Loxahatchee, Fla.) was forced to toss up a three-point shot as the shot clock expired.

Lehigh's ensuing possession saw Emily Gratch miss a field goal attempt, but she grabbed her own rebound and was immediately fouled while making another attempt. She made both free throws to make the score 56-51 with 2:12 left to play. After a Lehigh steal, Williams hit a 17-foot turnaround jumper for the Mountain Hawks as the shot clock ended to make it a seven-point game at 58-51 with 1:25 showing on the clock.

Navy's next trip down the floor saw Audrey Bauer (Fr., Lake Zurich, Ill.) hit a three-pointer with just under one minute left to play to pull the Mids to within 58-54. Now forced to foul, the Mids sent Aly Byorick to the line with 46.1 seconds remaining. She made both attempts from the charity stripe to make it a 60-54 game. Cassie Consedine (Sr., Bartlesville, Okla.) missed a three-point attempt for Navy with 35 seconds left, and the Mids fouled Kelea Blake with 31.1 seconds showing on the clock. She would make one of her two shots to give Lehigh a 61-54 lead. A layup by Bauer with 15 seconds left (61-56) was followed by the Mids sending Prosser to the foul line two seconds later. She made both attempts to boost the Lehigh lead to 63-54. A three-point field goal by Angela Myers (Sr., San Antonio, Texas) with 3.1 seconds remaining closed out the scoring.

"There were some key possessions from the four minute to the two minute mark in the second half," said Pemper. "We were right there with Lehigh at the time, but we did not get enough out of those possessions. We didn't honor what that moment in the game meant. Looking back, maybe I should have called a timeout to settle us down."

The Mids were much more effective at taking care of the ball in the second half as they turned the ball over only seven times in the last 20 minutes of play, which is one fewer turnover in the second half than Lehigh committed. Navy also did a better job on the glass after halftime. The Mids were -2 in rebound margin in the first half but hauled in 16 second-half rebounds and allowed Lehigh only 10 caroms. Those factors helped Navy to outscore Lehigh, 35-30, in the second half.

The two teams shot a nearly identical percentage from the floor in both halves of play. Each squad shot 40 percent from the field in the first half and 50 percent during the second half. Both teams also tallied 23 field goals made on the night. Though Navy sank eight three-point field goals to five for Lehigh, the Mountain Hawks were 12 of 15 from the foul line while the Mids were 5 of 8.

Three Mids scored in double figures in the game. Consedine finished with 13 points, Geif tallied 12 points and Edwards posted 10 points. Meanwhile, Myers posted eight points, eight assists and six rebounds, and Membreno scored eight points.

"I thought Alix was great tonight with her aggressiveness on offense," said Pemper.

Navy did a better job defensively on Prosser after halftime as she tallied just four points in the second half of play. Her 18 points led all players on the night while her teammate Williams added 14 points.

The Mids will return to Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley Saturday for a 1 p.m. game against Lafayette in Easton.