Jan. 28, 2012

Final Stats

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell misfired on five field goal attempts in the final 26 seconds of the game to allow the Navy women's basketball team to hang on for a 50-49 victory over the Bison Saturday night at Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg, Pa.

The score was tied at 44-44 when Navy's (11-10, 4-3 Patriot League) Jade Geif (So., Lakeville, Minn.) went to the free throw line. She would make the second of her two attempts to give the Mids a one-point lead. Exactly two minutes later, Alix Membreno (So., Loxhatchee, Fla.) drilled her third three-point field goal of the second half to give Navy a 48-44 lead with 3:15 remaining on the game clock. After Geif grabbed a defensive rebound on a missed shot by Bucknell's (2-10, 0-7) Christina Chukwuedo on the ensuing Bison possession, Membreno was fouled while driving to the basket. She would make both free throws to tally her 14th and 15th points of the second half and increase the Navy advantage to 50-44 with 2:33 remaining in the game.

"Alix made some huge shots for us," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "She was playing with so much confidence out there."

Bucknell sliced two points off of the margin between the teams when Alyssa Dunn hit a jumper with 2:12 left to play. The Mids had two missed shots on their next time down the floor, but grabbed the resulting carom after each attempt. The possession would end when Chukwuedo stole the ball from Erin Edwards (Sr., Hockessin, Del.) with 1:20 left to play and was immediately fouled by Edwards.

Shelby Romine missed a short jumper for the Bison on their next possession, but Lindsay Horbatuck grabbed the loose ball and scored on a putback while being fouled. She made the free throw attempt to shave the Navy lead down to 50-49 with 1:03 showing on the clock.

Navy ran some time off of the clock before giving the ball to Membreno, who proceeded to drive the lane. However, she would be whistled for an offensive foul on the drive to give the ball back to Bucknell with 39 seconds remaining. The Bison inbounded the ball and brought it over halfcourt before calling timeout with 35.7 seconds left. After the inbounds pass, Alyssa Dunn missed a shot for the Bison, but the rebound was gathered in by Bucknell's Rachel Voss with 19 seconds left. Voss went back up for a shot and missed, but this time Romine was there for the rebound. Bucknell would call timeout with 13 seconds left in the game.

Navy slowed down the Bucknell offense after the inbounds pass, and that led to Chukwuedo attempting a baseline jumper with five seconds remaining. Players from both teams scrambled for the ball and soon a jump ball was whistled for. The arrow was pointing toward Navy, so the Mids would inbound the ball from underneath the Bucknell basket with 1.7 seconds left.

After a Navy timeout, Edwards prepared to inbound the ball. However, she couldn't find an open player and was whistled for a five-second violation prior to being able to call for Navy's remaining timeout. That turnover gave the ball back to Bucknell, which was out of timeouts. The Bison inbounded the ball to Romine, whose 12-foot baseline jumper fell short of the rim as time expired.

"We knew coming in that Bucknell was going to be tough to defend," said Pemper. "I think our zone in the second half really changed things."

Navy had shot 40 percent from the field in the first half and had held Bucknell to just six field goals and a 25-percent field goal percentage in the opening 20 minutes, but the Bison went into halftime holding a 23-22 lead thanks to their going a perfect 10-of-10 from the foul line in the frame. That was despite Navy, 1-of-2 from the foul line in the half, taking a 22-14 lead with four minutes remaining in the opening half of play.

Momentum had stayed with Bucknell in the early part of the second half. A three-point field goal by Audrey Bauer (So., Lake Zurich, Ill.) gave the Mids a 25-23 lead very early in the half, but the Bison soon built leads of 30-25 and 36-30. The difference would remain at six points -- 38-32 -- when Membreno started to take over the Navy offense. After being held scoreless in just eight minutes of playing time in the first half due to foul trouble, she scored on a layup while being fouled with 11:33 left to play. She would miss the attempt from the charity stripe, but hit a jumper on Navy's next possession to make the margin just two points. After a Bucknell turnover, Membreno drilled a three-point field goal to give Navy a 39-38 advantage at the midpoint of the second half. The two teams traded field goals before Membreno sank another three-pointer that gave Navy a 44-40 lead.

"Every win you can get in the league, especially a win on the road, is big," said Pemper.

Bucknell grabbed 15 offensive rebounds in the game, but came away with just seven second-chance points. Conversely, Navy produced 12 second-chance points after the 12 offensive caroms it had snared. Navy also came out nearly even with Bucknell in terms of points off of turnovers. The Bison forced the Mids into 18 turnovers while turning the ball over 11 times themselves, but recorded just 16 points after those turnovers while Navy scored 15 points following the miscues by Bucknell.

The Mids also sank eight three-point field goals while holding the Bison to just one three-pointer in the game.

In addition to Membreno's 15 points, Bauer and Chloe Stapleton (Fr., Cary, N.C.) also had good offensive efforts in the game. Bauer matched Membreno's output from outside of the three-point line in scoring 12 points, while Stapleton sank a pair of three-pointers to end the game with a career-high 10 points. Geif was held to just three points on the night, while also contributing 13 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

"Chloe and Audrey also did a nice job, along with Alix, roaming around in our zone defense," said Pemper.

Voss and Chukwuedo combined for 25 of Bucknell's 49 points, with Voss leading the Bison with 13 points.

Saturday's game closed out the first half of the Patriot League season for both teams. Navy and Holy Cross are tied for third place in the league standings, with Army one-half game in back of the two teams heading into a Sunday game against Lehigh.

The Mids will open the second half of the league campaign Feb. 4 when Navy plays host to Lafayette.