Feb. 11, 2012

Final Stats

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- Erin Edwards (Sr., Hockessin, Del.) drilled four second half three-point field goals to help the Navy women's basketball team rally from a six-point deficit to Army and defeat the Black Knights, 57-50, in the annual Star/Army-Navy Trophy Game between the two service academies at Christl Arena in West Point, N.Y.

"This is a huge win for us," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "We have a lot of respect for Army. They are having a terrific league season and have really put things together. To win on the road, coming off of another road game win Wednesday at Holy Cross, I think this is a huge, huge win."

Army (12-13, 6-4 Patriot League) held a slim lead over Navy (14-10, 7-3) through the first half of play. The largest lead for the Black Knights was eight points at 16-8, but the Mids went into halftime trailing by just one point at 20-19.

Alix Membreno (So., Loxahatchee, Fla.) carried the Navy offense in the first half. She connected on 6 of 9 field goal attempts and scored 12 points, while the rest of the Mids combined for just a 3 of 16 effort from the floor and tallied seven points.

"My teammates just trusted me with the ball," said Membreno. "The way Army was playing Jade (Geif) allowed me to drive the ball.

"It doesn't matter who makes the shots for us; it's just great to see points go on the board from any of us."

Anna Simmers, who scored eight points for Army in the first half before picking up her second foul of the half, quickly scored the opening five points of the second half on a field goal, foul shot and jumper. That quick outburst gave the Black Knights a 25-19 lead and led to Pemper calling a timeout less than two minutes into the frame.

Audrey Bauer (So., Lake Zurich, Ill.) promptly sunk a three-pointer on Navy's first possession after the timeout. Simmers turned the ball over for Army on its next trip down the court, then Membreno scored another bucket for the Mids to make it a one-point game at 25-24.

Jen Hazlett made a pair of free throws to increase the Army advantage to three points before Membreno made 1 of 2 attempts from the foul line to make it a two-point game. Simmers missed a jumper for the Black Knights, with Bauer following with another triple to give Navy its first lead of the day at 28-27 with 16:01 showing on the clock.

"I'm really proud of how we hung in there," said Pemper. "There were a lot of swings of emotions and runs out there, as there always are. We scored just 19 points in the first half, we weren't able to get Jade (Geif) the ball as we like to, then the second half starts with us missing a shot and Army scoring quickly. But coming out of that timeout, Audrey hit a couple of three pointers. We really responded well."

Defense dominated the ensuing few minutes of play before a three-pointer by Edwards was answered by a trey from Army's Molly Yardley to keep the Mids in front by just one point, 31-30, with 12:16 left to play. The teams next traded missed shots, then exchanged turnovers before Chloe Stapleton (Fr., Cary, N.C.) connected on a three-pointer to give Navy a 34-30 lead with 10:38 left to play.

It took almost three minutes before more points were placed on the scoreboard, but they were tallied by Chey Arvin (Jr., Noblesville, Ind.) who stepped to the foul line for Membreno who left the game with leg cramps after being fouled while attempting a jumper. Arvin's two points gave Navy a 36-30 lead with 7:43 remaining. Hazlett made 1 of 2 attempts from the foul line on Army's next trip down the court, but then Edwards drilled another triple to take the Navy advantage to 39-31 with 6:36 remaining.

Simmers made a jumper for Army, the first field goal for the Black Knights in six minutes, that cut the Navy margin down to six points, but then Jade Geif (So., Lakeville, Minn.) made a layup while being fouled. Her old fashioned three-point play gave Navy a 42-33 cushion with 5:02 left to play.

That margin slowly dwindled and soon Army had closed to within four points on a jumper by Simmers. Navy responded on its next offensive possession when Edwards connected on a three-point field goal to push the Navy lead back to two possessions, 47-40, with 2:49 left on the clock. After an Army turnover, Edwards converted her fourth three pointer of the half to give Navy a 50-40 lead with 2:26 remaining.

"The shots weren't falling for us in the first half," said Edwards, "but we stayed positive and confident about it at halftime. Then they went in during the second half."

Army was able to close to within five points of the Mids at 52-47, but there were just 29 seconds left in the game when it did so. Navy connected on 5 of 6 free throw attempts down the stretch to seal the victory.

After making just 1 of 8 (12.5%) three-point attempts in the first half, Navy was 7 of 16 (43.8%) from outside of the arc in the second half. Navy also was 11 of 14 from the foul line in the second half, which followed a first half that did not see the Mids attempt a shot from the charity stripe.

The Mids also held the Black Knights to just 9 field goals in both the first and second half and to a field goal percentage of 32.7 percent for the game. Army was 4 of 17 from three-point range in the contest.

Membreno played just nine second half minutes, and did not return after leaving with 7:43 left in the game, but would lead all Mids on the afternoon with 15 points while adding seven rebounds.

"I don't know if anyone in the league can guard Simmers," said Pemper. "Alix can do as good of a job as anyone can, but to have us still play well when she left the game was great to see."

"It was fun to watch the momentum just carry through for us when I went out," said Membreno.

Joining her in double figures for the Mids were Edwards with 12 points and Bauer with 10 points. Bauer, who scored all of her points after halftime, also contributed six caroms and four assists in the game. Meanwhile, Geif may have scored just five points for the Mids, but she also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

Simmers led all players in the game with 22 points.

Navy returns home to play host to American Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Alumni Hall.