Box Score | Photo Gallery

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- On a night where points were hard to come by for both teams, Bucknell scored the lone two points of overtime to record a 44-42 victory over the Navy women's basketball team Wednesday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

"Tough one to lose," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "I give Bucknell a lot of credit. They made some big shots and defensively they were really good. They affected us like no one really has.

"Our defense was really good, but we didn't execute (offensively) down the stretch."

Bucknell (11-5, 3-2 Patriot League) took a 42-37 lead over Navy (9-7, 3-2) with just over three minutes left to play. Ashanti Kennedy (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) ended a nearly three-minute scoring drought for the Mids with a three-point field goal that pulled Navy to within 42-40 with 90 seconds remaining on the clock.

After a pair of missed shots on the next Bucknell possession gave the ball back to the Mids, Kennedy took a long jumper that was halfway down before popping back out. However, teammate Marina Muenster (Fr., Coppell, Texas) extended her arms in the air to grab the carom and go right back up with a shot that connected to tie the score with 27.2 seconds left in regulation. That led to a Bucknell timeout.

The Bison held for the last shot coming out of the break in the action, but Claire Maree O'Bryan's three-point shot with three seconds remaining was off. Navy's Justice Swett (So., Nashville, Tenn.) would swipe the ball out of the hands of Bucknell's Sheaira Jones just before time expired to send the game into overtime.

Navy failed to score on its first three possessions of the extra period, with Bucknell scoring on its third trip down the court when Claire DeBoer hit a short jumper with 2:31 left to play. The Mids misfired on a shot on their next time down the court, then a steal gave the ball back to them. However, that possession also ended with a missed shot. O'Bryan was fouled with 53.2 seconds remaining, but missed the front end of the bonus with the rebound being pulled down by Muenster.

Navy committed a turnover of its own on its next possession when a pass sailed out of bounds with 28 seconds showing. The Mids applied pressure in the backcourt before fouling O'Bryan with 15.0 seconds left to play. She again missed the front end of the bonus, with Navy snaring the loose carom and hustling the ball over halfcourt before calling timeout with 7.7 seconds remaining.

The Mids quickly put the ball into the hands of Taylor Dunham (Fr., Fort Belvoir, Va.), but she briefly lost control of the ball while at the top of the key with the clock quickly ticking down. She gathered in the ball and lofted a three-point shot at the buzzer that hit the front of the rim and the back of the rim before careening wide to the right.

The Mids were 0-6 from the field in overtime with one turnover, while the Bison were 1-4 from the floor, 0-2 from the foul line and committed one turnover in the extra period.

Navy had trailed by as many as eight points in the first half (19-11) before closing to within 19-16 with 5:25 remaining on a three-point shot by Sarita Condie (So., Lovelock, Nev.). However, the Bison would tally the last four points of the frame to go into the break with a 23-16 advantage.

Kennedy sparked the Mids in the early part of the second half, which soon led to a Dunham triple that gave Navy a 26-25 lead less than five minutes into the stanza. That would be the first of eight lead changes over the next eight minutes, which led into Bucknell connecting on consecutive field goals to take the aforementioned 42-37 lead.

The Mids shot 25.4 percent (16-63) from the floor for the game and made 27.3 percent (6-22) of their three-point attempts. The Bison connected on 33.3 percent (19-57) of their field goal attempts, which included a 15.4 percent (2-13) showing from three-point range. Additionally, Navy was 4-6 from the foul line while Bucknell was 4-10.

"I think everyone in our locker room is going to be a little frustrated we couldn't make shots," said Pemper. "We shot 25 percent. You are just not going to win a Patriot League game doing that. We had a lot of good shots, but I think Bucknell just had us flustered.

"We weren't able to have any success inside. We had a huge mismatch inside and tried to capitalize on that a few times in the second half, but it just didn't work. We need the guards right there to realize how much space they have to make that big post try and guard them. Again, I think Bucknell got us flustered."

Navy did force Bucknell into 21 turnovers while committing 16 of its own, but the Bison recorded 16 points after turnovers while the Mids tallied just nine such points.

Also limiting Navy's offense was Bucknell holding a 55-38 advantage on the glass.

Kennedy tallied 11 points to lead Navy and fall just one point shy of tying her career high, while Dunham produced seven points and five assists. Muenster snared 10 boards, which marked her third game in a row with at least that many caroms.

Leading all players in the game in both points and rebounds was DeBoer with 16 and 13 respectively.

Navy will head back on the road this weekend for a 4 p.m. game Saturday at Colgate.