Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. â€"â€" Justice Swett's offense (Jr., Nashville, Tenn.) and strong team defense helped the Navy women's basketball squad overcome a five-point deficit in overtime to Siena and record a 59-58 victory over the Saints Friday evening at Alumni Hall in Annapolis. The victory by the Mids advances them into Saturday's title game of the Navy Classic against Colorado State.

The Rams moved into the championship game by virtue of a 54-36 victory over Morgan State earlier in the day. Morgan State and Siena will play in the tournament's consolation game at 3:30 p.m. with the Mids and the Rams squaring off in the title tilt at 6 p.m.

Navy (4-1) used a 15-0 run as part of an 18-5 second quarter to take a 25-16 lead over Siena (0-5) at halftime. Navy was 5-7 from three-point land in the second quarter after missing 9-10 shots from beyond the arc in the first quarter. The Mids would take their largest lead of the game at 34-24 â€"â€" on a free throw â€"â€" with 4:12 left in the third quarter, but did not make another field goal until there was 8:26 remaining in the fourth quarter. That jumper by Peri Curtis (Sr., Coronado, Calif.) ended a nine-minute field goal drought by the Mids and allowed them to briefly regain the lead at 37-35.

Navy soon took a 44-39 lead when Ashanti Kennedy (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) hit a jumper for the Mids at the 5:45 mark, but that would prove to be Navy's final field goal of regulation. Siena quickly scored the ensuing six points to take a 45-44 lead with 1:40 remaining. Sarita Condie (Jr., Lovelock, Nev.) drained a pair of free throws on the next Navy possession to swing the lead back to the Mids at 46-45 with 1:19 showing on the clock.

Siena's Kollyns Scarbrough sank a jumper on the next Saints possession to give them a 47-46 lead with 1:05 still to play. Navy gave the ball to Swett who was fouled while attempting a shot with 44.9 seconds remaining. She made just the first of her two attempts, but that was enough to tie the score. Siena brought the ball down the court and eventually gave it to Denisha Petty-Evans who missed a shot that was gathered in by Curtis. The Mids ran the ball over halfcourt and took a timeout with 12.2 seconds left.

Inbounding in front of the Navy bench, Sarah Reilly (So., Cincinnati, Ohio) had her pass stolen by Petty-Evans. The Siena guard raced down the court for an off-hand layup around a hard-charging Condie that rolled off the rim and out of bounds with 5.2 seconds left. That led to another Navy timeout, and another opportunity for the Mids to inbound in front of their own bench. Navy was successful at the inbounds pass, but was unsuccessful at getting a shot off, which sent the Mids into a second-straight overtime game (Navy defeated Elon, 73-70, in double overtime Tuesday night) for the first time since January, 2006.

"Stef challenged us," said Swett of the conversation led by head coach Stefanie Pemper after the end of regulation. "She said they (Siena) wanted it more than we did and we had to changed out mindset and attitude toward this game."

Siena quickly took leads of 53-48 (2:59) and 54-49 (2:05) in the extra session. Swett, who had accounted for Navy's 49th point on a free throw, drained a three-point shot to cut the deficit to two points (54-52, 1:50). Siena increased its lead to 56-52 on a short jumper from Scarbrough with 1:30 remaining, with the Mids answering 15 seconds later with a bucket by Bianca Roach (Fr., Virginia Beach, Va.).

A traveling call on Siena's Margot Hetzke gave the Mids the ball back with 51.8 seconds remaining, and Navy made the most of its possession when Swett made a driving layup while being fouled. Her ensuing point from the foul line gave Navy a 57-56 lead with 39.5 seconds left.

"We wanted to be a little fearless," said Pemper. "At the end of regulation we had a play where I think we had a layup off of it, and we didn't throw it; we were a little tentative. We had an opportunity where we were being bodied a little and we could have made a drive and we didn't. We tried to talk to them about being fearless, and it didn't work, at all, until Justice made those two huge shots."

Scarbrough missed an inside shot on the next Siena possession, with Reilly snaring the defensive carom with 30 seconds remaining. Forced to foul the Saints sent Roach to the line with 22.3 seconds left. She made the first of her two efforts to give Navy a 58-56 lead. Roach misfired on her second offering, but Curtis grabbed the offensive board before being fouled herself with 20.2 seconds left. Curtis missed her first shot before making her second to stretch the lead to 59-56.

Siena called timeout to advance the ball into the frontcourt after the break in the action. The Saints couldn't launch a potential game-tying trey, but did get the ball inside to Scarbrough who missed a layup but was fouled after grabbing her own errant shot. She made both attempts from the foul line to cut the Navy lead to 59-58 with 6.7 seconds left.

Navy called timeout to allow it to inbound the ball in front of its bench, and after the inbounds pass the Mids were able to run another 1.5 seconds off the clock before Curtis was fouled with 5.6 seconds remaining. This time she missed both attempts, with Siena claiming the second carom and calling timeout with 5.0 seconds still to play.

Scarbrough inbounded the ball to Margot Hetzke at the top of the key. She rolled right and drove just wide of the free throw lane when she tripped and fell to the floor with the ball going out of bounds with 0.03 seconds left on the clock. Navy inbounded the ball with a long pass that was intercepted by Siena but without the Saints having the chance to come close to getting a shot off.

Both teams shot 32 percent from the floor for the game, and each team struggled mightily from the foul line. Siena was 13-24 (27.3%) from the charity stripe, while Navy was 10-22 (37.5%). The Saints held a 21-20 lead in field goals made, but the Mids held a 9-3 advantage on three-point shots made.

Siena controlled the glass for most of the night and ended with a 63-36 edge overall, which included a 26-12 lead in offensive boards. However, the Saints managed just 15 second-chance points to eight for the Mids.

Condie led Navy with 15 points while also dishing out five assists, with Curtis adding 13 points and eight boards. Additionally, Swett tallied seven of her nine points in the overtime period.

Scarbrough led all players with 19 points, while Hetzke totaled 16 points and 19 rebounds. Her carom total was one shy of the Alumni Hall women's basketball record.