ANNAPOLIS, Md. â€"â€" Taylor Dunham (So., Fort Belvoir, Va.) scored 12 of her game-high 26 points in the latter part of the fourth quarter to help the Navy women's basketball team salt away a 67-56 victory over Boston University Thursday night at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.

Dunham, who just missed tying her career high of 28 points, began the game by going 4-5 from the floor in scoring nine points to stake Navy (7-7, 1-2 Patriot League) to a 20-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The Mids scored 10-straight points in one segment of the stanza on their way to closing the frame on a 14-2 run.

In addition to Dunham's early play, Sara Jones (Jr., New Tripoli, Pa.) also was instrumental during the spurt by the Mids. She snared a defensive board on one end of the floor before hitting a jumper on the other end. Jones promptly stole the ball and fed Dunham on a layup that gave the Mids 14-6 cushion and forced Boston (0-14, 0-3) into calling a timeout. The Terriers missed a shot after the break, with Jones answering by scoring on a layup.

"We came out with a very aggressive defense," said Jones. "We wanted to try and get some transition points."

Navy slowly edged out to leads of 30-14 and 37-19 in the second quarter before going into halftime with a 37-23 lead. The Terriers shot a respectable 9-25 (36%) from the floor in the first half, but the Mids were able to build their lead thanks to a 15-26 (57.7%) from the field over the first 20 minutes of the game.

"We finally shot the ball well! Look at that; 58 percent in the first half. We came out focused and executed pretty well," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper.

Boston was as close as it was thanks to the play of Kara Sheftic, who was 4-5 from the field and 4-4 from the foul line to account for 12 points â€"â€" and five rebounds â€"â€" for the Terriers. Meanwhile, Dunham added another five points in the second quarter to bring her tally to 14 in the first half.

The 37 points accrued by the Mids were the most they have scored in the first half this season. Navy promptly was held to a season low for points in any quarter this season as it tallied just five in the third period. Navy was 2-11 from the field and missed each of its five three-point attempts in the stanza. However, the Mids still entered the final period of play with a 42-32 lead as Boston was just 2-9 from the floor during the third quarter.

The Terriers quickly notched the opening five points of the fourth quarter to close to within 42-37 of the Mids, with a Meghan Green triple winnowing Boston's deficit down to just those five points with 9:01 left on the clock. Her trey began an impressive shooting performance by both teams. Green's triple was answered immediately by a trey from Danielle Poblarp (Jr., Topeka, Kan.). Boston's Sarah Hope made a three-point shot on the next possession by the visitors, with Sarita Condie (Jr., Lovelock, Nev.) registering a three-pointer on the ensuing Navy trip down the floor. The Terriers would answer just a few seconds later when Hope drained another triple, with Dunham knocking down a trey 20 seconds later to give the Mids a 51-43 lead with 7:09 showing on the clock.

The two teams combined for a 6-6 effort from three-point range on a total of six possessions in a span of less than two minutes.

The pace and production slowed down over the next two minutes, with Boston flipping the scoreboard next on a pair of free throws by Courtney Latham with just over five minutes remaining. Dunham answered again with a three-point shot to give the Mids a 54-45 lead with 4:49 still to play. The Terriers would make it a six-point margin 40 seconds later when Green made another trey. The Mids stretched their lead back to nine points on their next trip down the court when Jones knocked down a three-point shot with 3:40 left on the clock.

Navy's lead would fluctuate between nine and 13 points over the remainder of the contest.

Navy made 7-11 (63.6%) shots from the floor in the final period â€"â€" an effort that included a 5-8 (62.5%) showing from three-point land â€"â€" and was 6-6 (100%) from the foul line over the last 10 minutes of play. Boston would end the night shooting 9-15 (60%) from the field and 4-9 (44.4%) from three-point land in the final period.

The Mids on the night shot 50 percent from the field, were 9-23 (39.1%) from three-point range and were 10-13 (76.9%) from the foul line. Conversely, the Terriers shot 40.8 percent from the floor, 21.7 percent (5-13) from beyond the arc and made all but one of their 12 (91.7%) free throw attempts.

Navy held a slim 29-27 edge on the glass and forced 13 turnovers while committing 12 of its own. Those numbers allowed the Mids to slightly lead the Terriers in both points scored after turnovers (17-13) and second chance points (14-12).

"If you look at our halftime stats," said Pemper, "they were awesome across the board. And then again in the fourth quarter after being pretty cold in the third quarter and even in the early minutes of the fourth. Then Dani hit a three, Sara hit a three and Taylor hit a three. They (Boston) were answering at times, but it seemed we had lost some of our momentum and I looked up and saw we had a nine-point lead."

Dunham connected on 4-10 three-point shots as part of a 9-16 effort from the floor while adding a 4-4 performance from the foul line to tally her 26 points. Her scoring was in addition to her handing out four assists and grabbing an equal number of rebounds.

"I think it was Taylor's focus, honestly," said Pemper. "I don't think it was anything other than that. She was really locked in tonight."

"We have been able to string together some good practices," said Dunham. "We have been struggling shooting lately, but what we have been doing in practices is paying off in games."

Jones, who entered tonight's game with five points scored all year and 12 points scored in her career, made 4-6 shots from the field -â€" including her lone three-point attempt â€"â€" to score nine points this evening.

"I thought Sara gave us a huge spark off the bench," said Pemper. "Sara is a smart player and a good shooter. She moves off the ball well, has a nice pull-up and can shoot the three. Tonight, she brought some upper class maturity and confidence. This game really meant something to her, which is great."

Joining Dunham in double figures was Condie with 11 points. The guard also snared a Navy-best five caroms in the game.

Sheftic would have a very productive game for the Terriers as she was 7-9 from the field and 6-6 from the foul line to tally 20 points while also grabbing 12 rebounds. Meanwhile, Green scored 10 of her 18 points in the final period.

Navy will be back in Alumni Hall Saturday for a 4 p.m. game against Colgate.