Final Stats

HAMILTON, N.Y. â€" The Navy women's basketball team answered every charge made at them by Colgate to come away with an 80-67 victory Sunday afternoon at Cotterell Court in Hamilton, N.Y. The win was the third in a row by the Mids (10-5, 3-1 Patriot League) while the Raiders (5-10, 2-2) saw their two-game winning streak come to an end.

Colgate scored the opening basket of the game, then Navy tallied 13 of the next 15 points and soon thereafter built a 15-7 lead. Taylor Dunham (Jr., Fort Belvoir, Va.) accounted for 12 of those 15 Navy points. The Mids would see their lead sliced down to three â€"â€" 17-14 â€"â€" at the end of the first quarter, but quickly opened it up to 11 â€"â€" 25-14 â€"â€" 80 seconds into the second quarter. Colgate whittled the margin down to as few as two points â€"â€" 27-25 â€"â€" late in the frame, but three-pointers by Sarita Condie (Sr., Lovelock, Nev.) and Dunham sandwiched around a layup by Hannah Fenske (Jr., Albuquerque, N.M.) gave Navy a 35-27 lead at the break.

Dunham, who had totaled 18 points over the last five games, scored 17 points in the first half today. She was 7-11 from the floor in the first 20 minutes, including a 3-5 effort from three-point range. She would open the scoring in the second half with her fourth three-point field goal of the game to tie her season high of 20 points with 19 minutes still to play.

"Taylor really got us going in the first half," said head coach Stefanie Pemper.

Navy's lead would grow to 12 points â€"â€" 47-35 â€"â€" before Colgate cut that margin in half â€"â€" 49-43 â€"â€" with four minutes left in the quarter. Ashanti Kennedy (Sr., Virginia Beach, Va.) scored the next nine points for the Mids, which took their advantage out to 14 (58-44) with 1:40 remaining, but the Raiders shaved off half of that deficit in the last 100 seconds of the quarter to make the score 58-51 through three stanzas.

Colgate began the final quarter on an 8-3 run to close to within 61-59 with seven minutes left on the clock. The Mids promptly scored points on each of their next eight possessions while limiting the Raiders to 1-7 shooting and one turnover on the other end of the floor.

Condie made a pair of free throws to start the run, then Justice Swett (Sr., Nashville, Tenn.) scored on a layup. Kaila Clark (Fr., Hughesville, Md.) made one of two free throw attempts, with Dunham following with a layup. Condie drilled a triple on the next Navy trip down the court, then Kennedy made a basket and free throw on possession number six. The spurt continued with a pair of Clark free throws before a Dunham jumper gave Navy a 78-61 lead with 3:45 left on the clock.

"We got good shots, made them and didn't turn it over," said Pemper of Navy's fourth quarter. "We were able to get it inside. We really had to outscore them (Colgate) after our lead was down to two.

"Our discipline, especially on defense, was really good and it was important we had the discipline. Colgate does a nice job of trying to draw contact on offense."

After shooting 60 percent from the field in the third quarter, the Mids were 9-11 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.

Navy connected on 10 (of 27) three-point field goal attempts in the game and made 44 percent of its overall field goal attempts, while also making 12 of 17 (70.6%) of its free throw attempts on the afternoon. Colgate shot 46 and 47 percent, respectively, in the last two quarters to end the game with an overall mark of 41.3 percent. The Raiders also were 6-12 from the three-point line in the game and sank 9-15 (60%) foul shots.

"We did a nice job of executing," said Pemper. "It was a good mix of being aggressive and working to find open shots. (Assistant coach) Katie Rokus did a nice job of preparing us for Colgate's defense. It is a match-up zone that switches to man. Taylor followed the game plan. She has the skill set to do so."

The Raiders held a slim 40-38 edge on the boards and had a 15-5 advantage in second chance points scored. Navy came out ahead in the turnover contest, committing 11 turnovers and forcing 15. The Mids held a 15-9 lead in points scored after turnovers.

Dunham ended the game with 24 points on 10-15 shooting from the floor and a 4-7 showing from beyond the three-point line. Condie, with 16 points, and Kennedy, with 12, joined Dunham in scoring double digits, while Clark grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds. Fenske (5), Dunham (4) and Swett (4) combined to dish out 13 of Navy's 17 assists.

"Kaila did a good job of staying out of foul trouble as the game went on," said Pemper, "and was a factor down the stretch on the boards. Taylor, Hannah and Ashanti all played really smart games."

Kateri Stone scored 19 points to lead Colgate.

Navy now returns home to play a pair of games over the next week. That brief two-game homestand begins Wednesday when the Mids play host to Loyola at 7 p.m.