ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's basketball team fell 72-48 to Marist College on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Hall. In a matchup of two of the East Coast's most successful mid-major programs in recent history, the visiting Red Foxes (1-0) used a scorching run of play in the second quarter to break out a 23-point lead over the Mids (1-1) by halftime. Navy played Marist nearly even in the second half, but were unable to overcome that early deficit.
 
Morgan Taylor (Jr., Evans, Ga.) and Sophie Gatzounas (So., South Hadley, Mass.) led the Mids' individual scoring efforts with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
 
The game opened with a decent run of back-and-forth play with Navy taking an early 5-4 at 6:06 on a three-pointer from the corner by Taylor. Marist immediately answered back with a pair of three-point baskets courtesy of Rebekah Hand to go up 10-5. Jennifer Coleman (Fr., Richmond, Va.) ended Marist's 8-0 run with a layup at 3:10 to make it 12-7. A converted foul shot by Marist was the only point scored for either team for the remainder of the period as the score closed at 13-7.
 
The outlook of the game changed in the second quarter as the visitors extended their lead out to 10 points at 20-10 at the 6:35 mark before Kolbi Green (Fr., Woodstock, Md.) used some nifty defensive skills for a steal and fast-break layup to shave two points off the Mids' deficit on the ensuing possession. From that point when Navy trailed 20-12, Marist closed the final 5:47 on a 20-5 run on the strength of four three-pointers and four other layups. Jasmine Bishop (So., Twinsburg, Ohio) and Gatzounas netted points for the Mids during this stretch.
 
At half, Marist was outshooting Navy, 48.4 (15-31) to 20.6 (7-34) from the field and 46.7 (7-15) to 15.4 (2-13) from three-point range.
 
In the third quarter, the Mids' defense started finding success in containing the Red Foxes' potent offense as Navy outscored Marist 7-0 from the 8:42 to 5:53 mark and made it 44-24. Navy held Marist to 0-6 from the field during that span of play. That narrative of tight defense continued in the second half of the third as the Mids would go on to outscore the Red Foxes, on their way to a positive 17-11 margin for the entirety of the period. Taylor netted nine of the Mids' points. Navy's 47.1 (8-17) shooting percentage from the field led the way as it cut the margin to 51-34 after three. Marist was held to 18.8 percent (3-16) from the field.
 
The fourth quarter action mirrored the second as Marist found its shooting stroke again as the Red Foxes hit 58.3 percent (7-12) from the field, while the Mids struggled with a 16.7 percent (3-18) mark. Ciera Hertelendy (Fr., Inwood, W.Va.) was a spark for Navy off the bench in the fourth quarter as she provided the team with five points and four rebounds over five minutes of play. The Mids received eight of its points from the foul line. For the period, Marist outscored Navy, 21-14, on its way to a 72-48 victory.
 
"We're disappointed with today's outcome," remarked head coach Stefanie Pemper. "I thought Marist did a really good job defensively. They defended us differently; they had size and they were switching a lot. All of that affected us. They sped us up. I was impressed by Marist. We knew coming in that they would probably be the best team on our schedule outside of Colorado. They were as advertised. They have players that can make threes and today they made them; then they have players that make threes all of the time and they made those too. Those are such big morale shots. They had a lot of momentum and emotion on their side. We didn't have a lot go right today." 
 
For the game, Marist outshot Navy, 42.4 (25-59) to 26.1 (18-69) from the field and 39.3 (11-28) to 16.7 (3-18) from three-point range. The Red Foxes outrebounded the Mids, 52-38. Navy's defense forced Marist into 19 turnovers on 12 steals. Gatzounas led the Mids with four steals, additionally she brought down six rebounds, that tied Taylor and Coleman for top-billing in that category for Navy.
 
"Sophie had a nice game," said Pemper. "She played her style of basketball today. I liked our fight in the third quarter, but overall, we're hugely disappointed. I love our team and we'll learn from this. I can't wait to get to our next practice and our next game.
 
Navy will be away from the hardwood for a week before suiting up in its first road game of the year next Sunday afternoon at Norfolk State. Tip-off between the Mids and Spartans is set for 4 p.m. in Norfolk, Va.