ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's basketball team didn't miss a beat after a brief break for the Thanksgiving holiday as the Mids came out on Saturday and scored 82 points in their 20-point victory over the Kennesaw State Owls, 82-62 in the first round of the 2019 Navy Classic at Alumni Hall. The Mids (4-3) started the game with 20-plus points in three straight quarters and shot 51.6 percent for the game against the Owls (4-3) to advance to the championship game of the annual classic.
 
Navy's offensive attack on Saturday was spearheaded by a trio of Mids with double-digit point outputs. Sophie Gatzounas (Jr., South Hadley, Mass.) and Jennifer Coleman (So., Richmond, Va.) tied for top honors with 18 points each, though Mary Kate Ulasewicz (Sr., Doylestown, Pa.) wasn't far behind with 17 points. Ulasewicz, the Mids' senior captain rounded out her day with a career-best 10 rebounds and six assists.
 
"I liked our effort and energy from the start," remarked head coach Stefanie Pemper. "We missed a few layups early, but I didn't think we let that affect us. This was another game where the three-point shot was good for us and I really think that made a difference. Today's game was about unselfish Navy play, we had 20 assists. I was really pleased with the first half, especially the way we moved the ball, believed in each other and had people step up. You feel more confident when your teammate passes up an open shot to give you an even better one. That was really great to see.
 
"I thought Katie Rokus did a great job with the scout and our women really followed the plan. We really tried to clog the paint, I thought we did a nice job of that and made them try and go to something else. I liked our defense today, but we have to work on finding some individual defensive stoppers."
 
Gatzounas started out fast for the Mids with her team's first three points over the opening 3:14 of action. Trailing 4-3, Ulasewicz put Navy ahead for the first time on Saturday with a three-pointer from the top of the arc at 6:04. The Mids' team captain would increase her squad's lead to four points at 8-4 with a jumper in the lane less than a minute later. After Kennesaw State scored the next three points to tighten it to an 8-7 contest, Navy netted the ensuing eight points with back-to-back three-pointers by Coleman highlighting the run. With the score 16-7, the visiting Owls scored their final points of the first quarter on a Peyton Lewis trey at 1:59. The scoreboard didn't stay at 16-10 long as the Mids scored five points over their final two possessions, including a buzzer beater by Gatzounas off of a no-look pass by Coleman.
 
Up 21-10 coming out the first quarter intermission, Navy extended its lead out to 17 points in short order with the combination of a Gatzounas three-pointer, Laurel Jaunich (Sr., Charlotte, Va.) layup and a Kolbi Green (So., Baltimore, Md.) free throw by 6:50. Jaunich's layup came off a smooth offensive rebound and one-handed pass by Coleman. Less than two minutes later, the Mids' lead reached 19 points, 34-15 at 5:04 as Lindsay Llewellyn (Fr., North East, Md.) hit from three-point range before Jaunich was the recipient of another slick Coleman pass. A run of back-and-forth action over the final five minutes of the half saw Navy's advantage bounce between 13 and 19 points. A late layup by Coleman with 12 seconds left sent the game into the locker room with Navy up 43-28.
 
At the half, Navy was outshooting Kennesaw State, 51.5 percent (17-33) to 42.9 percent (12-28). The Mids also held a 46.7 percent (7-15) to 12.5 percent (1-8) lead in three-point shooting.
 
In the third quarter, the Mids' lead ventured into the 20-point range by the 8:14 mark when Ulasewicz hit Jaunich wide open for a baseline jumper. Now leading 50-30, Navy's defense tightened up and held Kennesaw State at that 30-point total for over three minutes, while building out its lead to 23 points. The Owls tried getting back into the game during the middle portion of the third stanza with an 11-4 run counting down to 2:41.  With the score 57-41, the Mids caught fire down the stretch with 10 points on 4-5 shooting. Carrying over their unselfish play from the first half all four of the Mids' made baskets were assisted upon. Gatzounas and Green each had four points during this span for Navy.
 
Holding a commanding 67-43 lead after 30 minutes of play, the host Midshipmen never allowed the Owls to get within 20 points over the entire fourth quarter. At three different parts of the final quarter, Navy expanded its lead out to a game-high 26 points; after Ulasewicz free throws at 6:03 and 4:29, and a fast break layup by Llewellyn at 3:50. Ulasewicz scored five of Navy's 15 total points in the fourth quarter to cap her day with a career-high 17 points on 6-7 shooting from the field and a 3-4 mark from the foul line. Kennesaw State registered the final five points of the contest to close the game with a 82-62 final score.
 
For the game, Navy outshot Kennesaw State, 51.6 percent (32-62) to 41.1 percent (23-56) from the field and 45.0 percent (9-20) to 14.3 percent (2-14) from the three-point line. The Owls were better at the foul line with a 77.8 percent effort (14-18) versus a 52.9 percent (9-17) mark for the Mids.
 
Bolstered by Ulasewicz' career-high 10 rebounds, Navy won the battle on the glass over Kennesaw State, 35-33.
 
The Mids posted their best assist number of 2019-20 with 20 dimes on 32 made baskets. Coleman and Ulasewicz led the way in that assist category as they combined for 13, seven for Coleman and six for Ulasewicz. Coleman's total set a new career-high.
 
Defensively, Navy turned KSU over 21 times and were credited with 15 steals. Morgan Taylor (Sr., Evans, Ga.), Green and Ulasewicz all tallied three steals for the Mids.
 
In a theme that has surrounded each of the past two Navy Classic events, strong offensive efforts, the Mids' 82 points today were the most versus a Division I opponent in a non-overtime game since defeating St. Bonaventure on Nov. 26, 2017, 86-48. Today's 20-point win was the largest for Navy against a DI foe since last year's classic when the team topped North Carolina A&T by 23 points, 72-49 on Nov. 25.
 
The two-day classic will conclude on Sunday at Alumni Hall with the consolation game between Kennesaw State and UMBC at 1 p.m. before the Mids take on the La Salle Explorers at 3:15 p.m. in the championship game. Earlier in the day, La Salle defeated UMBC, 74-58.
 
"We need to come out tomorrow with the same energy, effort and intensity that we have had these past two games this week," remarked Pemper. "We pride ourselves on our hustle. Tonight we tried to transition a little bit more than we have in the past and that provided some extra spark and energy. We need to get off to a good start tomorrow against La Salle. We need to come out mentally sharp and into it."