ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's basketball program received a well-rounded team effort on Saturday afternoon as the Mids defeated the Colgate Raiders at home by a score of 67-52. Buoyed offensively by four players with double-digit point scoring performances and forcing the Raiders (9-12, 5-6 PL) into 24 turnovers, the Mids (9-12, 4-7 PL) completed the season sweep of Colgate with a 15-point victory.
 
Jennifer Coleman (Richmond, Va.) filled the statsheet on Saturday as the freshman point guard recorded game-highs in points with 16, rebounds with 11, assists with five and steals with five. On the offensive end, Morgan Taylor (Jr., Evans, Ga.), Bianca Roach (Sr., Virginia Beach, Va.) and Sophie Gatzounas (So., South Hadley, Mass.) all aided Navy's scoring attack with respective totals of 12, 11 and 10 points.
 
"It was important that we played well today," remarked head coach Stefanie Pemper. "Every game in the league is going to difficult. Every team is battling. There are a few top teams, but three through 10 are real close.
 
"We've been focusing on our ball movement and taking good shots. We also did a good job of making shots late in the shot clock. Sophie and Morgan played well today. Them playing well is important to our success. We also got into some good matchup situations. We got to the foul line a few times, somewhat from matchup situations and somewhat from our women being aggressive with the ball."
 
The action on Saturday started slowly as the teams combined for 10 points over the opening five minutes, six for Colgate and four for Navy. The pace picked up slightly over the next two-plus minutes as the Raiders tallied seven points, while the Mids notched three to make it 13-7 in favor for Colgate at the 2:37 mark. Roach ended Colgate's 7-1 run with a layup on the game's next possession. Trailing 13-9, Gatzounas made her second basket of the game to tighten it to a two-point contest at 2:05. The back-and-forth continued down the stretch as a Cayla Hannibal (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) three-pointer and a pair of Roach free throws helped Navy pull ahead 16-15 before the quarter expired.
 
Another three-pointer by Hannibal, this time 72 seconds into the second quarter, pushed the Mids up 21-17. The addition of two successful free throws and a layup by Taylor on back-to-back possessions increased Navy's run to 9-0 and made it a 25-17 game at 7:42. After reaching that eight-point lead, Navy went cold for the next 2:47 and Colgate was able to shave five points off its deficit. The three-ball came up key for the Mids once again as Coleman found the bottom of the net from distance at 4:55. Less than 90 seconds later, Coleman swished her second trey to make it 31-24. The freshman's hot streak continued with a layup next time down the court. During this stretch of play from 4:55 to 3:01, Coleman was three-for-three with eight points. Up 33-24 after Coleman's layup, Navy extended its lead to 12 points by halftime, 38-26. In the second quarter, the Mids shot 66.7 percent from the field on eight-of-12 shooting. 
 
For the half, the Mids outshot the Raiders 45.2 percent (14-31) to 40.7 (11-27). The 38 points were the most scored by Navy in a first half of play this 2018-19 season.
 
Navy immediately stretched its lead out to 16 points as Laurel Jaunich (Jr., Charlotte, Vt.) and Coleman went back-to-back with field goals to start the second half. With the score 42-26, Colgate hits its stride offensively with eight unanswered points from 8:33 to 5:59. Gatzounas short-circuited the Raiders' run at 5:29 with a drive and layup to make it 44-34. In the second half of the period, Navy outscored Colgate, 8-6 to take a 52-40 lead into the third quarter break. Over the 10 minutes of play in the third both squads netted 14 points. 
 
The Raiders made a concerted effort in the early portion of the fourth quarter to come back and were able to cut three points off their 12-point disadvantage with an 8-5 start to the period to make it 57-48 by 5:36. The Mids didn't let the visitors get too comfortable in single-digits as they extended their lead out to as many as 16 points, 67-51, by the 2:57 mark when Coleman found a streaking Kolbi Green (Fr., Baltimore, Md.) for a fast break layup. The game closed at a 67-52 score as Colgate went without a made field goal for the final 5:36 of the contest.
 
For the game, Navy outshot Colgate 45.6 percent (26-57) to 40.4 (21-52) from the field and 68.8 percent (11-16) to 50.0 (7-14) from the foul line. Both squads shot 20.0 percent from three-point range as the Mids were 4-20, while the Raiders were 3-15. 
 
The Mids also won the battle on the boards by a razor slim, 33-32 margin. Coleman led the way with a game-high 11 rebounds. That total helped the freshman notch her sixth double-double of the season.
 
Navy's defense was back to its troublesome style as it forced Colgate into 24 turnovers. After turning non-conference opponents over 24 or more times on five occasions, Saturday was the Mids' first such effort in Patriot League play. Navy was credited with 15 steals on the day as Coleman was on the receiving end of five thefts. Gatzounas helped the defensive cause with three steals of her own.
 
"Our zone was pretty solid today," said Pemper. "I don't know if it's been that impactful in a game in a while. That's been a little bit of a recipe for us to beat Colgate. We'll have to see if it's a recipe to beat Holy Cross on Wednesday." 
 
As part of Navy's 67-point effort on Saturday, the Mids finished with 14 or more points in all four quarters of play and 17 assists, the second-most in a game this season. Outside of the four players in double figures, Green and Hannibal both finished with eight points.
 
"We had really good practices this week," said Pemper. "We were able to focus on and get better at the things that we aren't good at. Some of that improvement comes down to the will to win and playing defense.
 
"Today was team win. Our bench was really helpful. Everyone had a role and played a part in the win, whether it was making shots or coming in and giving good defensive possessions like Sierra [Swanda]." 
 
Navy will continue Patriot League play on the road this coming Wednesday in Worcester, Mass. versus Holy Cross. The Mids and Crusaders will tip-off at 5 p.m.