ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's basketball team found itself in a 40-minute battle with the Boston University Terriers on Wednesday night with the Mids fighting back late to earn the 46-41 victory. In a low-scoring affair where every basket mattered, the Mids (6-12, 1-6 PL) were sparked in the fourth quarter by freshman Lindsay Llewellyn (North East, Md.) netting 11 of her 14 overall points, including three three-pointers in the final 2:43 of play. Llewellyn hit the game-winning three with 3.9 seconds left in regulation to break a 41-41 tie between the Mids and Terriers (8-10, 3-4 PL) at Alumni Hall.
 
Llewellyn's complete line for Wednesday was 14 points on 5-10 shooting and a 4-8 mark from three-point range, while corralling seven rebounds in 33 minutes of play. Her backcourt mate Morgan Taylor (Sr., Evans, Ga.) aided the Mids' effort with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes. The duo combined to hit six of Navy's 10 made three-pointers for the contest.
 
"We were trying to win three quarters during the game and we had won two to that point," remarked head coach Stefanie Pemper about Navy's mindset going into the fourth quarter. "We thought that they were going to go to Katie Nelson, she's their most experienced scorer and they did; she did some nice things for them. Lindsay got going with her energy and her rebounding on the defensive end. That fed her on offense. The way she played in the fourth was really neat. I thought Mimi Schrader stepped up late. As a freshman point guard, she did a good job of organizing us, communicating and staying calm, especially after that one turnover against the soft press. We kept her in and she really rebounded well from that.
 
"I thought Sophie [Gatzounas] gave us some good minutes down the stretch. She got a big rebound for us late; her two rebounds in the fourth quarter were really big. Jasmine [Bishop] battled on the boards all night. She couldn't get her shot to fall, but her defense and her rebounding were really key for us. Morgan Taylor had a really nice stat line. We often talk about how we need a couple of players to play well to win and we did tonight. Morgan and Lindsay really had nice complete games; some assists, some steals, some rebounds and shooting pretty well. Jimmy [Colloton] had the scout tonight and he did a great job with it. I asked him 'how many threes will it take to beat Boston' because we knew they were going to play zone a ton. We hit 10 threes and we needed every one of them!"
 
Defense dominated the early action as Navy forced six Boston turnovers in their first 12 possessions, while the Mids opened 0-9 from the field over the first 5:30 of play. This caused both teams to struggle breaking through on the scoreboard as the Terriers led just 4-0 until Mary Kate Ulasewicz (Sr., Doylestown, Pa.) broke the shutout with a three-pointer from the top of the arc at 3:07. Trailing 4-3, Navy took its first lead of the game late as Ulasewicz drove the baseline and found a wide-open Taylor on the wing for a three-pointer. That basket was the last field goal for either side as the quarter expired with the score, Navy 6 and Boston University 4. While shooting just 15.4 percent (2-13), the Mids' effort was bolstered by nine Terrier turnovers; four off of steals.
 
The score stayed at that 6-4 mark for nearly two minutes into the second quarter until Katie Nelson knotted the game with a jumper at 8:17. On Navy's ensuing possession, the Mids found success from distance once again as Taylor was on the receiving end of a Llewellyn pass at the top of the arc. The back-and-forth play continued as the Terriers shaved two points off their deficit on a steal and fast break layup at 6:20. With the score 9-8 in favor of the Mids, Navy scored the next 10 points during a 2:25 span of play by shooting four of six from the field with successful treys from Ulasewicz and Mimi Schrader (Fr., Plymouth, Minn.) followed by back-to-back jumpers by Laurel Jaunich (Sr., Charlotte, Vt.). Leading by 11 points, 19-8, Navy saw Boston fight its way into the game with a 6-2 close to the first half to make it 21-14 through 20 minutes of play.
 
For the half, Navy outshot Boston, 32.0 percent (8-25) to 26.3 (5-19) from the field, while converting five of 11 attempts from three-point range. The Terriers were zero of three from distance. Another leading factor in the Mids' seven-point lead was 16 turnovers by the Terriers.
 
Coming out in the second half, Navy immediately re-took an 11-point lead with four points in 18 seconds as Montana Braxton (Sr., Cape Elizabeth, Maine) hit a layup at 9:40 before Taylor got a steal and fast break layup at 9:22. After the teams traded three-pointers, Boston got within seven points on a brief 4-0 run. With the score 28-21 at the 5:15 point of the third quarter, Nyah Garrison (Fr., Brookhaven, Pa.) increased the Mids' lead back to double-digits with a three-pointer from the wing. Navy would be stuck on that 31-point mark for the remainder of the third quarter as the Terriers netted the final 11 points.
 
Neither team had much offensive success to start the fourth quarter as Boston made the only field goal of the first three-plus minutes to expand its lead from 32-31 to 34-31. Llewellyn ended Navy's 7:59 scoreless streak with a fadeaway jumper at 6:50. Two free throws by Boston were the only points over the next 3:42 as the visitors held a 36-33 lead before Sydney Johnson made it 38-33 at 3:08. Within 56 seconds the game was tied as the Mids found their offensive mojo with a Llewellyn three-pointer and a steal and fast break layup by Taylor in quick succession. Neither team was able to break that 38-38 tie until Jasmine Bishop (Jr., Twinsburg, Ohio) found Llewellyn for her third three-pointer of the game (second of the quarter) with 37 seconds left in regulation. After Nelson's initial game-tying three-point attempt rattled out, the Terriers' sharpshooter re-grouped and re-tied the score at 41-41 with a trey at 0:17. Without calling a timeout, the freshmen duo of Schrader and Llewellyn worked their way down the court before Schrader fed Llewellyn on the wing for the go-ahead three-pointer much to the delight of the Mids' bench and fanbase at Alumni Hall on Wednesday. An unabated layup by Sophie Gatzounas (Jr., South Hadley, Mass.) gave Navy its final five-point margin of victory, 46-41.
 
For the game, Navy outshot Boston University, 34.0 percent (18-53) to 33.3 (16-48) from the field and 45.5 percent (10-22) to 20.0 (3-15) from three-point range. The Mids did not attempt a foul shot on Wednesday, while the Terriers were 6-11 from the charity stripe.
 
The taller Terrier squad won the rebounding battle, 39-31. The trio of Llewellyn, Taylor and Bishop led Navy's effort on the glass as they combined for 19 rebounds; seven for Llewellyn and six each for Taylor and Bishop.
 
The Mids' ballhandling was strong on Wednesday as they assisted on 15 of 18 baskets, while turning the ball over just 16 times. Both Schrader and Bishop tied for the team lead with four assists.
 
Defensively, Navy forced Boston into 21 turnovers and were credited with nine steals. Taylor and Llewellyn each grabbed three loose balls.
 
"This win is huge," said Pemper. "You see in every game some doubt sets in at different points. I think our staff and bench have done a great job of being positive. When we come off the court at timeouts, we try to stay positive and highlight the things that we're doing well because there always are a few things. Lindsay and Mimi showed some nice poise when those moments of doubt set in during the fourth quarter; that was neat to see. I thought Sophie had some nice minutes, along with Jasmine late. Confidence is huge. We'll probably have a little bit more coming off of this win."
 
Navy will turn its attention to its service academy rival Army in the first Army-Navy women's basketball showdown of the 2019-20 season. Tip-off of the nationally televised contest is set for 11 a.m. at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.