ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Playing their first game at Alumni Hall in 322 days, the Navy women's basketball team opened its slate of Patriot League action with a Saturday afternoon home tilt against the American University Eagles. A nine-point swing over the middle two quarters of action gave the visiting Eagles (1-2, 1-0 PL South) all the advantage that they would need to defeat the Mids (0-5, 0-1 PL South) as the game went final by a score of 61-52.
 
Jennifer Coleman (Jr., Richmond, Va.) filled the stat sheet for Navy on Saturday as she netted team-highs of 16 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals in 32 minutes of play. Kolbi Green (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) and Lindsay Llewellyn (So., North East, Md.) each added 10 points to aid the Mids' offensive effort.
 
"Hats off to American, they came in today and executed very well," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "They had a few good runs and finished some plays especially late. We got hurt by their post players quite a bit. Our foul trouble hurt us a bit at the end as it affected the way we executed when we needed those clutch baskets on offense or key stops on defense. We've got to be a little bit better and a little tougher tomorrow."
  
American opened fast on Saturday with nine of the game's first 12 points. The junior class trio of Coleman, Green and Ciera Hertelendy (Inwood, W.Va.) helped erase that six-point deficit in a matter of 1:36 as each player contributed two points each. With the score tied at 9-9 at the 3:10 mark, the teams were even down the stretch as they traded baskets to the tune of five points a side. Llewellyn netted the final score as she swished home a three-pointer from the corner with 48 seconds remaining in the quarter.
 
Coming out in the second quarter at 14-14, the basket had a proverbial lid on it to start play as both teams went over three minutes without scoring. Eventually as the clock ticked under seven minutes, American found some success and netted four points on back-to-back possessions to take an 18-14 lead. Hertelendy drew Navy within a basket at 5:53 with a post-up and layup. That was the Mids' last basket for nearly four minutes before Coleman scored at 1:59 with a layup. While its offense was struggling to find its touch, Navy's defense was up to the task as they held American to just one made free throw over that same span so the score crawled up to 19-18 in favor of the Eagles. Five points by American's 6'3 center Karla Vres in the final 1:43 of play in the second quarter gave her squad a 26-20 lead at halftime.

Following the halftime intermission, the host Midshipmen immediately made a run at the Eagles with a 7-2 run that cut American's lead to one, 28-27 at 7:51. Freshman Kristina Donza (Jackson, N.J.) had the exclamation point of that run with a three-pointer off of an extra pass by Llewellyn. Unfortunately for Navy it was unable to extend that pace of play and success as American countered back over the next two-plus minutes with eight unanswered points. The Eagles' lead fluctuated between five and nine points over the final five minutes of the third stanza as each team scored six points. Green, Schofield and Llewellyn all recorded baskets for the Mids.
 
Up 42-33 to begin the fourth quarter, American added to its lead with a 9-2 run over the first 2:23 of play to grab its largest lead of the game, 16 points at 51-36. The Mids didn't let that large lead last for long as they fought back to draw within 10, 55-45 at 3:54 with a pair of Coleman jumpers and three-pointers out of the hands of Llewellyn and Schofield. Navy was able to pull closer less than two minutes later when Sydne Watts (Fr., Canton, Ga.) gathered an offensive rebound and fired up a quick put-back layup to make it 57-49 at 2:08. The Mids continued pressing the Eagles down the stretch, but ran out of time as American came away with the 61-52 victory.
 
"Our legs were a little bit heavy today after such a long break," said Taylor in response to the Mids' 29-day layoff during the holidays and two weekend postponements due to COVID protocols. "Our timing was off a bit and we missed some chances for open shots by not making that extra pass. Practice builds continuity and we really haven't been able to get in the gym and have 10 players find that yet this season. Sam Schofield is one player that has taken advantage of her opportunities in practice and got minutes today. I thought she played well. We're still learning and we're playing five freshmen out there. Not having a full preseason has affected their learning curve; normally you have two scrimmages and 10 or 11 non-conference games before getting into it, but they're getting thrown into the Patriot League. They're learning from their mistakes. It'll be a process, but we're getting better."

For the game, both teams shot 39 percent from the field as they both made 22 shots on 56 attempts. The Mids had a nominal advantage in three-point shooting as Navy converted 29 percent of their shots (4-14) versus a 13 percent (2-16) stroke for American. A decisive factor in the Eagles' win was their 65 percent to 36 percent advantage in free throw shooting. American went 15-23 from the charity stripe, while Navy was just 4-11.
 
American won the battle on the boards, 42-33, including a 12-8 margin in offensive rebounds. Coleman corralled a game-high 12 rebounds for the Mids. Watts was second on Navy with five rebounds.
 
Defensively, Navy forced American into 13 turnovers and were credited with five steals. Coleman recorded two thefts for the Mids. Navy turned the ball over a season-low 14 times on Saturday.
 
The Mids and Eagles will have a quick turnaround before concluding their weekend series on Sunday. The same two teams will meet again at Alumni Hall with the tip-off set for 3:00 p.m.
 
"Athletic trainers and strength coaches are essential in helping us recover and be ready in less than 24 hours," remarked Taylor when asked about the quick rebuttal. "We'll watch film tonight as a staff and with the players tomorrow morning. We'll look to clean up some of those breakdowns and see where we can improve and maybe identify some situations that we can take advantage of. We'll be ready."