WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Navy women's basketball team looked to recreate the winning formula that spurned the squad to a victory on Saturday versus its heated service academy rival, Army, but offensive struggles over the second and third quarters on Sunday put the Mids (2-6, 2-2 PL, 1-1 PL South) in a deficit that they were unable to overcome though they fought to the end with 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Black Knights (6-7, 3-5 PL, 2-2 PL North) were victorious 63-58. Playing at home in Christl Arena, Army held Navy to just seven points in second quarter and 12 more in the third, while combining for 26 over the same period of time.
 
Sophie Gatzounas (Sr., South Hadley, Mass.) led Navy's effort on Sunday with her first double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds over 39 minutes of action. Additionally, the Mids' team captain posted a team-high three assists to go along with a steal. Jennifer Coleman (Jr., Richmond, Va.) aided Gatzounas with a double-double of her own with 10 points and 10 rebounds. The double-double is her fourth in five games this 2020-21 season. Kolbi Green (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) was the third Mid in double figures as she scored 12 points.
 
"I don't feel like we made good decisions today offensively," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "We did not take enough quality shots and the lack of ball movement contributed to that. The ball was sticking and we did not read the help well.
 
"Defensively we were not as disciplined as we needed to be. We allowed Army to get behind us at time and they us pay for those mistakes."
 
The Mids started the game slowly as the Black Knights jumped out to a 6-0 lead, while Navy was 0-3 from the field with three turnovers over the first four minutes. Sydne Watts (Fr., Canton, Ga.) ended that cold stretch with a mid-range jumper at 5:53. Another jumper this one from Coleman cut the Mids' deficit to just two points, 6-4. Navy's offensive continued finding success as for the third straight possession the Mids sank a basket when Watts made her second field of the game to make it 9-6 at 4:37. Gatzounas completed the Mids' early game comeback with a layup and free throw less than a minute later at 2:31. From that point with the scoreboard showing Navy ahead 11-9, both teams got hot down the stretch as the score quickly advanced to 18-14 before the quarter break. Green, Gatzounas and Lindsay Llewellyn (So., North East, Md.) all registered baskets for the Mids with Gatzounas nailing a three-pointer from the wing.
 
That late momentum carried over into the early portion of the second quarter as both Army and Navy scored on their respective first possessions. After the Black Knights' Sabria Hunter made her layup attempt, Gatzounas found Llewellyn in the corner for a wide-open three-point basket. With the score 21-16 at 9:22, both teams ratcheted up their defensive efforts as Army scored the only points for the next four minutes, a layup and and-one conversion by Lauren Lithgow. Ciera Hertelendy (Jr., Inwood, W.Va.) ended Navy's scoreless streak at 5:21 when she went 1-2 at the foul line. The Mids' second field goal of the quarter came next time down the court as defense turned into offense when Llewellyn made a steal and passed to Coleman, who hit a streaking Green for the fastbreak layup and and-one. That old-fashion three-point play gave Navy a six-point lead, 25-19 at 5:01. The Mids' offense went silent the rest of the stanza, but its defensive prowess allowed the Black Knights to stave just four points off their deficit to close out the half. Navy shot just 2-13 from the floor in the second quarter, though its defense forced seven turnovers and just a 4-13 shooting mark for Army.
 
Coming out in the third quarter with the score 25-23, Gatzounas netted Navy's first points in over five minutes with a successful free throw 14 seconds into the half. Offense continued to be hard to come by as Army made the first field goal of the quarter at 6:16 when Sam McNaughton sank a three-pointer. That began a run of six makes in the Black Knights' final seven field goal attempts to close the third quarter. During this span of play, the Mids' slowly left its mark on the scoreboard, initially due to the success of Hertelendy, who was crashing the glass and turning those second chances into points, doing so on back-to-back possessions at 4:44 and 4:11. Gatzounas was the next Midshipmen to grab the offensive baton as she sank a pair of field goals in consecutive trips down the court, the second tying the game at 34-34 at 2:25. Army jumped back in the lead with six points in the final 45 seconds. Llewellyn tried to help Navy keep pace as she made her second three-pointer of the game the last time the Mids had the ball.
 
Leading 40-37, the host Black Knights stayed hot to open the fourth quarter as they made consecutive field goals to jump ahead by seven, 44-37, forcing Taylor and his staff to call a timeout. This break sparked Navy on a quick 4-0 run forcing Army's coaching staff to burn a timeout in response. The upperclass duo of Gatzounas and Coleman were the catalysts in this span. With the score 44-41, the Mids continued fighting back as a Black Knight three-pointer was quickly quelled with back-to-back baskets by Coleman and Green to make it a two-point game, 47-45 at 5:24. Over the next 4:19, Army went on an 11-2 run to take a substantial 11-point lead, 58-47; this was the first time that either team had a double-digit advantage in the contest. Over the last 65 seconds of regulation play, Navy tried to claw its way back into the game and drew within the final margin of five points with 11 of the closing 16 points. Green scored a team-high five points for the Mids in this concluding stretch.
 
In the 63-58 defeat, Navy was outshot 41.1 percent (23-56) to 36.4 (24-66) by Army from the field, as well as 36.8 percent (7-19) to 21.1 (4-19) from three-point range. Neither squad had much success at the foul line as the Black Knights went 10-17 (58.8 percent), while the Mids went 6-11 (54.5).
 
Navy won the rebounding battle, 43-39 over Army, including a 16-10 advantage in offensive boards. Both Coleman and Gatzounas grabbed 10 rebounds. Hertelendy and Llewellyn were also active on the glass with totals of seven and six rebounds, respectively.
 
Defensively, the Mids forced the Black Knights into 16 turnovers and were credited with seven steals, including a game-high three thefts by Hertelendy.
 
After this weekend's run of out-of-division action, Navy will turn its focus to Patriot League South rival Loyola this upcoming Saturday and Sunday. The Mids will travel to Baltimore on Saturday for a 1 p.m. bout with the Greyhounds at Reitz Arena before the location of the series flips to Annapolis on Sunday at 3 p.m.