ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Battling back from a 12-point halftime deficit the Navy women's basketball team played a sterling brand of well-rounded basketball in the final 20 minutes of action at Alumni Hall on Tuesday night to defeat William & Mary, 66-54. Bolstered by a scorching hot 11-for-16 outing from the field in the third quarter, the Mids (1-2) outscored the Tribe (1-2) by 23 points and flipped the game back in their favor on the way to their first victory of the young 2021-22 season.
 
Navy's offensive performance on Tuesday night was dominated by the trio of Jennifer Coleman (Sr., Richmond, Va.), Kolbi Green (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) and Sydne Watts (So., Canton, Ga.), who combined for 94 percent of the Mids' scoring against the Tribe with 62 of the host's 66 points. Coleman and Watts each tallied career-high totals as Coleman shot 75 percent (9-12) from the field and 80 percent (8-10) from the foul line on her way to 26 points, while Watts was hitting shots at a 66.7 percent (8-12) clip from the field with one three-point basket for 17 points. Green also shot over 60 percent (9-14) with a three-pointer as she finished with 19 points. Playing all 40 minutes versus William & Mary, Coleman and Green filled up the box score with a plethora of secondary stats as Coleman completed her 18th career double-double with 10 rebounds and an additional seven assists and four steals. Her backcourt mate Green was credited with five assists, five steals and one blocked shot.
 
"We decided at halftime that we needed to go small and take away their open shots better; they [William & Mary] shot 70 percent in the second quarter," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "When they started pressing we put our bigs back and let our guards create and all of a sudden we started getting easy buckets early. That really sparked our confidence. I got some great suggestions from my assistant coaches on some of the switches that they were running on defense. Those adjustments gave us some great looks. A lot of credit goes to my staff.
 
"We didn't sub the entire second half, those five women showed some real guts. I'm so proud of them for that effort. Our team defense was great tonight. I think by going small we took away a lot of their cuts. That adjustment really affected their ability to get open looks. At that point they had to try and create and I felt like our athleticism was getting in their way and making it challenging. That was really good to see."
 
The action on Tuesday night at Alumni Hall opened with a fairly even first quarter as the teams traded baskets throughout most of the opening 10 minutes. A brief 6-0 run by the visitors between 3:50 and 2:55 helped William & Mary flip a 7-6 Navy lead into a 12-7 score. A Sydney Wagner three-pointer at 2:04 gave the Tribe their largest advantage of the first period, 15-9. A pair of baskets in quick succession by Savanna Lewis (Fr., Los Lunas, N.M.) and Green drew the Mids within two points with under a minute to play. A late Tribe field goal made it a 17-13 game after one quarter.
 
The second quarter had a significant William & Mary feel to it in the opening half of it as the Tribe scored 14 of the first 16 points to break open a 31-15 lead by the 4:42 mark. Navy slowly edged closer as the Mids aimed to get back within single digits before the halftime intermission. Coleman and Green spearheaded this effort as the duo combined for 10 of Navy's 12 points down the stretch as Coleman added six points, while Green scored four. Down 10 points at 37-27 with 17 seconds remaining, a Bre Bellamy layup before the buzzer closed the first half with William & Mary ahead by 12, 39-27.
 
The game was turned upside down in the third period as the Mids went small with their lineup and inserted Mimi Schrader (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) to give them a four-guard look. A precursor to next 10 minutes occurred in the first two possessions of the quarter as Navy forced a William & Mary turnover courtesy of an Imani Edmonds (Jr., Hopewell, Va.) steal before Green grabbed an offensive rebound and quickly made a put-back layup for the Mids. That turnover by the Tribe was the first of 10 in the period, while the Mids' basket was the first of 11 successful field goals. Green's score sparked a quick 7-0 run over the first 55 seconds and Navy was within five at 39-34. After William & Mary scored on its next two times down the court to go back up seven, 43-36, Navy shut out its opponent for the final 7:26 of the quarter. Not willing to rest on their defensive laurels during this run, the Mids' offense was in high gear with Coleman, Watts and Green all scoring at will. Closing the period on an 18-0 run, Navy turned a seven-point deficit into an 11-point lead of 54-43. Coleman (7), Watts (6) and Green (5) registered all 18 points in this streak. For the quarter, the trio netted all 27 points with Coleman going for 11, Watts nine and Green seven. As a team, Navy shot 68.8 percent for the period and had quality distribution as well with seven assists on 11 made baskets.
 
The Mids' scoring run was extended to into the fourth quarter with baskets by Watts and Green over the opening 74 seconds. That 22-0 run helped Navy go up 58-43 at 8:46. Comfortably ahead by double-digits the Mids never let the Tribe get closer than 10 the rest of the game as William & Mary made it a 64-54 with 1:01 to go. A layup by Green on the next possession rounded out the scoring on Tuesday night as the game went final at 66-54.
 
"We were seeing glimpses of what Sydne was capable of in practice last year before she hurt her hand," said Taylor about Watts' play. "Tonight is what we've been expecting from her. I hope this is the beginning of her breaking out. She really hit some big, big shots that weren't easy tonight."
 
For the game, Navy outshot William & Mary, 54.0 percent (27-50) to 41.0 (25-61) from the field and 52.6 percent (10-19) to 50.0 (1-2) at the foul line. Neither team had much success from three-point range as the Tribe shot 16.7 percent (3-18) versus 13.3 percent (2-15) for the Mids.
 
Navy's high shooting percentage was aided by 38 points in the paint and 26 points off of turnovers.
 
In the battle on the glass, William & Mary posted an eight-rebound advantage of 36 to 28 and a 16 to 8 edge in offensive rebounds. Coleman finished with a game-high 10 rebounds, with Watts and Edmonds tied for second on the team with five caroms each.
 
Defensively, the Mids forced the Tribe into 21 turnovers and were credited with 12 steals. Green and Coleman were at the forefront of the theft department as Green finished with five steals, one more than her senior classmate.
 
Navy will be back in action at home on Saturday with an 11 a.m. matchup against Vermont.