ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Trailing by 11 points late into the third quarter, the Navy women's basketball team mounted its second consecutive double-digit second-half comeback as the Mids outscored the Vermont Catamounts, 22-9 in the final period on their way to a 55-51 win. The Mids (2-2) shot 53.3 percent (8-15) from the field and 100.0 percent (3-3) from three-point range, while turning the Catamounts (1-3) over seven times and holding the visitors to just four made field goals in the fourth quarter of the contest on Saturday at Alumni Hall.
 
Jennifer Coleman (Sr., Richmond, Va.) netted her fourth straight game of 20-plus points to start the 2021-22 season as she went for 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from the foul line. She recorded her third double-double of the season as she added 11 rebounds to go along with six steals and five assists in 40 minutes of action. Navy's secondary scoring came from the trio of Imani Edmonds (Jr., Hopewell, Va.), Kolbi Green (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) and Sydne Watts (So., Canton, Ga.), who combined to add 22 points. Edmonds backed up her eight-point outing with a career-best eight rebounds.
 
"This team has continued to fight and find a way, they don't quit," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "It doesn't matter what the score is, they have a type of resiliency that you can't really teach. We always talk about playing for all 40 minutes and that's what they do, they never stop playing regardless of the score.
 
"We looked a little lethargic to start and I wasn't sure about our legs at the time. Vermont was able to come down on offense and get set with 26 or 27 seconds so they could run their offense at their pace. In the second half, we started pressing more and was forcing them to scramble a bit and start their offense at 18 or 19 and now their rushing. Darryl was a big part of that in giving us energy, length and athleticism. We're undersized right now and we know that. We've had to find ways to be creative in those situations. Darryl really jumpstarted us with a couple of drives and it helped us open the floor a bit. She made a real big difference in the outcome today."
 
Navy had an inauspicious start to the game on Saturday as the hosts were outscored 18-8 in the first quarter. Coleman netted six of the Mids' eight points in the period as the game flipped from 6-5 in favor of Navy before Vermont closed on a 13-2 run over the final 6:14. As a team, the Mids shot 25.0 percent (4-16) from the field and 0-6 from three-point range.
 
Neither squad were able to hit their stride offensively in the first half of the second quarter as Navy opened 1-for-7, while Vermont only converted one of its first 10 attempts over the first 4:52 of action. In the second half of the period, the Catamounts saw their lead bounce between eight and 13 points for the final five-plus minutes of play. A three-point basket by Green with 36 seconds left in the quarter helped the Mids draw as close eight at 27-19 when Mimi Schrader (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) found her wide open on the wing. A jumper by Emma Utterback on the ensuing possession by Vermont gave the Catamounts a double-digit lead going into the halftime intermission. Both teams scored 11 points in the stanza.
 
Down, but never out, Navy came out of the halftime break on a mission. Trailing by 10, 29-19, the Mids quickly cut their deficit to three with a 7-0 run over the first 3:25 with a fast break pullup three-pointer by Coleman off a Schrader pass highlighting this run. The teams traded three-pointers at 6:10 and 5:52 as Catherine Gilwee found success from range for Vermont before Watts answered back for Navy. The score stayed at 32-29 for over two and half minutes until Gilwee fired up a three for the Catamounts at 3:12. This basket sparked an 8-0 run by Vermont and the visitors pushed back ahead by double digits, 40-29 by the 1:46 mark of the third stanza. Aggressive drives to the basket by Darryl Langford (Sr., Fayetteville, Ga.) over the final 90 seconds of the quarter reinvigorated the Mids and played a key role into their efforts in the fourth.
 
Coming out to start the fourth and final quarter down nine, 42-33, Navy slowly edged closer with back-to-back deep baskets by Schrader courtesy of a pair of slick kickout passes from Langford, the first of which was a three-pointer. Trailing by eight, 46-38 at the 7:56 mark, the Mids shut out the Catamounts for the next 6:43 and continued its spirited comeback, scoring 12 unanswered points. Coleman and Edmonds combined for 11 of these points during this span. Coleman's turnaround jumper at 2:21 officially completely the comeback and put Navy ahead 48-46. A fast break layup by Edmonds next time down the court added the 11th and 12th points of the run. After Vermont ended its scoreless drought with an Anna Olson layup at 1:13, Edmonds bumped Navy's lead out to a game-high five points as she grabbed a deep offensive rebound, took a step back over the three-point line and banked home the clinching three-point basket with 39 seconds left in regulation. Up 53-48, the Mids withstood the Catamounts' last attempts at claiming the victory as Coleman calmly sank two free throws with 14 seconds to close out the final score at 55-51.
 
"One thing we talked about at halftime was getting Imani and Mimi going," said Taylor. "Imani missed a few point-blank shots early on and then she became passive and wasn't looking for her shot. Mimi wasn't being aggressive enough either. Vermont took advantage of this and started loading up on Jenn. We told Imani and Mimi at halftime that 'you have to be ready to shoot.' When we needed them in the second half they came through. That was great to see.
 
"We want the ball in Jenn's hands at the end of the game. She's worked so hard on her shot and you can see the improvement. I told her 'if you'll shoot 80 percent at the line and cut out a few wild shots per game, all of a sudden your 17-point average will be 22 or 23 points per game."
 
For the game, Navy outshot Vermont, 35.6 percent (21-59) to 35.2 (19-54) and 33.3 percent (6-18) to 30.0 (6-20) from three-point range. Both teams made seven free throws though the Catamounts converted at a 100.0 percent clip, versus a 7-12 showing for the Mids.
 
In the battle on the glass the taller Vermont squad out-rebounded Navy, 40-36, though the Mids had a one-rebound edge in offensive caroms. Coleman led Navy with 11 rebounds for her 19th career double-double. Edmonds was three boards behind with a single-game best of eight rebounds.
 
Navy's ball-handling and facilitation was under control for most of the game as the Mids were credited with 11 assists and only charged with 11 turnovers. Coleman also led Navy in assists as she notched five helpers.
 
Defensively, the Mids forced the Catamounts into 16 turnovers with 11 steals to their name. Coleman was at the forefront of this effort too with a game-high six steals.
 
Navy will continue its homestand with a third straight non-conference tilt on the slate scheduled for Tuesday night versus Fairfield. The Mids and Stags will tip it off at Alumni Hall at 6 p.m.