ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's basketball team had an inauspicious start to its post-Thanksgiving action as the Mids dropped a 63-42 decision to the Liberty Lady Flames in the first day of the 2021 Navy Classic. A cold shooting start to the game by the host Midshipmen (2-4) held the team back early as the Lady Flames (4-1) jumped out to a 19-point lead through one quarter play and never looked back. Over the final 30 minutes of action the game was nearly even as it was 39-37 in favor of Liberty.
 
Jennifer Coleman (Sr., Richmond, Va.) led Navy's offensive effort as she scored 21 points over 37 minutes of action. The senior added four rebounds, four assists and a steal to her statline. Coming off the benchm Savanna Lewis (Fr., Los Lunas, N.M.) posted career-highs of seven points and six rebounds in 29 minutes.
 
"Liberty is a really good basketball team," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "We had to pick our poison with them today. Coming in we knew we didn't match up well with them. We chose to play zone in the first quarter and we felt that was a good decision; this season they've shot 29 percent from three-point range and make five threes a game, we had to try and control the post; they have a lot of size and go inside a lot with great success. They came out and made six threes in the first quarter and 11 in the game. They hit the shots that we wanted them to take. They had a lot of people step up and make shots. They were rebounding so well and giving themselves so many second chances. We would box out and get the position, but they were just bigger than us inside.
 
"Offensively, we just didn't make shots today. We had open looks and we didn't turn the ball over, but we just didn't convert. We're looking for someone other than Jenn to make shots for us. Savanna Lewis came in and played well. I think there are definitely things that we can learn from and build off of today."
 
Liberty came out of the gates hot as the visitors charged ahead 12-0 over the first five minutes of play. Coleman finally got Navy on the scoreboard at 4:20 with a layup and and-one conversion. Unfortunately for the Mids, the Lady Flames got right back into their flow offensively and closed the quarter on a 12-2 run with four straight three-pointers. Sydne Watts (So., Canton, Ga.) earned Navy's last basket of the period with a jumper at 2:57. As a team, Liberty shot 60.0 percent (9-15) from the field and 66.7 percent (6-9) from three-point range. Navy was only able to counter with a 14.3 shooting percentage (2-14).
 
Coming out of the first quarter intermission down 24-5, Navy looked towards its bench for a jumpstart and received just that from Lewis as she hit a jumper off of a Darryl Langford (Sr., Fayetteville, Ga.) pass on the Mids' first possession of the period. The Lady Flames had a strong response for this early basket as they held the Mids scoreless for the next three-plus minutes, while tacking on six points to its lead for a 30-7 advantage. Navy's leading scorer throughout this young 2021-22 season, Coleman showcased her skillset over the next segment of the quarter as she tallied 11 consecutive points from 6:17 to 2:59. With the score 37-18 and less than 20 seconds left in the half, Coleman drove to the basket drew the defense's attention and kicked out to Lewis, who swished a three-pointer from the wing at 0:19. That basket capped Navy's longest run of the game (8-0) and the Mids cut the Lady Flames' lead down to 16 points. A three-pointer by Bridgette Rettstatt before the final buzzer sent Liberty into the locker room up 40-21.
 
Defense took centerstage in the third quarter as neither team was able to reach double figures in the 10-minute period, just nine points a side. Navy's pressure held Liberty to a 25.0 percent (3-12) shooting effort with five turnovers. The Mids weren't able to shave points off their deficit as they shot 3-13 and turned over the ball four times. The bench duo of Lewis and Kristina Donza (So., Jackson, N.J.) netted Navy's first five points of the quarter before Coleman concluded the period with four points.
 
Trailing 49-30 through three quarters of play, the Mids came out strong to start the fourth as Langford made layups on two of the team's first three trips down the court to draw Navy within 15 points. Liberty found its stroke from three-point range again to quickly push its lead back over 20 points at the 5:38 mark. With the score 57-34, Mimi Schrader (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) came back with a rebuttal of her own from three-point range 20 seconds later. Over the last five minutes of action at Alumni Hall, the margin stayed between 18 and the final, 21 points.
 
"I'm pleased with how we competed," said Taylor in closing. "We battled them for 40 minutes and didn't quit. Our players left it out there and I'm proud of that. Moving forward, we'll have to find ways to get better and make open shots. We have to turn our focus to playing another good team in George Mason tomorrow."
 
In the 63-42 victory for Liberty, the Lady Flames outshot the Mids, 39.3 percent (24-61) to 26.3 (15-57) from the field and 35.5 percent (11-31) to 29.4 (5-17) from three-point range. Navy held a slight 63.6 percent (7-11) to 57.1 percent (4-7) edge in free throw shooting.
 
The much taller Liberty squad dominated Navy on the glass with a 52-32 advantage in total rebounds, including 18 offensive rebounds versus 11 for the Mids. Lewis grabbed a team-high six rebounds for Navy.
 
Defensively, the Mids forced the Lady Flames into 13 turnovers and were credited with eight steals. Lindsay Llewellyn (Jr., North East, Md.) led Navy with three steals.
 
Navy will be back in action on Sunday afternoon as the Mids will close out the 2021 Navy Classic with a 3:15 pm matchup with George Mason. The Patriots won the nightcap on day one of the classic, 77-75 in overtime over Bowling Green.