ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Playing its third game in five days the Navy women's basketball program used a gutsy, all-around team effort to overcome the Lafayette Leopards midway through the fourth quarter on its way to a 55-53 victory on Wednesday night. After a slow start left the Mids (5-6, 5-2 PL, 3-1 PL South) staring down a 14-7 deficit through the first quarter, a large rebuttal in the second helped the hosts overtake the Leopards (2-6, 2-6 PL, 0-4 PL Central) before halftime, as the ultra -competitive final 20 minutes at Alumni Hall were played with neither team holding a lead of more than four points.
 
After opening the game 3-11 from the field in the first half, Jennifer Coleman (Jr., Richmond, Va.) persevered and ended the night as Navy's high scorer with 13 points and an additional eight rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocked shots in 35 minutes. Her efforts were aided significantly by Sam Schofield (Fr., Maumee, Ohio), who knocked down four three-pointers for a career-high 12 points in 16 minutes off the bench.
 
"Tonight was all about resiliency," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "We didn't have much in our legs. I could see it and we were trying to massage our roster and get through tonight. Hats off to this team! We put our players in tough situations in practice to help prepare them for games like tonight. We practice with tempo and physicality and really work on defending. We practice how to get that stop to win the game. Practice is tough. These kids have been through a lot, but they're starting to see the rewards.
 
"We told Kolbi [Green] at the four-minute mark, that if you look at all of your shots, you're just a little bit off, you need to get your elbow in and drive through and then she hit some big shots for us at the end. Jenn's fadeaway jumper over Natalie Kucowski, wow that was nice! We installed a triangle-and-two yesterday at practice. It wasn't perfect, but we executed it. Kucowski is unbelievable, she's just a great player. We also felt Drew Freeland was going to be the key for them and we weren't going to give her any shots. We wanted to make someone other than Kucowski or Freeland beat us."
 
Ciera Hertelendy (Jr., Inwood, W.Va.) was the lone offensive weapon for the Mids in the early goings on as she tallied the team's first four points, the first on an offensive rebound and putback and the second after Coleman found her deep in the paint. Her second basket at 6:27 drew Navy within one, 5-4. From the point in the action Lafayette rattled off the next four points before Kolbi Green (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) broke into the box score with a deep three-pointer as the shot clock was expiring. With the score 9-7 in the Leopards' favor, the visitors scored the final five points of the frame as Navy went scoreless for the last 4:10. The Mids finished the quarter with a 16.7 percent (3-18) shooting mark from the field and five turnovers.
 
Coming out in the second quarter down 14-7, Navy quickly found its offensive footing as from 8:33 to 6:37 they hit on five straight possessions to the tune of a 12-0 run. Lindsay Llewellyn (So., North East, Md.) was especially dangerous for the Mids during this stretch with a pair of three-point baskets. Trailing 19-14, Kucowski, the Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year, took over for the Leopards and tied the game in short order by the 5:59 mark. A three-pointer by Schofield at 4:11 helped Navy dart back into the lead, 22-20. Another trey by Schofield at 1:36 gave the Mids their biggest lead of the game at six, 26-20. The Leopards eliminated that deficit in short order as Sydney Sabino hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. A Coleman layup right before the halftime buzzer made it a 28-26 game going into the locker room. For the quarter, Navy outscored Lafayette 21-12, while shooting 53.8 percent from the field and 57.1 (4-7) from three-point range.
 
The third quarter begin with both teams struggling from the field as Lafayette opened three-of-eight from the field, while Navy countered with a 33.3 percent (2-6) showing over the first 5:36 of play. During this stretch, the Leopards were able to pull ahead 34-32. The game stayed at that score for over two minutes from 4:48 to 2:44 before Makayla Andrews netted a pair of free throws for Lafayette. Those points from the charity stripe were immediately answered by Schofield, who dialed up again from long range with her third successful three-pointer of the game. Over the final 31 seconds of the stanza, the teams traded field goals to conclude the period at 38-37 for Lafayette.
 
"We've been seeing Sam's skillset in practice," said Taylor. "She can really shoot the ball. What we were talking with her was about 'can you come in the game and defend and make the other plays.' Right before the game, I told the team, 'Sam is going to get us three threes.' She's been shooting it really well in practice so we were trying to get her some shots against their zone."
 
The competitive back-and-forth action continued into the fourth as each team made a pair of baskets, one layup and one three-pointer. The freshmen duo of Morganne Andrews (Fr., Martinsburg, W.Va.) and Schofield took the offensive baton in this case with Schofield hitting the trey. With the score 43-42, Lafayette took its largest lead of the fourth quarter, three points, courtesy of a Reilly Campbell basket at 6:02. Coleman drew Navy even the next time down the court as Sophie Gatzounas (Sr., South Hadley, Mass.) found her open from three-point range. The game saw the Leopards pull ahead by two and the Mids respond with a two of their own over the next three-plus minutes as the score advanced to 49-49. Green helped put Navy into the lead with a jumper at 2:16. Following a Kucowski layup, Gatzounas netted her first three points of the game on the Mids' next possession with an and-one. That three-point swing gave Navy all the separation that it would need to hold on as Lafayette was held to just one field goal over its final three possessions. A free throw by Green concluded the score at 55-53.
 
For the game, Navy outshot Lafayette from the field, 36.2 percent (21-58) to 31.7 percent (20-63), and from three-point range, 33.3 percent (8-24) to 29.2 (7-24). The Leopards held a slight 75.0 percent (6-8) to 71.4 percent (5-7) advantage from the foul line.
 
The taller Lafayette squad out-rebounded Navy, 43-39 and 16-11 on the offensive glass. The Mids had a trio of players finish with eight rebounds each, Coleman, Hertelendy and Andrews.
 
Navy had strong ball movement on Wednesday night with 16 assists on 21 baskets. Green was credited with a career-high seven assists. Coleman and Gatzounas each added three helpers.
 
Defensively, the Mids caused 16 turnovers and registered 11 steals. Green and Coleman posted strong individual numbers with totals of five and four steals, respectively.
 
Of note, Navy's defense shutdown Lafayette top-two scoring options, Kucowski and Freeland, as the duo combined for just 10 points and eight field goal attempts.
 
"We challenged Lindsay and Sophie to not allow Kucowski to touch the ball," remarked Taylor. "What happened is they weren't able to get the ball on the block. Our guards, Kolbi, Sam, everyone, denied Freeland and held her to two shots; Kristina Donza also did a heck of a job on her in the first half!"
 
Winners of three straight games, the Mids will now turn their attention to their annual Star Game matchup against the Army Black Knights. Part of a two-game weekend set in Annapolis, Navy and Army will go head-to-head for the Star on Saturday at 11 a.m. before closing out the series on Sunday at 12 p.m. All of the action will be televised on CBS Sports Network.