WASHINGTON, D.C. – With a chance to move into first place in the Patriot League South Division and close in on a top-three spot in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament, the Navy women's basketball team ran into an American University club that was clutch at the foul line down the stretch on Wednesday night at Bender Arena going 6-for-6 in the final 56 seconds to break a 59-59 tie and earn the eventual 65-69 victory. Trailing early, the Mids (5-7, 5-3 PL, 3-2 PL South) fought back from 12 down in the second quarter to sit just two points off the Eagles' (6-3, 6-3 PL, 6-1 PL South) lead at halftime and later from 10 points down in the third quarter to tie the game twice in the fourth quarter before ultimately seeing the Eagles break away in the last minute of play.
 
Navy's high-scoring trio of Sophie Gatzounas (Sr., South Hadley, Mass.), Jennifer Coleman (Jr., Richmond, Va.) and Kolbi Green (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) paced the Mids on Wednesday night with a combined 37 points, including a team-high 14 for Gatzounas on 4-6 shooting and a 6-6 mark from the foul line. Coleman went for 12 points, in addition to 13 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. Green rounded out the group's effort with 11 points, four rebounds and two steals. Together they played 119 of a possible 120 minutes with Green never leaving the court.
 
"I'm proud of our kids' effort tonight," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "They continued to show a toughness and fight to the end mentality. Unfortunately, we had too many missed defensive assignments at critical times during the game and American made us pay every time that happened.
 
"We had opportunities to get the lead twice and shots just didn't fall in the last three minutes. We didn't execute as well as we needed to in the last minute and I have to take responsibility for that. I need to be sure everyone understands what we need to do in those situations. We will grow from this and continue to get better."
 
American started out the contest with a fast 6-0 run courtesy of a pair of three-pointers in the opening two-plus minutes. Lindsay Llewellyn (So., North East, Md.) got the Mids on the scoreboard after that initial stretch with a jumper at 7:22. The sophomore continued her hot start to Wednesday's game with another successful field goal a little over a minute later. Navy continued clawing back with two free throws by Gatzounas to make it 8-6 at 5:29. The host Eagles pulled back ahead by six with baskets on consecutive possessions. Trailing 12-6 at the 4:53 mark, the Mids shut out the Eagles over the final portion of the quarter and registered four points, two each from Gatzounas and Llewellyn. Neither team scored over the final 3:15 to make it 12-10 at the end of the stanza.
 
That cold streak came to an abrupt conclusion for American as Emily Fisher drove the lane and converted a layup first time down the court. This began a 10-0 run for the Eagles, who expanded their lead out to 22-10. A pair of free throws by Coleman at 5:25 ended the Mids' scoreless streak at eight minutes 40 seconds. American had an immediate rebuttal to those points with two of its own. That score of 24-12 stayed static for nearly two minutes until Green sank her first basket of the game at 3:25. Next time down the court, Ciera Hertelendy (Jr., Inwood, W.Va.) found a wide open Kristina Donza (Fr., Jackson, N.J.) for a three-pointer from the wing.  The Mids' comeback continued with a third straight basket, this time from Coleman. With the score at 24-19 at 2:11, American called a timeout to try and slow down Navy. After Jade Edwards helped the hosts push its lead back out to seven points, the Mids registered the final five points of the half with a three-pointer coming from Green and a layup via Hertelendy.
 
After a fairly quiet first half, which saw the score 26-24 in favor of American, offensive fireworks came from throughout during the final 20 minutes. Hertelendy continued her touch from around the rim in the third quarter as she netted four of Navy's first six points, including a pair of free throws that knotted the score at 30-30 at 7:25. Similar to the first half, every punch thrown by the Mids saw a strong rebuttal by the Eagles as the hosts responded to this threat with a 14-4 run over the next 4:35 of action. With the score 44-34 at 2:50, each team scored seven points down the stretch as Gatzounas tallied four points and Donza sank her second trey of the game. Both sides shot well in the third quarter as American went 10-19 (52.6%), while Navy was 7-16 (43.8%); together the two programs combined for 42 points.
 
The momentum swings that occurred throughout the first three quarters continued into the fourth quarter. Trailing by 10, 51-41, Coleman called her number on each of the Mids' first three possessions as she netted six points and helped Navy cut its deficit to 53-47 by the 8:34 mark. With American held scoreless, Green and Gatzounas took the scoring baton from Coleman and netted four points over the next 2:30 to draw the Mids within two, 53-51 by 6:04. The teams traded baskets for the ensuing two minutes before Donza earned Navy the 57-57 tie with a 2-2 showing at the foul line at 4:05. The game's offense dried up for the next three minutes as American's Taylor Brown made the only field goal during this span, while Gatzounas converted two free throws at 1:08. Seeking its first lead of the game Navy was unable to breakthrough over the final 68 seconds as American went 6-6 from the foul line, while Navy went 0-3 from the field with two turnovers to close the score at 65-59.
 
The host Eagles outshot the Mids in all three statistical categories; 45.3 percent (24-53) to 32.8 percent (20-61) from the field, 45.5 percent (5-11) to 16.7 (3-18) from three-point range and 100.0 percent (12-12) to 88.9 percent (16-18) from the foul line.
 
In the rebounding battle, Navy grabbed five more boards than American, 37-32. Coleman led all players with 13 rebounds. Gatzounas tallied the second-highest total for the Mids with six caroms.
 
Defensively, Navy forced American into 16 turnovers and were credited with 10 steals. Coleman (3), Gatzounas (3) and Green (2) all had multiple thefts. Coleman and Gatzounas were also active in disrupting shots as each had two blocks on Wednesday night.
 
Navy will now to its attention to fellow PL South foe Loyola this upcoming weekend. The Mids will host the Greyhounds on Saturday for Senior Day. Tip-off is slated for 12 p.m. at Alumni Hall. On Sunday, the same two programs will meet in Baltimore with a 5 p.m. tilt at Reitz Arena.