BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Taking on a high-scoring Lehigh team that leads the Patriot League in scoring, the Navy women's basketball team fell on the road by a score of 99-65 on Wednesday night. The host Mountain Hawks (12-5, 4-2 PL) had answers throughout the 40-minute contest whether it was driving the ball inside or shooting from the outside and finished the game shooting 57.1 percent from the field versus a Midshipmen (5-12, 2-5 PL) squad that was unable to counter back.
 
Jennifer Coleman (Sr., Richmond, Va.) highlighted Navy's individual performers on Wednesday as she challenged for a triple-double and finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. Sydne Watts (So., Canton, Ga.) joined Coleman in double figures as she netted 15 points.
 
"Hats off to Lehigh, they played really, really well tonight," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "They played like the Patriot League's preseason number one team. We'll go back to the drawing board and learn from tonight. We've got to be able to turn the page and focus all of our attention into preparing for Army on Saturday."
 
Down early 11-3, the Mids fired back with three-pointers on consecutive possessions courtesy of long-range makes by Mimi Schrader (Jr., Plymouth, Minn.) and Watts. With the score, 11-9 at the 5:15 juncture of the first quarter, Lehigh extended its lead out to nine points down the stretch of the period as the Mountain Hawks closed on a 13-6 run.
 
Trailing 24-15 at the beginning of the second quarter, the duo of Coleman and Watts quickly drew Navy back within five points on back-to-back jumpers in the paint. The teams traded baskets over the next three minutes and the score advanced to a 36-28 margin at 5:47 when Sam Schofield (So., Maumee, Ohio) hit a straight-away three-pointer as the shot clock was expiring. The fast-paced back-and-forth action continued in the second half of the period with Coleman leading the Mids' charge as she scored the team's final six points over the last 98 seconds. At the conclusion of the first half, Lehigh took a 49-36 lead into the locker room. As a team, the Mountain Hawks made 60 percent of their attempts in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Watts led Navy's early effort in the third quarter as she netted the Mids' first four points to help the visitors stay even with the Mountain Hawks over the first two minutes. With the score 53-40, Lehigh slowly and efficiently started pulling away with a 15-7 run to go up 21 at the 4:11 mark. The Mountain Hawks continued that pace and took an 83-52 advantage into the third quarter break. Four different Mids contributed points in Navy's 16-point third period with Watts and Coleman leading the way with six and five, respectively.
 
Navy continued battling in the fourth quarter and opened the fourth quarter with six unanswered points over the first 2:28 of the period. Down 83-58, the Mids kept chipping away as a jumper by Coleman and two successful free throw attempts by Savanna Lewis (Fr., Los Lunas, N.M.) made it an 86-62 game with just over five minutes to go. Lewis added to her scoring output with a layup at 3:04. That basket was the final made field goal for Navy as the contest closed with a final score of 99-65.

For the game, Lehigh outshot Navy, 57.1 percent (40-7) to 36.2 (25-69) from the field, 40.6 percent (13-32) to 37.5 (6-16) from three-point range and 100.0 percent (6-6) to 81.8 (9-11) from the foul line.
 
The Mountain Hawks also won the rebounding battle as the hosts grabbed 39 boards versus 36 for the Mids. 16 of those rebounds for Navy came on the offensive end. Coleman led all players with a game-high 11 rebounds. Morganne Andrews (So., Martinsburg, W.Va.) was second on the Mids with five caroms.
 
Navy finished with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio with 13 assists and 12 turnovers. Coleman also headlined that statistical category as the senior guard assisted on seven made baskets.
 
The Mids will have a quick turnaround as they will welcome their service academy rivals, the Army Black Knights for a home contest on Saturday morning. The nationally-televised game will tip-off at Alumni Hall at 11:00 a.m. and be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.