BOSTON – The Navy women's basketball team dropped the first road game of its 2021-22 Patriot League slate on Sunday afternoon at Boston University by a score of 82-58. Close after one quarter of play, the Mids (3-9, 0-2 PL) ran into an efficient Terrier (5-7, 1-0 PL) squad that shot 50 percent in the second quarter and outscored the visitors, 25-12 in the period to break out a significant double-figure advantage that they never gave back at Case Gym.
 
Jennifer Coleman (Sr., Richmond, Va.) led the Mids' offensive effort on Sunday with her eighth double-double of the season with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Coming into the day ranked 11th in the nation in double-doubles she'll move into the top-10 nationally with Sunday's performance. Additionally, she added five assists and four steals in 38 minutes of play. Lindsay Llewellyn (Jr., North East, Md.) and Kristina Donza (So., Jackson, N.J.) combined for 20 points as Llewellyn notched her second consecutive double-digit scoring output with 11, while Donza tallied nine points off the bench.
 
"BU was very efficient offensively and received contributions from a lot of different players today," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "I thought we executed offensively and got quality shots, but we did not convert at the levels they did. We had as many shots as they did and had fewer turnovers. Hats off to them as they converted their opportunities."
 
Sunday's contest in Boston opened with even back-and-forth action over the majority of the first quarter as no team made more than two unanswered baskets in a row in the first 10 minutes of play. Trailing early 10-6 at 5:26, Coleman drew the Mids within one point as she casually pulled up for a lengthy three-point shot next time down the court for Navy. Llewellyn made it two three-pointers in as many possessions as Sam Schofield (So., Maumee, Ohio) found her in the corner for a trey at 4:35. Down 13-12, Llewellyn pushed Navy into the lead with her second consecutive make, a jumper at 3:52. After Boston's Maren Durant converted an 'and-one' to put the Terriers ahead 16-14, Llewellyn struck again with another jumper at 3:21. From that point when it was 16-16, BU shut out Navy for the rest of the quarter and slowly put four points on the scoreboard.
 
Unfortunately for the Mids, they were unable to break out of that late slump as the Terriers kicked off the second quarter with an 11-1 run to go up 31-17 by the 8:06 mark of the period. Coleman started hitting her stride on the offensive end soon after and individually netted the next seven points over 3:03 to make it 31-24 as the game moved towards five minutes to go in the quarter. The momentum swung back in BU's favor over the next two-plus minutes with a 10-0 run. With the score 41-24 at 3:22, each team netted four points down the stretch to send the game into the halftime intermission at 45-28. As a team, BU shot 54.3 percent (19-35) from the field in the first half.
 
The third quarter mirrored the first stanza as the action was extremely back-and-forth with neither team registering more than two unanswered field goals in a row for the entire 10-minute period. That close play resulted in the Terriers holding leads between 15 and 20 points throughout the third. Five different Mids scored in the quarter with Coleman leading with four points, while Donza and Imani Edmonds (Jr., Hopewell, Va.) each sank three-pointers.
 
Down 60-42 through three quarters of play, Boston University locked down the victory with a 22-point fourth quarter on 47.1 percent (8-17) shooting. Navy's 16-point effort in the final quarter was spearheaded by six points each from Coleman and Donza. The host Terriers tallied their first Patriot League win of the season with an 82-58 final decision.
 
Boston University held advantages over Navy in field goal shooting, 49.3 percent (34-69) to 33.8 (22-65), in three-point shooting 38.9 percent (7-18) to 30.0 (6-20) and at the foul line, 70.0 (7-10) to 44.4 (8-18).
 
The taller Terrier team won the rebounding battle, 52-34 and corralled four more offensive boards than the Mids, 16 to 12. Coleman led Navy with 11 rebounds. In 15 minutes off the bench, Savanna Lewis (Fr., Los Lunas, N.M.) grabbed five rebounds, including three on the offensive end.
 
Navy's ballhandling was effective on Sunday as the Mids turned the ball over a season-low nine times and recorded eight assists. Coleman had five of those helpers. On the opposite side of the ledger, Navy forced BU into 14 turnovers and was credited with eight steals. Coleman registered a game-high four steals.
 
The Mids will be back in action on Wednesday with another road tilt. Travelling to Lewisburg, Pa., Navy will face off with Bucknell in a 6 p.m. league contest at Sojka Pavilion.