LEWISBURG, Pa. – Faced with the difficult task of taking on Bucknell, the Patriot League's preseason number three team on the road, the Navy women's basketball team came from behind on Wednesday night with a dramatic 57-55 victory at Sojka Pavilion. Trailing 46-38 with 9:30 to go in the fourth quarter, the Mids (4-9, 1-2 PL) ran off a 17-2 run over the next seven minutes to go up by seven points and held on tightly over the final two minutes to earn the two-point decision versus the Bison (9-4, 0-2 PL). The victory was the first in Patriot League play for Navy in 2021-22 and ended a four-game losing streak in the program's series against Bucknell.
 
Jennifer Coleman (Sr., Richmond, Va.) and Sydne Watts (So., Canton, Ga.) were a dynamic and efficient duo on Wednesday night as they combined for 40 points and rarely left the floor. Coleman finished her 38-minute appearance with 22 points, 16 rebounds, five steals and four assists, while Watts tied her career-high with 18 points in 37 minutes of action. Kristina Donza (So., Jackson, N.J.) and Lindsay Llewellyn (Jr., North East, Md.) provided strong reinforcement for the Mids as they went for eight and seven points, respectively.
 
"This was a hard-fought battle against a really good Bucknell team on its home court," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "I am happy for our kids as they show up every day and just keep working. We have a lot of young players that are gaining experience and confidence every game.
 
"We talked about everyone playing positive minutes when they came into the game tonight and felt that they did just that. This was a total team win from start to finish."
 
The action on Wednesday night opened fairly even with Bucknell holding a slight 7-6 lead through the first five minutes of play. Watts started out fast for Navy in this initial stretch with four early points. From that juncture where the Bison were up by one, the hosts added six more unanswered points to take a 13-6 advantage by the 3:50 mark. Down the stretch, the Mids closed with an 11-0 run on the strength of six points by Coleman, including a steal and layup in the final seconds of the quarter.
 
Coming out with a 17-13 lead to start the second quarter, Navy increased its edge to six points as Donza grabbed an offensive rebound and threw up a quick putback at 9:14. Down 19-13, Bucknell rattled off nine of the next 11 points to swing the score back in its favor 22-21 by the 5:04 mark. Watts got the Mids back in the lead less than two minutes later when she sank an elbow jumper at 3:51. The back-and-forth contest continued over the final minutes of the half as the Bison took a slim 26-25 advantage into the locker room.
 
Bucknell used that slight bit of momentum and broke away early in the third quarter for an eight-point lead by 5:31, 37-29. A drive and kick-out by Coleman to Donza, who spotted up from beyond the three-point line helped draw Navy within five points in the game's next possession. Coleman helped the Mids keep up with the Bison as the Patriot League's leading scorer hit a pair of three-pointers at 4:40 and later at 2:28. Coleman's second trey made it a 41-38 game for Bucknell. The Bison netted the only two points for the remainder of the period to take a 43-38 lead through 30 minutes of action.
 
A three-pointer by Bucknell's Marly Walls in the first possession of the fourth quarter once again gave the hosts an eight-point lead. Down, but never out, Navy put together an 11-0 run over the next five-plus minutes. Watts and Coleman combined to score nine of the Mids' 11 points during this span. With the score 49-46 for Navy at 4:36, the teams traded baskets next two times down the court. The duo of Watts and Coleman helped the Mids pull further ahead by a 55-48 margin by 2:23. The Bison pulled within one point courtesy of back-to-back three pointers, the second coming with 52 seconds left. Now, up 55-54, the freshly-inserted Sam Schofield (So., Maumee, Ohio) went one-for-two from the foul line to push Navy back up by two with 14 seconds left in regulation. A similar one-for-two showing by Bucknell's Taylor O'Brien made it 56-55 with eight seconds remaining. Llewellyn came up big in the game's final two possessions as she converted one free throw for the Mids and batted the ball away from the Bison's Carly Krsul on a last-second in-bounds pass. In its come-from-behind 57-55 victory, Navy shot 50.0 percent (8-16) from the field in the fourth quarter and outscored Bucknell 19-12.
 
For the game, Bucknell outshot Navy, 41.1 percent (23-56) to 39.0 (23-59) from the field, though the Mids outshot the Bison, 39.0 percent (5-12) to 22.7 (5-22) from three-point range and 50.0 percent (6-12) to 36.4 (4-11) from the foul line.
 
Navy won the total rebounding battle, 40-34 over Bucknell and grabbed four more offensive boards, 10-6. Coleman was everywhere for the Mids on the glass as she corralled 16 total rebounds, including 14 on the defensive side of the action. That total is the second-most ever by a Midshipmen in a single-game, tying herself and five other players. Coleman had previously reached that mark on Jan. 23, 2021 at Army. Wednesday's effort marked her ninth double-double of this season.
 
Defensively, Navy forced Bucknell into 14 turnovers and was credited with nine steals. Coleman also was the leader in this statistical category as she registered five steals.
 
"Moving forward, we will have to continue to focus on fundamentals and working to get better," said Taylor in closing. "We're excited to see what this team can become."
 
Navy will return to Alumni Hall for its next action as the Mids will host the Lafayette Leopards at 1 p.m. on Saturday.