ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The fans at Alumni Hall were treated to history on Wednesday night as senior guard Jennifer Coleman (Richmond, Va.) broke the Navy women's basketball program single-season scoring record with her basket at 5:47 of the first quarter. After breaking out to an 18-8 lead early over American in the second quarter, Navy struggled over the ensuing 29 minutes and fell by a final score of 54-43. The Mids (7-17, 4-10 PL) were unable to find that successful offensive rhythm from that 8-for-14 start as the Eagles' (16-7, 9-4 PL) defense forced the hosts into 22.2 percent shooting and 20 turnovers over the final 29 minutes.
 
Coleman posted her 10th consecutive double-double and 19th of the season as she finished with game-highs of 20 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. She also had a game-high four steals in 39 minutes of action. Coleman's seventh point of the game broke Courtney Davidson's previous program record of 530 points set during the 2002-03 season. Lindsay Llewellyn (Jr., North East, Md.) aided Coleman's effort with nine points, six rebounds and three steals.
 
"That was a tough game," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "We weren't playing our best yet were right there, down by one with three minutes to go. We were really grinding. Hats off to American, they threw a lot of different looks at us and really affected our execution tonight. The pacing of tonight's game was tough and we were just unable to recreate what was working for us early in the game. Turnovers were a major issue for us that we'll have to clean up as we look to improve."
 
The action kicked off with a significant Navy flavor to it as Coleman spearheaded the host's attack with nine of the game's first 12 points over the opening 5:53. With the score 9-3 for the Mids, the Eagles responded with a quick 5-0 run courtesy of baskets on consecutive possessions. Ahead by just one point, Navy closed out the first quarter with tough defense and seven unanswered points on the strength of fast-break layups by Coleman and Kristina Donza (So., Jackson, N.J.). The final points of the streak came after an offensive rebound by Morganne Andrews (So., Martinsburg, W.Va.) and quick pass to Ciera Hertelendy (Sr., Inwood, W.Va.) for the second-chance layup. As a team, Navy shot 53.8 percent (7-13) from the field and forced eight American turnovers. 14 of its 16 points were directly results of Eagle turnovers and second-chance opportunities.
 
Coming out of the first quarter break up eight, 16-8, Navy immediately stretched its advantage over American to 10 when Coleman hit Andrews for a deep layup in the post at 9:46. From that point in the period, the Mids were held scoreless for the next four-plus minutes as the Eagles shaved nine points off their deficit. A series of slick passes around the perimeter helped find a mismatch for Llewellyn, who spun around her smaller defender for the uncontested layup at 5:37. The game stayed at that 20-17 score for over four minutes until Lauren Stack made a single free throw at 1:18 for American. The only successful field goal attempt in the second half of the second quarter came on a broken play and turnover as Kayla Henning drove in for a fast-break layup with eight seconds left in the period. The game went into the halftime intermission knotted at 20-20. Navy was hamstrung by poor ball-handling in the quarter as the Mids registered 11 turnovers.
 
After a difficult first half of scoring, the third quarter was the most prolific stanza of the contest as the teams combined for 30 points, 16 for the Eagles and 14 for the Mids. American netted 12 of the first 18 points and jumped out to a 32-26 lead by the 3:57 mark of the quarter. Llewellyn helped draw Navy within three with a corner three-pointer at 2:17. That trey sparked an 8-4 run by the Mids to close out the third quarter down by just two, 36-34.
 
The hard-fought competitive action continued into the fourth quarter and quickly saw Navy re-assert itself in the lead the first time down the court as Coleman hit a three-pointer at 9:35. With the score 37-36 for the Mids, the Eagles responded with a slow 6-1 rebuttal with a trio of field goals over the next three minutes. Down 42-38, Sydne Watts (So., Canton, Ga.) sank her first three-pointer of the game to make it a one-point at 5:07. Unfortunately for the host Navy squad that was its final field goal of the game. The Mids' defense kept their hope alive as the Eagles were only able to add one point to their lead making it 43-41 by the 2:53 mark of the quarter. Coming into the contest with just three successful three-pointers made all season, Emily Johns left her mark on American's final push with a trey from the wing at 2:10. That three-pointer was part of a larger 11-3 run to conclude the game by the Eagles as they were able to walk out of Alumni Hall victorious, 54-43.
 
For the game, American outshot Navy in field goal shooting, 42.0 percent (21-50) to 32.7 (16-49), in three-point shooting, 26.7 percent (4-15) to 22.2 (4-18) and at the foul line, 66.7 percent (8-12) to 63.6 (7-11).
 
Both teams finished with 33 rebounds on Wednesday. Navy was more active on the offensive glass with a slight 10-8 edge in offensive caroms. Coleman led all players with 14 rebounds, including four on the offensive end.
 
Defensively, Navy finished with a season-high 13 steals on 21 American turnovers. On the opposite side of the ledger, the Eagles were credited with 10 steals on 25 Midshipmen errors. Coleman and Llewellyn led the Mids' defensive effort with seven combined thefts, four for Coleman and three for Llewellyn.
 
Besides turnovers, Wednesday's action and flow was also significantly impacted by 37 combined fouls. Only once in Patriot League play this season have the Mids been part of a contest with more combined fouls.
 
Navy will turn its attention to a road tilt on Saturday at Holy Cross. Tip-off between the Mids and Crusaders is set of 12 p.m. in Worcester, Mass.