ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Invigorated by a pregame ceremony to honor its Class of 2022, the Navy women's basketball team broke out to an early 8-5 advantage over Colgate and led for the ensuing 37:18 on its way to a 52-48 victory on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall. After an explosive first quarter in which the Mids (8-19, 5-12 PL) recorded 19 points, the Raiders (6-22, 4-13 PL) slowed down the hosts and drew within three points with two-and-a-half minutes left in regulation before Navy held on to clinch the win and the eighth seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament.
 
Though the Mids' three seniors, Jennifer Coleman (Richmond, Va.), Darryl Langford (Fayetteville, Ga.) and team captain Ciera Hertelendy (Inwood, W.Va.) netted three of the squad's first four baskets on Saturday, it was sophomore Kristina Donza (Jackson, N.J.), who spearheaded Navy to victory with a career-high 19 points. Donza's career day consisted of 6-of-8 shooting and five three-pointers to go along with three rebounds and two assists in 31 minutes of action. Coleman aided Donza's outing with 12 points and team-highs of eight rebounds and five assists.
 
"This was hard fought win," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "It was kind of déjà vu at the end. We've been in so many close games this year so when we had an eight-point lead we were like 'don't give them any threes' and then they [Colgate] got an offensive rebound followed by a three. We didn't let that affect us and we responded well to get the win. We did a really good job defensively today.
 
"We've been waiting for that kind of a breakout game by Kristina. She puts in the work in the gym so we've seen her potential. When we have one other player outside of Jenn and Sydne making shots, that's when we're getting our best results. If we can consistently get that from her we'll be difficult to match up against. She's a really good on-ball defender and a lot of the time she's taking on the best penetrator on the other team. She did a great job all day."
 
The early action on Saturday consisted of even back-and-forth play as the game was tied 5-5 before Navy crept out to a slight 8-7 lead by the 6:59 mark. After Langford scored the Mids' first basket and Coleman netted Navy's third successful field goal, Hertelendy made sure all three of the Mids' seniors were in the box score within the first four minutes when she hit for a spinning hook shot deep in the post at 6:40 to extend Navy's lead to 10-7. That basket was the beginning of an 8-0 run that spotted the Mids a 16-7 lead with 1:47 left in the first stanza. Less than a minute later, Donza netted her eighth point of the opening period to help Navy take a 19-9 lead into the quarter break.
 
After recording 19 points in the first quarter, Navy's offense struggled to get on track in the second period and had just a Coleman free throw to show for over the initial 6:35 of play. While their offense wasn't clicking in high gear, the Mids' defense held up and only allowed six points to the Raiders during that same span. With the score 20-15, Donza made Navy's lone field goal of the quarter at 3:25 when Sydne Watts (So., Canton, Ga.) fought for a tough offensive rebound and quickly passed to Coleman, who one-touched the ball to Donza for a 10-foot jumper. Trailing by seven, Colgate concluded the first half with a slow 5-0 run to make it 22-20 going into the locker room.
 
Following a three-point second quarter, Navy's offense got out to a more productive start after halftime. Donza almost immediately set a new career-high in points as just 73 seconds into the third quarter she hit her third three-pointer to give her 13 for the contest. The teams traded baskets over the next three minutes as the game stayed at a one-possession margin. With the score 27-24, Donza continued her hot stretch of shooting as she hit another three-pointer at 6:29 to put the Mids up six. The basket-for-basket trend picked back up and the game moved forward to a 34-30 score by 1:50. The Raiders closed the gap to just three points by the end of the quarter at 35-32. Navy played the final 8:16 of the period without Coleman after she picked up her fourth foul.
 
"Hats off to our kids," remarked Taylor about Navy's play in the third quarter. "When Jenn went out with her fourth foul early in the third, we didn't panic and held our ground. That should be a confidence booster for the rest of the year."
 
Held to just two points over the first three quarters, Watts kickstarted Navy's offense in the fourth quarter with a three-pointer from the wing at 8:16 to increase the Mids' lead to 38-32. This was the first of three straight made field goals for the hosts and Navy used this success to press out to an eight-point lead of 42-34 by the 5:58 mark of the fourth. A 9-4 run by Colgate, including a pair of three-pointer tightened the contest to 46-43 at 2:24. Donza capped her career day with her fifth three-pointer from the corner at 2:04. Directly after setting up Donza's trey with an extra pass, Watts kept up her strong level of play with a dynamic block of Morgan McMahon's jumper the next time down the court. Up six points with under a minute to go, Navy converted three free throws to clinch the 52-48 victory.
 
For the game, Colgate outshot Navy from the field, 35.2 percent (19-54) to 33.3 (19-57) and from the foul line, 66.7 percent (6-9) to 43.8 (7-16). Bolstered by Donza's hot shooting, the Mids ended with a 43.8 percent (7-16) to 26.7 (4-15) advantage over the Raiders from three-point range.
 
In the battle on the glass, Colgate out-rebounded Navy, 43-36 with a slight 11-10 edge in offensive rebounds. Coleman and Watts led the Mids' effort with 15 combined rebounds as Coleman grabbed eight, one more than her teammate.
 
Navy finished Saturday with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio as the Mids assisted on 14 baskets, while turning the ball over just 11 times. Coleman led Navy with five helpers.
 
Defensively, the Mids forced the Raiders into 20 turnovers and were credited with seven steals.
 
"These seniors are special to me," said Taylor about Navy's Class of 2022. "I've been blessed to have been given this opportunity to coach them. It might not have been the amount of wins throughout their career that they wanted, but they are tremendous women and they will undoubtably do great things in their future. This country should be proud that they're serving for them. It's special for me and especially for them to get this win today. This is something that they'll never forget."
 
With today's result, Navy will host a first round matchup in the Patriot League Tournament with this same Colgate club on Saturday, March 5 at Alumni Hall. Prior to that postseason contest, the Mids will conclude their regular season on Wednesday, March 2 with a home tilt against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Alumni Hall.