ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's basketball team ran into a hard-charging Lafayette squad that came from behind with a 30-point fourth quarter to walk away with a 74-64 victory on Wednesday night. Close throughout the first three quarters and tied 50-50 with seven minutes left in regulation, the Mids (1-28, 1-17 PL) fell victim to a hot Leopard (10-18, 7-11 PL) squad that made six of their final eight shots and 12 of 16 free throws to earn the comeback win at Alumni Hall in the regular season finale for both teams.
 
Navy received a well-balanced offensive effort on Wednesday night as four Mids finished with double figures led by Kate Samson's (Fr., Richmond, Va.) double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Sam Schofield (Jr., Maumee, Ohio) was a catalyst for Navy off the bench with a career-high 14 points on the strength of four three-pointers over 24 minutes of action. Maren Louridas (Fr., Delmar, N.Y.) and Lindsay Llewellyn (Sr., North East, Md.) each added 11 points to Navy's final tally.
 
"Our offense affects our defense so much; when we're scoring, we're playing defense," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "When we're not making shots, we all of a sudden lack on the defensive end. Lafayette made a good adjustment in the second half and had Makayla Andrews in the middle of our zone and she was able to carve it up a little bit. We weren't able to get good rotations in the fourth quarter. The game changed when we took a seven-point lead early in the third. We had three opportunities to build on that, but we took a couple of bad shots and then turned the ball over. Instead of being able to extend the lead when we should have, they marched right back and made it a one-possession game.
 
"I thought we rushed some of our shots and took them too early in the possession. We didn't need to do that. We also missed some easy layups. A lot of times when you miss layups that results in run-outs on the other end. If you make those you can set your defense up. Offensively, we left a lot of things out there tonight."
 
The action on Wednesday night opened slowly as it was just 4-3 in favor of Navy through four minutes of play. A 7-2 run by Lafayette over the next two minutes shot the visitors into the lead, 10-6 by the 4:16 mark. The next time down the court, a three-pointer by Louridas stopped the Mids' mini-slump and drew the hosts within one point. That trey sparked an explosive conclusion to the first quarter as Navy made four of its final five shots, while Lafayette countered with a 3-6 showing. A pair of three-pointers by Schofield did the majority of the damage for the Mids during this stretch. As a team, Navy was 4-10 from three-point range in the opening stanza.
 
Ahead 19-17, the Mids immediately opened the second quarter with great efficiency with baskets on each of its initial two possessions, first a smooth Samson hook shot from the middle of the paint and later a driving layup by Sydne Watts (Jr., Canton, Ga.). Following a called timeout from Lafayette's bench, the Leopards recorded four points in a matter of 21 seconds as they caused back-to-back turnovers and caught the Mids' defense in flux. With the score, 23-21 at 6:58, Lafayette re-took the lead within three minutes on the strength of consecutive three-pointers from Sauda Ntaconayigize and Abby Antognoli. After a quick trading of baskets and the lead, the Leopards ended the half up 31-30.
 
Similar to the previous quarter, the Mids kicked off the third period with points on four their first five possessions as part of an 8-0 run to go up, 38-31 by the 8:04 mark. Samson provided Navy with six of its eight points during this run as she overpowered the smaller Lafayette frontcourt. While the Mids had the Leopards on the ropes, the visitors continued to scrap and cut their deficit to just two points over the next 4:33 courtesy of a 6-1 run. Holding just a 39-37 edge, Navy was able to re-assert itself on the scoreboard in the final half of the stanza and rebuilt a six-point lead with eight seconds left in the period as Bianca Coleman (Fr., Abington, Pa.) followed up a Schofield three-point with a perfect 2-2 showing at the foul line. Two late free throws by Lafayette with one second remaining made it a 48-44 score through 30 minutes of action.
 
Those late free throws gave the Leopards a glimmer of hope that they quickly capitalized on in the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run over the first 2:43. Down 50-48, Llewellyn drew the Mids even for the third time in the contest with a driving layup to the hoop at 7:04. Unfazed, Lafayette turned in a 10-0 rebuttal to this tied predicament to grab the first double-digit lead by either team on the day, 60-50 by 3:36. Watts had a speedy response for Navy as Louridas drove the lane and turned to the top of the arc, whipping a sharp pass to the wide-open Watts from three-point range just 14 seconds later. The Mids went down swinging as Louridas tried to spur her team on with seven points in the final two minutes, in addition to a fourth made three-pointer by Schofield, but it wouldn't be enough as they were never be able to get closer than seven points the rest of the game as the Leopards made 10 of their final 14 foul shots.
 
As part of its 74-64 victory, Lafayette outshot Navy 40.7 percent (24-59) to 35.5 (22-62) from the field, 33.3 percent (8-24) to 28.0 (7-25) from three-point range and 78.3 percent (18-23) to 65.0 (13-20) from the foul line.
 
The Leopards were more active than the Mids on the glass on Wednesday night with a 45-35 advantage in rebounds, including a 13-9 edge in offensive boards. Samson earned her second career double-double with a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with her team-best 15 points. Morganne Andrews (Jr., Martinsburg, W.Va.) backed up Samson with seven caroms.
 
"I thought Kate played really well tonight," commented Taylor. "She drew a lot of fouls when we were playing well early. Late in the third quarter we got them [Lafayette] into foul trouble working the ball into her in the post."
 
Navy was accurate and effective with its ball-movement for the majority of the night with 16 assists on 22 baskets with just a season-low eight turnovers. Mimi Schrader (Sr., Plymouth, Minn.) was the leading facilitator for the Mids with five assists.
 
Due to a variety of ailments, Lafayette dressed just six players for Wednesday night's game. Makayla Andrews led the visitors with 27 points and 17 rebounds, while never leaving the court. In just her fifth career start, Sauda Ntaconayigize finished 5-8 from three-point range over 34 minutes.
 
"Hats off to Lafayette on doing what they did tonight," said Taylor in closing. "You come into this matchup figuring that Andrews and Antognoli were going to get their points, but 15 points from Ntaconayigize, all from three, was huge. We weren't expecting that. She made the difference for Lafayette tonight."
 
Navy will now turn its attention to the 2023 Patriot League Tournament. Seeded tenth, the Mids will make the short trip to American University on Saturday afternoon for a first round showdown with the Eagles. In the regular season meeting between the two teams in Washington, D.C. in January, American edged Navy late, 62-55. Tip-off at Bender Arena on the campus of American is set for 5 p.m.