Navy Midshipmen Women Outlast American in Patriot League Showdown
The Navy Midshipmen women’s basketball team outscored American by just three points in the fourth quarter to beat the Eagles, 66-59, in the Patriot League opener for both teams on Thursday night.
The Midshipmen (9-3, 1-0 in Patriot) and the Eagles (0-11, 0-1) were never far away from one another, even though Navy led the game for more than 90% of the contest. The Midshipmen’s largest lead was 13 points, but they were never able to shake the Eagles until late in the game.
The Midshipmen had not played since a victory over Delaware on Dec. 19.
American had Navy’s lead down to two points, 47-45, with 1:33 left in the third quarter. Navy was able to push it back to four points on a pair of free throws by Zanai Barnett-Gay to end the quarter.
In the fourth, Navy went on an 11-2 run in the first five minutes to finally get control of the game and build a 60-47 lead. Gay scored four points, Mary Gibbons scored a layup and drew a foul, leading to a free throw, while Morgan Demos and Toni Papahronis each had a basket.
The Eagles had a slight shooting edge on the Midshipmen in all three phases, as they shot 40% from the floor while the Midshipmen shot 36.%. Neither team show well from the 3-point line and both shot less than 70% from the free-throw line.
Navy made up the difference with a 42-35 edge in rebounding, forcing 18 American turnovers and turning those in 14 points.
Barnett-Gay had another huge game for Navy, as she scored a game-high 26 points, pulled own seven rebounds and led the team with five assists and two steals. Gibbons was also in double figure with 13 points.
Demos scored nine points but led the Black Knights with 12 rebounds.
Ellie Pingree led American with 17 points while Laura Nogues added 12 points. She also had five assists.
With the win, Navy still has a significant deficit in the all-time series, which reached its 70th meeting on Thursday. The Eagles still lead, 43-27.
But this was Navy’s third straight regular-season win over American since snapping an 11-year, 14-game losing streak at American’s Bender Arena last February. The Eagles beat the Midshipmen in the Patriot League Tournament last March.
Navy swept American last season for the first time since 2013. In between the sweeps the Midshipmen were 7-20.
The Midshipmen remain on the road for Sunday’s showdown with Lafayette, set for 2 p.m. eastern.