American Eagles emerge victorious against Navy Women’s Basketball team in a hard-fought match that lasted 40 minutes on Wednesday night. Despite Navy’s efforts to bounce back, the visiting Eagles dominated the match and won 61-49 at Alumni Hall.
Navy’s junior forward, Morganne Andrews from Martinsburg, W.Va., led the team’s charge with a career-high of 19 rebounds, including six on the offensive end. She also managed six points, two assists and one block to put up a good fight against the Eagles. Meanwhile, senior Lindsay Llewellyn from North East, Md., contributed to the Mids’ offense with a team-high of 15 points.
Head coach Tim Taylor expressed his disappointment, despite the team executing offensively and minimizing turnovers, their missed shots made all the difference. The Mids had nine more shots than the Eagles but could not convert them to their advantage. Coach Taylor also noted American’s performance, particularly when they went on a little run and stretched the lead.
American Eagles opened the game with a 6-point lead, but Navy bounced back with a 3-point shot by Llewellyn. A Maren Louridas trey and a long-range field goal by Sam Schofield closed the first period’s score at 17-9. Navy continued fighting to draw within single-digits throughout the entire fourth quarter, but they couldn’t close the gap as both teams made one final basket over the concluding 20 seconds of play.
American Eagles outshot Navy, 43.1 percent (25-58) to 29.9 (20-67) from the field and 36.4 percent (4-11) to 21.2 (7-33) from three-point range. The Mids made 66.6 percent (2-3) of their shots from the foul line versus 63.6 percent (7-11) for the Eagles.
Despite the loss, Andrews’ consistent improvement was apparent, as she grabbed a total of 36 rebounds in her two matchups against American this season. Coach Taylor praised her for her pursuit of the ball and noted her potential to get into the double-double range if she keeps up the hard work.
Navy’s final road game of the regular season will be on Saturday in Hamilton, N.Y., where they will face Colgate at 2 p.m. The Mids will look to bounce back and finish the season on a high note.