The Navy women’s basketball team put on an inspiring performance on Saturday, suiting up just nine healthy players, including four who played 31 or more minutes, to go shot-for-shot with Colgate in a tense match at Cotterell Court. Despite leading 23-20 at halftime, the Mids (1-27, 1-16 PL) were unable to hold off a resilient Raiders (15-13, 9-8 PL) side, who rallied in the third quarter and held on for a hard-fought 53-47 victory.
Despite the defeat, the Mids showed tremendous resilience and were once again led by the outstanding play of Morganne Andrews. The junior from Martinsburg, W.Va. recorded her second career double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds and was named the most valuable player for the second consecutive game. Lindsay Llewellyn also provided a much-needed spark with nine of her 12 points in the first half before foul trouble limited her involvement in the second half. Meanwhile, the freshmen post duo of Morgan Demos and Kate Samson also impressed, using their size and skills down low to over-match the smaller Colgate frontcourt to the tune of eight points each.
Head coach Tim Taylor praised his team’s performance, stating, “I thought we played a really solid game offensively and defensively today. Our post play was really good in this game. We were able to take advantage of our size a lot, but they made some great moves to counter us as well.”
The game opened with a significant Navy feel to it as the visitors bolted out to an 11-2 lead. However, a 6-0 close to the quarter by the Raiders tightened the game to 13-10 after 10 minutes of play. The second quarter began with a slower scoring pace, but Navy managed to hold on to a 23-20 halftime lead.
The Raiders took control in the third quarter, but Navy managed to stay within two points heading into the final quarter. Andrews tied the game at 39-39 just 11 seconds into the stanza, but Colgate had a strong rebuttal with six unanswered points. Despite Andrews’ heroics, the Mids were unable to overcome the Raiders in the game’s closing stages.
Navy outshot Colgate 44.0 percent to 38.9 percent from the field, but the hosts held a significant advantage from the foul line. In the rebounding battle, Colgate edged Navy 35-29, with Andrews leading all players with 11 caroms.
Navy will look to end the regular season on a high note with a home game against Lafayette on Wednesday night. The Mids will need to continue their strong performances to finish the season on a positive note.