Navy women rout North Carolina A&T, 72-49
Morgan men cruise to 78-68 win over Mount St. Mary’s
The day after a four-point a loss to Penn, the Navy women’s basketball team received 20 points from freshman Jennifer Coleman that led to a 72-49 blowout of the North Carolina A&T on Sunday at Alumni Hall on the final day of the Navy Classic.
The win broke a three-game losing streak and gave Navy (2-3) a lift as the Mids won’t play at home again until Dec. 31. During that four-game stretch of away games, the Mids will play at Air Force on Dec. 7 and at Colorado on Dec. 9.
“We will have so much more confidence coming out of this weekend, no doubt about that,” said Navy coach Stefanie Pemper, who said the team played well against Penn despite losing and played even better against A&T, which went to the NCAA tournament last year and is favored to win its conference this season.
“We’re happy. We played two pretty good games against two pretty good teams … Plus, we scored 72 points in a back-to-back game, which doesn’t happen very often. That’s impressive,” Pemper said. “Many different women contributed on separate nights. We had nine players score today and nine players get steals.”
After suffering through an 0-for-8 shooting night Friday that left her scoreless for the game, Coleman asserted herself early against A&T, scoring six points in the game’s first six minutes, including a go-ahead basket that gave Navy its first lead, 10-8, which it never gave back. Coleman had previously tied the game on a rebound off a missed fast-break layup. She scored 14 points in the decisive third period when Navy outscored A&T 25-8.
“[Her turnaround] began because my coaches and teammates had so much confidence in me. They just said ‘forget about it, you got this.’ ” said Coleman, the team’s leading scorer. “It was a matter of playing my game. Whatever happens, happens. It’s not about trying harder or doing something different. It’s just playing my game.”
Also scoring in double-digits for Navy were Morgan Taylor, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds to match her totals on Friday night, and Sophie Gatzounas, with 11 points and seven rebounds. All of the Navy starters were out of the game by the middle of the final period.
Alexus Lessears and Cinia McCray led the Aggies with 11 points each.
Though the Aggies were taller and more experienced, Navy outrebounded them 44-40. The Aggies shot just 28.3 percent against the Mids’ zone and had only two fast-break points. Navy forced 28 turnovers and had 17 steals as nine players had a steal, led by Taylor with four, Coleman with three and Kolbi Green with three.
“Our zone was really helpful today,” Pemper said. “Jasmine Bishop deserves a lot of credit. She knew where the ball was going a lot of times before it got there. That gave us a lot of confidence.”
Coleman’s early play was the spark which ignited a15-4 run that put them up by 17-12 after the first period. Though both sides shot 6-for-16 from the field, Navy outrebounded the Aggies 14-6 and forced seven turnovers.
Playing aggressively and assertively, the Mids carried the momentum into the second period with a 10-point run during which Bianca Roach, Jasmine Bishop, Laurel Jaunich and Kolbi Green all hit baskets for a 27-12 lead. The Aggies ended their scoring drought with a free throw by Alexus Lessears almost four minutes into the period.
The Aggies chipped away at the host’s lead, closing to 35-26 at the half. Navy then opened the second half the way it ended the first quarter, with a 15-4 run. The third quarter proved game-clinching with the Mids outscoring the Aggies 25-8 for a 60-34 lead.
“We came out at the half wanting to be more aggressive,” Coleman said. “We wanted to take it to them.”
Taylor’s double-doubles for the tourna- ment are the first of her career. She set a career-high for rebounds in both games.
“We’re beginning to come together. We took a lot of positives away from the Penn game and we came into today’s game knowing [A&T] had just one win. We wanted the two [for a second win],” said Taylor. “This tournament and the way we played has really lifted our confidence.”
Navy opens its road trip with a game at Rider on Dec. 4. After the Air Force and Colorado games and exams, the team will play at Monmouth on Dec. 19 before getting a break at the end of the calendar year.
In Sunday’s second game, Maine beat Penn, 47-46.
SAINT JOSEPH’S 49, LOYOLA MARYLAND 46: The Greyhounds’ comeback bid fell short in the final game of the Hawk Classic at Hagan Arena in Philadelphia.
Sophomore Isabella Therien led all players with 19 points and also led Loyola with nine rebounds, while senior Bri Betz-White contributed 11 points and junior Stephanie Karcz had seven rebounds, four assists and five steals.
For Saint Joseph’s, Katie Mayock had a team-best 15 points and Michala Clay had a game-high 11 rebounds.
After taking a 26-18 lead into halftime, Loyola went cold from the field in the third quarter, getting outscored 25-8. With all eight points coming off free throws, the Greyhounds relinquished their lead and the Hawks pulled head 42-34.
Therien’s 3-pointer at the 7:33 mark of the fourth quarter sparked a 10-2 run that pulled Loyola within three, 47-44, with 4:15 to play. The Hawks answered with a pull-up jumper at 3:37 before Therien’s turnaround jumper at the 3:12 mark kept the Greyhounds within three, 49-46, but Saint Joseph’s held on for the win.
Men
MORGAN STATE 78, MOUNT ST. MARY’S 68: Martez Cameron scored 15 points, Tyler Streeter scored 14 and the Bears kept the host Mountaineers winless.
After a 35-all first-half tie, Jordan Little’s jump shot nine seconds in put Morgan State (2-3) ahead for good. Sherwyn DevonishPrince Jr.’s jumper later extended the lead to 49-41 and Cameron’s 3-pointer made it 55-45 with 10:23 remaining.
The Mountaineers (0-6) struggled to protect the ball, committing 26 turnovers. For their part, the Bears committed 30 personal fouls and the Mountaineers 24. Mount St. Mary’s, however, made just 25 of 41 foul shots (61 percent). The Mount had a 51-33 rebounding advantage.
Jalen Gibbs led Mount St. Mary’s with 19 points, Nana Opoku scored 15 with nine rebounds and Vado Morse scored half of his 14 points from the free-throw line.
Baltimore Sun staff and news services contributed to this article.