Women's Basketball Takes on Army in First Round of Patriot League Tournament

2/27/2001 - Women's Basketball
Women's Basketball Takes on Army in First Round of Patriot League Tournament

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GAME INFORMATION

Navy enters the Patriot League Tournament as the No. 5 seed in the seven-team field. The Mids finished the Patriot League season with a 4-8 league record. In Friday's quarterfinal round, Navy will take on service academy-rival Army in a 3 p.m. contest. The winner of that game will advance to Saturday's semifinal round against top-seeded Holy Cross. That game is schedule to begin at 7 p.m.

PROBABLE NAVY STARTERS

P # Name Yr. Ht. Hometown PPG RPG

G 11 Maile Shimoda Fr. 5-7 Orange, Calif. 11.1 *3.1

G 21 Courtney Davidson Fr. 5-9 New Oxford, Pa. 11.2 2.7

F 14 Jennifer Bombinski Sr. 5-10 Englewood, Fla. 10.1 5.7

F 40 Kate Maslowski Fr. 6-2 Hopkins, Minn. 5.0 2.5

C 45 Adrienne Roseti Fr. 6-1 Williamsville, N.Y. 8.8 7.6

THE NAVY RESERVES

G 12 Marisa Ball Jr. 5-6 Dumfries, Va. 1.6 *0.6

G 13 Kristen Kavanaugh Jr. 5-7 Ironton, Ohio 3.5 #1.2

F 15 Catherine Dunn Fr. 6-1 Aberdeen, N.J. 2.2 2.0

F 20 Juliann Flacke So. 6-0 Schenectady, N.Y. 3.2 1.3

G 23 Lisa Steinmetz So. 5-9 Mount Vernon, Ohio 3.9 *2.0

G 24 Stephanie Hayes Fr. 5-7 Mt. Airy, Md. 2.0 0.0

F 25 Chrissie Vallely Sr. 5-10 Garden City, N.Y. 0.7 0.5

G 31 Lauren Zapf So. 5-7 Cumberland, Md. 2.9 0.7

F 32 Alison Luchsinger Fr. 5-9 Lusk, Wyo. 1.9 1.0

C 33 Elaine Jensen Jr. 6-0 Coarsegold, Calif. 1.6 1.9

F 44 Bryanna Herring Fr. 6-0 Columbia, Md. 3.2 2.2

* Assists per game

# Out for season (injured Feb. 3 at Bucknell)

LEHIGH 83, NAVY 65 (Feb. 24, Annapolis, Md.)

Lehigh built a 16-point first-half advantage and went on to defeat Navy, 83-65, in the final regular season women's basketball game for both teams, Feb. 24 at Alumni Hall.

Navy held an 11-10 lead before Lehigh went on a 14-3 run to take a 24-14 lead with 8:25 to play in the first half. The Mids closed to within seven points, 26-19, when Lehigh used an 11-3 run to break the game open and take a 37-22 lead with 3:51 left before halftime.

Lehigh shot 60-percent from the field and made five three-point field goals in the first half, while limiting Navy to 36.7-percent shooting and no three-pointers. For the game, Lehigh outshot Navy, 58.8-32.8-percent from the field.

Lehigh's Anne Tierney led all players with 20 points and 15 rebounds in the game. Navy was led by Maile Shimoda who scored 18 points.

ARMY PREVIEW

Army enters Friday's contest as the No. 4 seed in the tournament. The Black Knights concluded the regular season with a 5-7 record in the Patriot League. Army won just once in six league road contests.

The Black Knights are led by Therese Kelly and Katie Macfarlane. Kelley is the high scorer on the team with a league average of 13.8 points per game and is second on the squad in rebounding at 6.3 rebounds per game. Macfarlane is second to Kelley in scoring (12.8 ppg) and leads all Black Knights in rebounding (8.2 rpg).

As a team, Army averaged 67.6 points per league game, while surrendering 71.7 points per contest.

This will be the third meeting of the season between the two service academies. Navy defeated Army in both previous meetings, 72-61, Jan. 24 in West Point, as well as 81-58, Feb. 17 in Annapolis.

NAVY vs. ARMY SERIES HISTORY

Navy leads the all-time series with Army, 19-16, and has won each of the last three games.

Until Navy defeated Army in Annapolis on Feb. 17, the road

Navy holds an 8-7 lead in games played in Annapolis, with both teams winning five games played in Alumni Hall.

The two teams have met four previous times in the postseason. After Army won the initial game in 1992, Navy has been victorious in

Navy has defeated Army three times in one season in both 1996 and 1997. Army defeated Navy three times during the 1992 season. The only other time the two teams met three times in one season was in 1999. The rivals split the two regular season games, with Navy defeating Army in the postseason.

NAVY vs. ARMY PLAYER NOTES

Courtney Davidson needs to make two three-point field goals to tie and three to break the record for most career three-pointers in the Army-Navy series. Davidson, who tied the A-N single game record in both contests this season with four, is closing in on the career record of 10, held by Army's Julie Schellhase and Navy's Hilary Goodrich,

After two games, Davidson holds the Army-Navy career scoring average record (20.5 ppg). Davidson scored 21 points in Navy's win in West Point, and had 20 points in the Mids' victory in Annapolis.

Adrienne Roseti scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the Jan. 24th contest at Army.

Kate Maslowski scored 10 points in both games against Army this season.

Maile Shimoda scored 13 points and recorded a career-high eight assists Feb. 17 vs. Army.

Jennifer Bombinski recorded a personal Army-Navy career high with 16 points on Feb. 17. She has made seven career three-pointers in the Army-Navy series, just three away from tying the record of 10.

Bryanna Herring recorded her first double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the Feb. 17 contest vs. Army.

HOLY CROSS PREVIEW

The winner of Friday's Army-Navy game will advance to Saturday's semifinals where it will face top-seeded Holy Cross in a 7 p.m. game.

The Crusaders, who received a quarterfinal-round bye, finished the Patriot League season with an 11-1 record.

Four players are scoring in double figures for the Crusaders during the league season, led by Monika Rothemich with 14.2 points per game. Rothemich is also the top rebounder on the team with a 7.0 rebounds-per-game average.

The Crusaders are averaging 75.5 points per game, while allowing 65.2 points per game.

Holy Cross has won both previous meetings this season against Navy. The Crusaders defeated the Mids, 78-63, Jan. 20 in Worcester, then 78-77 in overtime, Feb. 14 in Annapolis.

NAVY vs. HOLY CROSS SERIES HISTORY

Holy Cross leads the all-time series with Navy, 21-3.

The Crusaders have won the last six games.

Navy has faced Holy Cross four times in the postseason, with the Crusaders winning all four games. The last two tournament games between the teams, 1998 and 1999, were in the title game.

NAVY vs. HOLY CROSS PLAYER NOTES

Jennifer Bombinski has scored in double figures in each of the last five games against the Crusaders, as well as in six of the last seven, and has grabbed at least five rebounds in six of the last seven games. Over the last five games she is averaging 14 points and 6.8 rebounds and is shooting 54.3-percent from the field.

Adrienne Roseti scored 12 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in

Courtney Davidson has averaged 17 points per game in her two meetings vs. Holy Cross.

Maile Shimoda scored 19 points in the Feb. 14 game vs. Holy Cross and has a two-game scoring average of 15 points per game.

SECOND-HALF TEAM

Navy has proven to be a second-half team all season long. The Mids have scored more points in the second half of their games than the first half in 20 of 27 games this year, including 13 of the last 15 contests. Over the last 15 games, Navy has scored 452 first-half points (30.1 ppg) and 562 points in the second half (37.5 ppg).

The Mids have scored 30 or more points in the first half in 13 games this season and in the second half in 21 games. Over the last 15 games, the Mids have scored at least 30 points in the first half of seven games, while scoring 30 or more in the second half in all but one game.

100-PLUS STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A THREE-POINTER

Navy has made at least one three-point field goal in a school-record 108-consecutive games. The Midshipmen broke the previous school standard of 64, Jan. 12, 1999, at Bucknell.

Navy has not been held without a three-point field goal made since Nov. 23, 1997, against Sacramento State.

PLAYING OVERTIME

Navy has played a trio of overtime games this season, losing at American (75-67, Nov. 29), defeating McNeese State (74-65, Dec. 20) and losing to Holy Cross, 78-77 (Feb. 14).

The three overtime games matches the school record for most overtime games in a single season. Previously, Navy played three OT games during the 1984-85 and 1995-96 seasons. The Mids have posted a 10-7 all-time record in overtime games.

ROLLER COASTER SEASON

It has been a season of brief ups and downs for the Navy basketball team. Navy has posted a winning streak of two games only once this season, while losing back-to-back games on six different occasions.

Navy has a record of 1-9 in games following a win, as well as a record of 9-7 in games following a loss.

NAVY FRESHMAN FACTS

Navy's freshman class has:

led or tied for lead in scoring in 22 games

led or tied for rebounding lead in 20 games

have made 80 (of a possible 135) starts

scored 10+ points 51 times and 20+ points seven times

scored 61.8-percent of Navy's points, (1104 of 1787), including 71.7-percent of league points (597 of 832)

scored the final 34 points against Army (Jan. 27)

scored 61 of Navy's 70 points against Lehigh (Jan. 31)

BOMBINSKI PLAYS 100TH GAME

Team captain Jennifer Bombinski appeared in the 100th game of her career, Jan. 31 at Lehigh, and has now played in 107 career games. The next-closest Mid in terms of career games played is junior Marisa Ball who has played in 80 games. She has made 61 career starts, 22 more than her closest teammate (sophomore Lisa Steinmetz, 38).

Bombinski recently notched her 400th career board (Feb. 3 at Bucknell) and has now totaled 437 in her career. She scored the 700th point of her career Feb. 17 against Army.

Over the last 11 games, Bombinski has scored in double figures seven times and is averaging 10.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game (119 points, 63 rebounds). In addition, she has connected on multiple three-point field goals in seven of the last 11 games.

Offensively this season Bombinski has scored in double figures in 13 games and has led the Mids in scoring in five games this season. She tied her career high of 21 points twice this season against McNeese State (Dec. 20) and Lafayette (Jan. 17). In addition, Bombinski is in fourth place in Navy history with 84 career three-point field goals made.

Bombinski has increased her scoring and rebounding productions each year of her career.

TROUBLE IN CLOSE GAMES

Navy has had difficulty in close games over the past season and a half. Since the start of the 1999-00 season, the Midshipmen have posted marks of 0-6 in games decided by three points or less, 3-12 in games decided by six points or less and 8-20 in games determined by single digits.

This season, Navy is 0-4 in games decided by three points or less, 1-7 in games decided by six points or less and 4-8 in games decided by nine points or less.

THREE MIDS NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Maile Shimoda was named the Patriot League's Rookie of the Week on Feb. 12, joining classmates Adrienne Roseti (Jan. 7) and Courtney Davidson (Jan. 22) as winners of the award this season.

This is just the second time in Patriot League history one school has had three different players named rookie of the week in one season. Previously, Lafayette had three different players win the award during the 1990-91 season, the inaugural year of the league.

NAVY AND THE PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

Navy has posted an 8-9 record in its nine previous Patriot league Tournament appearances.

The Mids have a 6-3 record in quarterfinal-round games.

The Mids have a 3-1 record in the two seasons Navy played host to the tournament.

Only one other time has Navy entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed. That was in 1992 when, ironically, Navy had to face fourth-seeded Army in the first round. Army defeated Navy that day, 77-55.

Team captain Jennifer Bombinski ranks among the top-five players in Navy history in 11 different career statistics. She holds the Navy record for most career assists with 24, and is just three three-point field goals made away from taking over the top spot in that category.

COURTNEY DAVIDSON

Courtney Davidson has scored in double figures in 12 of the last 15 games and is averaging 13.3 points per game during that span (200 points). Davidson has connected on a minimum of two three-point field goals in 12 of the last 15 games and has totaled 33 three-pointers in that span. She finished the league season ranked seventh in scoring with a 13.9-points-per-game average through the 12 league contests. She ranked third in the league with 2.17 three-pointers made per league game and was fourth with a .394 three-point percentage.

Davidson was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Jan. 22 after leading the Mids in scoring all three games that week and being the top rebounder in two of the three games, as well. She began the week by scoring 12 points at Yale, followed by a career-high 24-point, seven-rebound performance versus Lafayette, and ended the week by hitting four three-point field goals and scoring 14 second-half points on her way to 19 points and a career-high five assists at Holy Cross. For the week, Davidson averaged 18.3 points and 5.7 rebounds a game.

She has scored in double figures in a team-high 17 games on the year and leads Navy in points (303) and is second in three-point field goals made (44). She has led Navy in scoring in a team-high 12 games this year and will become just the second freshman in Navy history to lead the Mids in scoring (Colleen Cassidy, 1978-79).

DIFFICULTY FROM THE LINE

Navy's free throw shooting has been a problem, as of late. Over the last five games, Navy has connected on just 59.5-percent of its free throw attempts. To make this problem even more glaring, Navy opponents are making 70.4-percent of their attempts during that same span.

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE

Navy has had a dramatic reversal in its scoring offense and defense over the last seven halves it has played.

From the second half of Navy's Feb. 14 game against Holy Cross, through halftime of its Feb. 21 game at Colgate, Navy's offense averaged 40.5 points per half while its defense surrendered just 28.5 points per half. In the three halves since then, Navy is averaging just 28.6 points per half, while allowing 40.6 points per half.

MAILE SHIMODA

Maile Shimoda has scored in double figures in 13 games this season, including seven of the last nine. She is averaging 14 points and 4.1 assists over the last nine games (126 points, 37 assists), while making 47.8-percent of her three-point attempts during (22-46).

She was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Feb. 12 after averaging 16.0 points and 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in Navy's two games. She scored 13 points and tied a career-high with five rebounds in Navy's win over Albany (Fen. 5), then drilled five three-point field goals on her way to a game-high 19 points at Lafayette (Feb. 11). For the week, Shimoda was 9 of 21 (.428) from the field, 7-14 (.500) from behind the three-point line and 7 of 9 from the free throw line (.778).

Earlier in the season, Shimoda came off the bench to score 16 points and dish out a career-high seven assists against Colgate (Jan. 27), then, after totaling six first-half assists, scored 12 of her game-high 15 points in the second half of Navy's win at Lehigh (Jan. 31).

She has recorded five or more assists in four of the last nine games and in five games on the year. She dished out a career-high eight assists versus Army (Feb. 17).

Shimoda has connected on a Navy-high 47 three-point field goals, and, on the entire season, leads the Patriot League with .427 three-point field goal percentage and is second with 2.45 three-point field goals made per league game.

DAVIDSON AND SHIMODA TOP FRESHMAN THREE-POINT LIST

Both Courtney Davidson and Maile Shimoda have surpassed the Navy record for most three-point field goals by a freshman. Shimoda has totaled a Navy-high 47 three-pointers this season, while Davidson is close behind her with 44. The previous school freshman standard was 30, set two seasons ago by Hilary Goodrich.

In terms of three-point percentage, both players are not only at the top of the freshman list, they rank among the top-eight shooters in Navy history.

Both players also rank among the top three-point shooters in the Patriot League. Shimoda is second in the league with 1.96 three-point field goals made a game, while Davidson is third with a 1.63 average. In Patriot League games only, Shimoda leads the league with 2.45 three-pointers per game, while Davidson is third with an average of 2.17 per game.

NAVY SETS NEW PATRIOT LEAGUE STANDARD

With Courtney Davidson's final three-point field goal Feb. 17 against Army, Navy set a new Patriot League record for most three-point field goals in a single season. Davidson's shot gave the Mids 163 on the season, breaking the previous standard of 162 set by Holy Cross during the 1995-96 season. The Mids have now totaled 171 triples on the season.

This season the Mids are averaging a league-best average of 7.83 three-point field goals per league game. Navy has made six or more three-pointers in 18 games this year, including 11 of the last 14.

Three of the top-four three-point shooters in the Patriot League (league games only) are from Navy. Maile Shimoda led the league with 2.45 three-point field goals a game, Courtney Davidson was third with an average of 2.17, and Jennifer Bombinski was fourth with 1.75 made a game. Bombinski led the league in three-point field goal percentage with a mark of .488, Shimoda was second at .458 and Davidson was fourth at .394.

KATE MASLOWSKI

Freshman Kate Maslowski has put together a string of strong games, recently. The Minnesota native has scored in double figures in five of the last 10 games, including a career-high 15 points against Albany (Feb. 5). In addition, Maslowski recorded the first double-double of her career with 13 points and 10 rebounds in Navy's victory at Lehigh (Jan. 27).

Maslowski is averaging 7.9 points and 3.7 rebounds, and is shooting 59.5-percent from the field over the last 10 games.

ADRIENNE ROSETI

Adrienne Roseti has been a big contributor to the team this season with both her scoring and her rebounding. Roseti has scored in double figures in seven of the last 12 games, as well as in 10 of the last 17 and in 13 games on the year.

She is averaging 11.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game over the last 12 games (141 points, 92 rebounds). Roseti recorded her team-high seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and 14 rebounds against Holy Cross (Feb. 14). Earlier this season, Roseti scored 12 of her career-high 20 points in the last five minutes of Navy's victory at Army (Jan. 24), including the go-ahead basket and the next five Navy points, as well.

Roseti was named the Patriot League's Rookie of the Week on Jan. 7 after averaging 11 points and seven rebounds in Navy's victories that week over Air Force and Princeton. She celebrated her return to her hometown by scoring a then career-best 18 points and 11 rebounds, Dec. 30 at Buffalo.

She began the season by scoring 13 points and adding 12 rebounds against High Point (Nov. 20) to become just the fourth Navy freshman in to record a double-double in the first game of the year. Roseti has led Navy in scoring in three games and in rebounding in 15 games this season. Roseti has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in nine games this season, including a career-high 17 at American (Nov. 29). In addition, she is fourth in the Patriot League in rebounding with 7.9 rebounds per game and is second in the league in blocked shots (0.73 blocks per game).

With a team-high 205 rebounds, Roseti will become just the second freshman in the last decade to lead Navy in rebounding (Becky Dowling, 1994-95). She is one of just five freshman in Navy history to record at least 200 rebounds. In addition, Roseti holds the Navy record for most blocked shots by a freshman with 21.

BRYANNA HERRING

One of the most improved players since the start of the season has been Bryanna Herring. The freshman from Columbia, Md., has scored 52 of her 68 points and grabbed 30 of her 46 rebounds over the last nine games. She has scored 10 or more points in two of the past three games and in three of the last six games.

On the season, Herring has made 20 of her 24 attempts from the free throw line (83.3-percent).

Herring recorded her first double-double with an 11-point, 10-rebound performance last Saturday against Army, then tied a career high with 12 points Feb. 21 at Colgate.

SCORING DOWN THE STRETCH

Courtney Davidson continues to hold onto her lead for most points scored in the last five minutes of games. Davidson has totaled 56 points at the end of games, 11 points ahead of Adrienne Roseti and 12 in front of Jennifer Bombinski.

As for single-game performances, Adrienne Roseti set a new team-high with 12 points in the final five minutes against the Black Knights. Bombinski is second on the team with 11 points in the last five minutes of Navy's win over Columbia (Nov. 26), with Davidson scoring 10 points at American (Nov. 29). Davidson scored all of her points against the Eagles came in the final 33 seconds of regulation, then proceeded to score all six of Navy's points in overtime.

Navy scored a season-high 21 points in the last five minutes against both American (Nov. 29) and at Army (Jan. 27), with a season-low four points at Buffalo (Dec. 30) and against Yale (Jan. 15). Navy allowed a season-high 17 points at Appalachian State (Dec. 3), as well as a season-low zero points against Air Force (Jan. 2).

As a team, Navy has scored 288 points (10.6 ppg) in the last five minutes of games, while allowing 263 (9.7 ppg). Navy has outscored its opponents in the last five minutes of 14 games this season, scored fewer points in nine games and scored an equal number of points four times.

THE NAVY RESERVES

Navy has received strong support from its bench all season. Navy's bench has outscored the opposing bench in 15 games on the year, is averaging 22.1 points per game and has accounted for 33.3-percent of Navy's scoring (595 of 1,787 points).

Fifteen times this season a Mid has come off the bench to score at least 10 points in a game, most recently Bryanna Herring who has done it in two of the last three games.

As a group, the Navy Reserves have scored in double figures in every game but two and have totaled 20 or more points in 15 games on the season. The bench produced a season-high 43 points at Stetson (Dec. 10), as well as a season-low nine points at Army (Jan. 24).

FOR STARTERS

Navy has used 11 different starting lineups this season, with 12 different players starting at least one game. Only Adrienne Roseti has started every game for the Midshipmen this season.

NEED TO REBOUND

When Navy defeated Lehigh on Jan. 31, it ended a losing streak of 26 games in which the Mids had been outrebounded. Prior to the victory over the Mountain Hawks, Navy had not won a game it was outrebounded in since defeating Colgate on Jan. 27, 1999.

Since the victory over Lehigh, Navy has dropped each of the three games in which it has been outrebounded.

NAVY RALLIES

Five times this season Navy has rallied from second-half deficit of at least 10 points to either tie the game or take the lead. Most recently, Navy rallied from an 11-point deficit to tie Holy Cross (Feb. 14).