Jan. 30, 2002
WASHINGTON, D.C.-American University (8-11, 3-4 in the Patriot League) outscored Navy, 20-5, over the first eight minutes of the second half and hung on to defeat the Mids, 86-83, in front of 624 fans at Bender Arena. The game featured 25 three-pointers by the two teams.
"You can't give up 85 points and expect to win," said Navy sophomore guard Maile Shimoda. "We have to do a better job on the defensive end."
The game started 62 minutes after the scheduled start time of 7 p.m. because the arena floor was not put down properly, leaving large gaps in the floor. The game was started after arena officials put more than 100 pieces of tape on the floor to cover the gaps.
"The game was played, I can't really say much more than that," said Navy head coach Joe Sanchez. "My number one concern was the safety of the players and when we got to the arena the playing floor was dangerous for both teams."
The Mids led 45-42 at the half thanks to outstanding shooting by sophomore guards Courtney Davidson and Shimoda. Davidson scored 22 of her career-high tying 28 points in the first period, knocking down eight of 12 from the field, including a four for six performance from behind the three-point line. Shimoda was just as hot, making five of six from the floor, including all four of her three point attempts for 14 first half points.
Despite the hot shooting, Navy led by just three, as the Eagles were equally hot. American, behind 13 points from Chanel Hunt and 11 from Katryn Costenbader, shot 59 percent (17-29) from the floor before intermission and a sizzling .625 (5-8) from behind the three-point arc.
After watching Davidson burn her for 22 points in the first half, American head coach Shann Hart went to a box and one defense on Davidson and the change in defense seemed to bother the Mids. Navy made just one field goal in the first eight minutes of the second half as the Eagles jumped out to a 65-50 lead.
"Our game plan was to shut down their three-point shooters and in the first half we didn't do that," said Hart. "The box and one really shut down Davidson and it minimized Shimoda."
"We knew it was coming, we have been working on it all week," said Sanchez. "We kind of froze up and stood around and that played right into their hands. You have to attack a box and one and we didn't do that tonight."
Davidson did not get her first field goal of the second half until the 6:28 mark when her three-pointer cut the American lead to 75-67.
The Eagles still held an 11-point lead at 80-69 with 5:04 remaining before the Mids made one last run. Shimoda scored six straight points, scoring on a conventional three-point play and then knocking down a long-range bomb to cut the score to 80-75 with 4:40 left.
"I was in a zone tonight," said Shimoda. "I got some of my confidence back after a couple of poor shooting performances."
The Mids were down just four with 1:09 remaining when Davidson went to the line to shoot two free throws. Davidson, who had made 23 straight and was shooting 93 percent from the line, missed the first before making the second to pull the Mids to within three. With Navy down four with 27 seconds left, Bryanna Herring, a 77 percent free throw shooter went to the line and missed both attempts. The three missed free throws would come back to haunt Navy when Shimoda drilled a three-pointer from 25 feet away to pull Navy to within two with six seconds left.
Navy immediately fouled Chanel Spriggs and Spriggs, a 61 percent free throw shooter, missed the first and made the second, giving the Mids a chance to tie. Navy got the ball into the hands of Davidson who dribbled up the right sideline and missed a desperation three-point attempt at the buzzer.
Shimoda equaled Davidson with a career-high 28 points, while Bryanna Herring added 14. Navy starting center Adrienne Roseti was held to no points and no rebounds in eight foul-plagued minutes.
American shot a sizzling 56 percent from the floor (31-55) and a remarkable 62 percent from behind the three-point line (13-21). The Eagles were led by Costenbader, who scored 24 points, while Schuyler added 19 and Maria Werries chipped in 16.
The Mids will be back in action Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall when Navy hosts Patriot League rival Holy Cross at 12:30 p.m.
"We always look forward to playing Holy Cross," said Davidson. "They have been the dominant team in our league and we will be ready to play them. We are 2-5 in the league right now, but we just have to keep improving so we are at our best come tournament time."