Scoring wasn?t Navy?s biggest problem Sunday against Army. Just holding onto the ball was.
Navy committed 15 turnovers and scored just 15 points in the first half as Army won the battle between rival service academies, 58-43, in front of an announced crowd of 2,842 at Alumni Hall. The game represented the “Star Game” in the overall competition. Alex McGuire (Arundel) and Jen Hansen scored 14 points each for Army (22-5, 9-3 Patriot League), which has won four straight Star Games while also retaining possession of the Army-Navy Trophy.
“It?s always good to come down here and able to play well,” said McGuire, who had more than a dozen friends and family in attendance. “Playing Navy is such a different game with all of the emotion that goes into this game. Winning makes the bus ride home much easier.”
Army pulled away early in the game as the Black Knights went on a 13-0 run and led 22-6 with 6:22 left in the first half following a basket from Courtney Wright, who finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds. At the same time, Navy (10-16, 4-8) went nearly eight minutes without scoring a point and shot 20.8 percent from the floor in the first half.
Navy fared better in the second half as the Mids scored 28 points, committed only four turnovers and held Army to 33 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes. Senior forward Carley Meyer scored 18 points and had five rebounds while Margaret Knap had 10 points and five rebounds.
This was a far different game than the last meeting Jan. 21 when the Midshipmen opened the second half with a 15-4 run and then scored the game?s final five points in a 49-44 win.
“It?s really hard to put in words how upsetting this loss is,” said Meyer, who will graduate without winning a Star Game. “Every year we have come into this game wanting to win this game and once again we?ve come up short. It?s really hard to put my frustrations into words.”
Put backs
» Army and Navy have each won 24 games in the series. Army holds an 11-8 advantage when the Army-Navy Trophy is on the line.
» Navy is now in a three-way tie with Lehigh and Colgate for last place in the Patriot League.
» Navy next plays Wednesday when it hosts American (10-17, 5-7) at Alumni Hall.
