Navy women?s basketball coach Tom Marryott strongly believes his team is not too far from being a serious contender for the Patriot League title as he enters his fourth year at the helm.
The Midshipmen are coming off a 14-14 season, including 7-7 in league play. However, eight of those losses came by 10 points or less, including two in overtime and one in double-overtime.
Marryott said the difference between being a 14-win team and a 19-win team comes from a combination of playing better defensively while also cutting down on turnovers. Navy allowed an average of 67.8 points a game while averaging 19.2 turnovers last year. At the same time, the Mids scored an average of 66 points while dishing out 15.4 assists a contest.
Marryott looks to a more experienced team, led by three returning senior starters in forward Carly Meyer (12 points, 7 rebounds a game), center Kate Hobbs (8.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and forward Betsy Burnett (9.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg).
“I?m excited about the experience we have coming back this year,” Marryott said. “I?m happy where we?re going with the players we have back and the six newcomers, who I expect to contribute immediately. We?re ready to take the next step.”
Among the freshmen coming in, Marryott is especially pleased with the play of forwards Kelly Altschul and Morgan Hill. Both have made the adjustment to life at a service academy, according to Marryott.
“Both Kelly and Morgan have impressed me with their knowledge, athleticism and the ability to pick up our system,” he said.
Hobbs, a 6-foot-2 economics major, believes that if Navy cuts down on mental mistakes, it has a legitimate shot at knocking off Army as the top team in the Patriot League.
“The goal is to always be able to compete for a title,” Hobbs said. “Myself, along with the other seniors on the team, all know what it takes to do that. Now, it?s just a matter of executing our offense like we do in practice.”
Meyer agrees with Hobbs and said that she knows that Navy wasn?t too far from having an even better season last year.
“We lost too many close games last year,” Meyer said. “That was our biggest problem. This year, we have to remain focused and do a better job of cutting down our mental mistakes.”
