Grace Koepke facing off with a member of the Navy squad.
Grayson Rupp
86
Winner Navy Navy 16-6,10-1 Patriot
58
American Americ 6-17,4-8 Patriot
Winner
Navy Navy
16-6,10-1 Patriot
86
Final
58
American Americ
6-17,4-8 Patriot
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Navy Navy 20 18 28 20 86
American Americ 21 14 9 14 58

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Navy’s Second Half Push Sinks Women’s Basketball

WASHINGTON –– American University women's basketball kept pace with the top-ranked, top-scoring offense in the league for the first half, down just three at halftime, but Navy pulled away in the second half to take the 86-58, win over the Eagles in Bender on Saturday.
 
Inside the Box Score
  • Grace Koepke tapped out on top of scoring for AU, with 14 points. Fellow forward, Charlotte Tuhy led all players in rebounding with 15 total and all three of the Eagles' blocks. She picked up her 11th double-double, with her 12 points.
  • Both Koepke and Tuhy finished the game with four fouls.
  • Bench points were once again a point of struggle for the Eagles, with 15 points coming from nonstarters. AU kept pace with Navy when it came to scoring down low, taking 36 points from the paint to match Navy's 44. Navy had 13 second-chance points to AU's 2.
  • Four players for the Mids, Zanai Barnett-Gay (22), Zoe Mesuch (13), Morgan Demos (12), and Julianna Almeida (11) finished in double-digit scoring. Almeida and Barnett-Gay topped Navy in rebounding with 11 each.  
How it Happened
  • A quick start from the Mids with a layup was answered by six straight points from American on the other end.
  • The offensive fire to kick off the game one of the best starts the Eagles have seen this season, shooting 6-of-8 to open the game, up 12-11 over Navy with five minutes left in the opening frame.
  • A layup from Rescifina with a smooth assist from Nogues had American on a 7-0 run up 19-16 and forced Tim Taylor and Navy to burn a thirty-second timeout to reset his team with two minutes left in the first.
  • Koepke finished the first with six points on 3-of-3 shooting, and Tuhy with seven; on the other end, Barnett-Gay had 10. American led by one, up 21-20, and 18 of AU's points were from down low in the paint. Navy had 11 second-chance points with seven offensive rebounds.
  • The start of the second was slower, but the Eagles and the Mids were keeping pace regardless, the teams tied at 27-all with five to play until halftime.
  • Koepke finished the first half leading the Eagles on 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, Barnett-Gay topped all players with 16 points. The Mids shot 37.8 percent through the opening half to the Eagles' 43.3 percent but only had two turnovers to AU's nine.
  • The second half opened with Navy on a 11-0 run, up 49-35 through the first three minutes of the third period to make it a double-digit lead for the Eagles to have to surmount.
  • Clawing back into it, the Eagles made it a 10-point game, down 52-42, but Kate Sampson, on three fouls, pushed that back up to 12 with a layup on the other end.
  • Quickly, it became an 18 point lead for AU to have to battle back from, down 62-44, with two and a half minutes to go in the third period. Navy outscoring American 24-9 through eight minutes.
  • With ten to go, American was down 22, 66-44. The Mids tapped out the third with 28 points on 58.8 percent shooting, going 10-of-17 from the floor.
  • The teams kept pace with each other in the fourth, each side scoring 10-points to open the fourth. With 3:50 to play, Navy led 76-54.
  • Navy held on through the final four minutes, claiming an 86-58 win over American in Bender.
On the Horizon
American will remain home and take on Lehigh on Wednesday, Feb. 11 with a scheduled 6 p.m. tipoff. Then, the squad will be out on the road to face Army in West Point on Saturday, Feb. 14.

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