March 2, 2006

WEST POINT, N.Y.-Colgate outscored Navy 26-6 from the free throw line as the fifth seeded Red Raiders (9-19) knocked off the fourth seeded Midshipmen (14-14), 60-55, in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League Women's Basketball Tournament. Navy played the game without star forward Carly Meyer, who fell ill with food poisoning Thursday afternoon. Meyer, who was taken to the local hospital to receive fluids, was averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds over the last five contests.

"It is always difficult to replace a key player in the line-up, such as Carly, especially with all she has been doing lately," said Navy head women's basketball coach Tom Marryott. "I was happy with how the other players filled in, but Carly not being here changed our rotation and some of the match-ups. Some of our players had to play more minutes than they normally would have and as a result we may have been more fatigued at the end of the game than we normally would have been."

Both teams shot the ball poorly from the field as Colgate made just 15 of their 47 field goal attempts (32 percent) and four of their 13 three-point attempts (31 percent), while Navy was 22 for 67 from the floor (33 percent) and five of 19 from behind the three point arc (26 percent). The difference in the game came at the charity stripe where Colgate was 26 of 32 (81 percent) and the Mids were an abysmal six of 13 (46 percent).

Navy trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half at 46-34 with 8:14 left, but went on a 10-2 run over the next four minutes to cut the lead to four at 48-44. Colgate's Meghan Curtin answered Navy run with a three-point field goal to increase the Raiders lead to seven and a Megan Ballard lay-in made it 53-44 with 3:42 left.

Navy, however, would not give up. Trailing 57-50 with 1:12 left in the game, Ashley Pelzek drained a three-pointer to cut the lead to four and a Kate Hobbs lay-up with 28 seconds left made it 57-55. The Mids immediately fouled Caitlin Gillard, who missed the first free throw and made the second to give Colgate a 58-55 lead.

After a Navy timeout, the Mids got the ball to senior Lauren Skrel, who missed a wide-open three-point attempt that would have tied the game. Ballard made two free throws for the Raiders to provide the final margin.

Navy got a great effort from Hobbs as the junior center scored 14 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds. Junior forward Betsy Burnett added 10 points and 10 rebounds, while freshman point guard Kalen Kropa scored 11 points. Navy's senior guard tandem of Pelzek and Skrel had an off night, making just seven of 32 field goal attempts.

Colgate was led by Ballard and Melanie Cargle, who combined for 30 points and 11 rebounds. Ballard led the way with 17 points, making 13 of her 16 free throw attempts, while Cargle scored 13 points and grabbed six boards. Gretchen Polinski scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Navy finishes the year with 14 wins, the most since 2002-03, while the Mids seven Patriot League wins are the most since the 1998-99 squad won seven. It's the sixth time in the last seven years that Navy has lost in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament.

"It's always disappointing to end a season, but the team and our seniors have a lot to be proud of. Not just what they accomplished, but the way they played." said Marryott. "Tonight was another example of our resiliency. We played like that all year and our seniors deserve a lot of credit for bringing that attitude to the entire team."