Someone forgot to give the AU freshmen on the women's basketball team the memo: Tuesday night was Senior Night. The frosh mob of Tish Curry, Talicia Jackson, Sahar Nusseibeh, Nicole Ryan and Pam Stanfield turned Tuesday's celebration of the veterans into a coming-out party for the first-year Eagles in an 89-81 overtime victory over Patriot League-rival Navy.
The Eagles (7-19, 4-9 PL) were led by the inside dominance of Tish Curry (21 points, 18 rebounds) and Nusseibeh (24 points, five rebounds). Stanfield also had a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists as she ran a very controlled offense. Jackson popped in 15 points, including two huge 3-pointers that gave the Eagles the lead twice.
"We played confidently tonight," AU coach Melissa McFerrin said. "We played inspired basketball, and these freshman came out hot and played a great game to get our seniors a win."
The Eagles started out slowly, falling behind 29-18 to the scorching Midshipmen (13-13, 6-7), who hit six 3-pointers in the first 13 minutes of action to bury the Eagles early. After a Carly Meyer 3 gave Navy the 11-point lead, Jackson's 3-pointer ignited a 9-0 run that pulled the Eagles within two. They were down three at halftime.
At halftime, someone turned on a switch in Nusseibeh, who went into the break with only six points, but came out with an amazing 18 after break.
"I came out in the second half just looking to be more of a scorer and play more aggressively," Nusseibeh said.
She teamed with Curry to form a deadly high-post, low-post combination that tag-teamed against the bigger, slower Middies.
"Sahar and I needed to come back tonight and step up after a rough game [Saturday]," said Curry, who pulled down the most boards (18) for any AU player since 1996. "We complemented each other well tonight."
Down the stretch in the second half, the Eagles and Middies traded baskets until they were tied with less than a minute left. AU ran its weave play, but was unable to get a shot off as Stanfield got tied up shooting, and Navy was unable to get a shot off before time expired, sending the game to overtime.
"I told the team in that timeout that we were going to win that game with defense and rebounding," McFerrin said. "This team doesn't lose close games, and we knew we had them in a good position."
AU opened the overtime with a three-point play by Nusseibeh. Meyer tied the game with a layup with two minutes left and AU took over looking for a lead. After a deflection, the Eagles inbounded from under their own basket. Curry threw to Ryan, who had been cold all day, missing her first four shots. But, on number five, she sank a huge 3-pointer to put the Eagles up for good.
"We had an offensive possession, and Nicole's our best shooter, so we ran a play for her and she came off a screen and hit a huge shot," said McFerrin of the biggest play of the game.
After that, Stanfield hit a huge three-point play. The Eagles, who have struggled from the free-throw line all year, hit eight free throws down the stretch to seal the game. All of the free throws were shot by freshmen.
"Lately, we've had to create our own opportunities and make our breaks," said Talicia Jackson. "We shot the ball well tonight and it's just a great win for us."
Jackson has been one of the few bright spots for AU in an otherwise disappointing year. She has worked her way from the end of the bench to a started who's playing 35 minutes a night and dominating on the perimeter and defensive end.
"It feels good because I worked so hard to get into the rotation and it's a nice opportunity to have," said the freshman who played the game in front of her family, who was in from Minneapolis.
The game marked the final Bender Arena contest for seniors Alicia Zorzetto and Tala Hadavi, both of whom played two minutes and didn't score. Hadavi saw her first action since hurting her knee two weeks ago.
"I asked this team to step up tonight and play with passion and win one for our seniors," McFerrin said. "This was a very emotional night for us and I'm glad we could come out with a victory."
The Eagles dished out a season-high 22 assists on a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. They also shot 48 percent from the field and 68 percent from the free-throw line, both well above their season averages.
While Tuesday may have started out about the AU seniors, five freshman stole the show early, and often. This year may not have turned out to be what McFerrin and company had hoped, but the future appears to be a little better.
"These girls are the new face of AU women's basketball," McFerrin said. "And tonight that face had a big-old smile on it"
