In its final regular season game of the year, the AU women’s basketball team defeated Navy 69-44 on Wednesday night at Bender Arena to earn a share of its second straight Patriot League title with Bucknell.
AU (20-9, 16-2 PL) jumped out to a 16-13 lead at the end of the first quarter and then pulled away to a 32-20 lead at the half.
In the second half, AU put the game out of reach, shooting 56.5 percent en route to outscoring the Midshipmen 37-24.
Senior forward Cecily Carl, who was recently named Patriot League Player of the Year, had another impressive performance, posting her ninth 20-point performance of the season. The difference in the game, however, was the performance of AU’s bench, as the AU reserves outscored Navy’s reserves 25-4.
“When Indeya [Sanders] and [Emily Fisher] come off the bench, they bring so much energy, and it really gets everyone moving and shaking,” said head coach Megan Gebbia
AU swept its season series against Navy. Jennifer Coleman led the way for the Midshipmen, scoring 25 of its 44 points.
AU shot 49 percent from the field and held Navy to 44 points for the game, but Gebbia still voiced her concerns regarding the early fouls committed by her team.
“Foul trouble was still an issue for us … so moving forward we know it’s really big to keep our feet moving and get our hands off people,” Gebbia said.
AU’s next contest will come in the Patriot League quarterfinal against Lafayette on Monday night at Bender. The team enters the tournament ranked number two in the conference after losing its season series with Bucknell.
“I feel really good about the place we are in…, obviously we’ve got a tough game coming up here,” Gebbia said. “[Lafayette] is a really good inside team, so we’ve got to work a lot on our post defense.”
