<p>For Immediate Release
Sent Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2007
Contact Justin Kischefsky (410) 293-8772</p>
<p>Crusaders Hold Off Navy Rally in Women's Hoops</p>
<p>ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Navy sliced a 12-point deficit with five minutes to play down to just four points, but Holy Cross was able to hold off the Mids and a record-setting night by Carly Meyer (Sr., Orlando, Fla.) to post an 85-80 victory, Tuesday night in Alumni Hall.</p>
<p>Navy dropped its second-straight game to fall to 10-15 on the season and 4-7 in the Patriot League, while Holy Cross snapped a two-game skid and improved to 10-16 on the year and 5-6 within the league.</p>
<p>"It's tough to figure out," said Navy head coach Tom Marryott. "We have let ourselves down with our defense the last two games. For the longest time it was our defense that we could count on, but now it is our concern. To shoot as well as we did, make 10 three-point field goals and turn the ball over just 11 times is great, but we gave up too many easy buckets on defense."</p>
<p>Holy Cross jumped out to a 16-8 lead seven minutes into the game, but Navy soon pulled to within two points at 23-21 on a three-point field goal from Margaret Knap (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) with 7:20 left in the half. From there, Brittany O'Dell quickly scored the next eight points as the Crusaders built a 10-point lead, then she added another pair of three-pointers over the remainder of the half to help Holy Cross take a 43-30 advantage at intermission.</p>
<p>O'Dell totaled 17 points in the first half thanks to her connecting on 5-of-7 attempts from behind the three-point.</p>
<p>Navy wasn't able to pull any closer than seven points for most of the second half, but Holy Cross never saw its lead grow beyond 12 points.</p>
<p>The margin was 12 points after O'Dell made a pair of free throws with five minutes to play, but Navy quickly cut the gap down to four points with 2:23 remaining. The run began with a free throw from Lindi Conner (Jr., Kingman, Kan.) then, after a pair of free throws from Briana McFadden pushed the Holy Cross margin back to 11 points, Knap drilled another trey to pull the Mids to within eight points. O'Dell turned the ball over and Meyer was soon fouled. She made the first attempt and missed the second, but grabbed the errant carom. The possession ended successfully as Knap scored a field goal from inside of the lane to make the score 78-73 with 2:52 left to play.</p>
<p>The Crusaders turned the ball over again and fouled Meyer as she was driving to the basket. This time she missed the first attempt but made the second to bring the Mids to within four points.</p>
<p>After the teams traded field goals on their next respective possessions, the Mids thought they had forced another turnover when Conner stole the ball from Brittany Keil at halfcourt. Conner, however, was ruled to half stepped into the backcourt with the ball and, after a discussion by the officials, the ball was awarded to Holy Cross who proceeded to score on a layup from McFadden with 1:48 remaining.</p>
<p>Navy turned the ball over on its next time down the floor, but Holy Cross missed a pair of shots on its next possession and Betsy Burnett (Sr., New Holstein, Wis.) rolled in a layup for Navy with 49 seconds left to again make it a four-point game at 82-78. </p>
<p>Utilizing a press, Kalen Kropa (So., Reidsville, N.C.) appeared to have successfully cut off McFadden from driving down the side of the court, but she was called for a blocking foul and McFadden made both free throw attempts. The Mids rushed the ball down the court and Meyer made a jumper with 26 seconds remaining to again cut the deficit down to four points at 84-80. </p>
<p>The Mids fouled Ashley McLaughlin, who went to the foul line where she converted one of two free throws to make it a five-point game with 23 seconds remaining. Navy missed a pair of field goal attempts and one free throw attempt over the closing seconds to end the furious rally.</p>
<p>Meyer dominated the second half, scoring 21 of Navy's 50 points after halftime on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, 3-of-6 shooting from behind the three-point line and a 2-of-4 effort from the foul line. Meyer finished the game with 33 points to set a new career-high and break the record for the most points scored by a Mid in a Patriot League game. </p>
<p>Meyer previously scored 32 points in an overtime game last year against American to share the record with Yolanda Ray's 32-point night against Lafayette in 1993.</p>
<p>Both offenses played very well in the game to quickly leave behind the memory of the 49-39 contest played a few weeks ago in Worcester (won by Holy Cross). Navy was 10-of-19 from behind the three-point line (62.5%) this evening, while Holy Cross made 9-of-18 attempts (50%) from long range. Navy totaled 31 field goals in the game to 26 for Holy Cross, but the Crusaders made 24-of-27 attempts from the foul line while Navy was just 8-of-13 from the charity stripe. </p>
<p>The Crusaders also held a 36-29 advantage over the Mids on the glass.</p>
<p>Meyer, who also led Navy with seven rebounds in the game, was joined in double figures on the night for Navy by Knap with 18 points and Kate Hobbs (Sr., Wexford, Pa.) with 13. </p>
<p>O'Dell finished with 24 points to lead four Holy Cross players in double figures. </p>
<p>Navy will next be in action Sunday when the Mids play host to Army in the annual Star Game between the service academies. The game tips at 1 p.m. and can be seen nationally on CSTV.</p>