Navy Women

The Navy women finally unsaddled the Holy Cross monkey.For the first time in exactly three years, Navy beat the perennial Patriot League power, overcoming a sluggish first half for an 81-74 victory at Alumni Hall yesterday."

The young Navy women's basketball team has been straining to find a victory since the season opener, and last night Christmas came early.With the defense forcing UMBC into poor shots and turnovers in the final three minutes, Navy overcame a four-point deficit to win, 50-46, at Alumni Hall and break its four-game losing streak.Senior Erica Hayes scored seven key points, and Marisa Ball knocked home a clutch jumper during a 9-0 run that cemented the outcome in the final three minutes.Hayes, who collected her 1,000th career point in her hometown of Lafayette, La., on Nov. 27, finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, and another Navy post player, Angela Marino, added a career-high 11 points.

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- Before the season, junior forward Erica Hayes said she liked the karma on the Navy women's basketball team.The vibes were hardly positive in the final month, when the Midshipmen lost four of their last six regular-season games before winning a one-point squeaker over Colgate in the Patriot League tourney opener Friday night.But last night, Hayes and her teammates were in perfect harmony, crushing host Army, 87-69, to advance to the final against Holy Cross for the second straight year.

WORCESTER, Mass. -- It's been seven-plus seasons now and the Navy women are still seeking their first Patriot League crown -- either regular-season or tournament.In recent years, any title talk has commenced with Holy Cross, and invariably that's where it has ended.Last night, those discussions were put on hold once again, when the Mids, needing a win to cling to their Patriot League regular-season championship hopes, fell to the Crusaders, 69-61, before a Hart Center crowd listed at 2,300.

If the Navy women start as slowly in their big showdown against Holy Cross on Saturday as they did last night, they might be in big trouble.Morgan State exploited the sluggishness to lead by five points at the break, but Navy regrouped at halftime and rallied to beat the Bears, 56-43, before 415 at Alumni Hall."

Credit the Navy women's basketball team with seeking the ultimate challenge.On Saturday, the Midshipmen (23-5, 10-2), who had secured a berth in the Patriot League final by whipping Lafayette, were asked whether they preferred playing four-time league champion Holy Cross or Lehigh for the title.Had Lehigh won the other semifinal, Navy would have been host to the championship game. Nevertheless, Navy's team leaders opted to play the Crusaders in Worcester, Mass., at 7: 30 tonight.It will be a formidable task.

The Navy women's basketball team, experiencing a severe case of opening-game jitters in the Patriot League tournament, overcame a horrendous first half to rout Colgate, 72-46, at Alumni Hall yesterday.The Midshipmen (22-5, 10-2) made only eight of 35 shots in the first half and missed their first 14 three-point attempts but managed to lead 23-22.Navy put it all together in the second half. The Mids shot 53 percent (20 of 38) and held Colgate without a field goal for the first five minutes to pad their lead to 32-24.

Plebe guard Felicia Harris scored 18 first-half points, helping the Navy women's basketball team to an 84-68 win over Colgate yesterday at Alumni Hall.Harris finished with a season-high 26, leading four Navy players in double figures.Colgate's full-court pressure and zone defense worked to its disadvantage, as Navy went on a 27-4 first-half run buttressed by fast break lay-ins and three-pointers."It was a team that presses full court, and us attacking that press and scoring," Navy coach Joe Sanchez said.

WORCESTER, Mass. -- One day the Navy women's basketball team will win a game at Holy Cross' campus Hart Center, where the Midshipmen have lost nine straight conference games.Maybe another time or place. But last night with a Patriot League title and NCAA bid on the line, it was too much to expect.The Crusaders, led by conference Player of the Year Amy O'Brien and the playmaking of sophomore guard Anna Kinne, displayed their usual poise under pressure in winning the championship game, 67-60, before a record women's tournament crowd of 2,730.

The Navy women's basketball team survived its poorest performance of the season to beat Bucknell, 51-41, last night and boost its Patriot League record to 5-0.The Midshipmen (15-3), who scored 21 below their season average of 72 points a game, made only 35 percent (18-for-52) of their field-goal attempts and trailed 22-20 at halftime.They took the lead early in the second half and seemed in control when junior center Laurie Coffey's layup made it 45-36 with 2: 30 remaining. But the Bison (6-11, 2-2)

Baseball Ex-National Acta receives 3-year deal to manage Indians Manny Acta, fired as the Washington Nationals manager in July after 2 1/2 seasons, was hired as manager Sunday by the Cleveland Indians, who gave him a three-year contract with a club option for 2013. Acta is the first Cleveland manager hired from outside the organization since John McNamara in 1990. The Indians chose Acta, 40, over two other known finalists: Triple-A manager Torey Lovullo and former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine, who might have eliminated himself from consideration when he arrived at his second interview last week and conceded that he not done his homework on Cleveland or the American League and wasn't sure he wanted the job. The club had planned to interview Los Angeles Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly and Los Angeles Angels bench coach Ron Roenicke this week.

Colleges Navy women's soccer player wins Patriot scholar-athlete award Two-time first-team Academic All-American Lizzie Barnes of the Navy women's soccer team was selected as the Patriot League's 2008-09 Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the league office announced Tuesday. Barnes is the third Navy women's soccer player to earn the award and is the third straight and fifth overall Navy athlete to receive the accolade. Navy's five recipients of the award are the most of any conference school.

Six players recorded hat tricks, and the Navy women's lacrosse team held visiting Saint Francis (Pa.) without a shot in routing the Red Flash, 24-0, yesterday. Erin Rawlick scored a team-high four goals, and Katrina Nietsch, Brittany Amerau, Mary Ruttum, Sarah Bushong and Kaylene Klingenstein scored three times each. The Midshipmen improved to 3-0. They have outscored their opponents 66-15 in their first three games as an NCAA Division I member. Saint Francis (Pa.) fell to 0-2. Navy scored early and often, getting its first goal, by Klingenstein, 22 seconds into the game.

With no flyovers or fireworks to mark the occasion, the Navy women's lacrosse team created its own fanfare yesterday to welcome in the Division I era of its program. Surrounded by reminders of historic naval battles whose names ring the decks of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, the Midshipmen carved out their own tiny piece of academy history as they defeated Longwood, 21-10, in their first Division I game. More than 200 fans braved the cold and fog - more than had turned out for Mids games as a club program last season.

The Navy women's basketball team held UMBC without a field goal for the final 7:10 of play and beat the host Retrievers last night, 74-56. Navy finished the game on a 12-2 run. The Mids (3-6), led by Margaret Knap with 22 points with a game-high four three-pointers, shot 56.5 from the field in the first half. Navy had a one-point advantage at the break. Navy dominated nearly every part of the game, out-rebounding the Retrievers 43-28. Also, the Mids' subs out-scored UMBC's bench 41-9.

Interim women's basketball coach Tom Marryott was promoted to head coach at the Naval Academy, athletic director Chet Gladchuk announced yesterday. Marryott, 40, led the Midshipmen to a 13-17 record against one of the toughest schedules in school history. Navy lost to four teams that advanced to postseason tournaments: Texas, Arizona, Seton Hall and Colgate. The squad became Navy's first to win at Holy Cross and ended a 13-game losing streak to Bucknell. Towson to interview 3 Towson officials will interview three candidates today for the men's coaching job - Montana coach Pat Kennedy, Clemson assistant Ron Bradley and North Carolina State assistant Larry Hunter - a source familiar with the process said yesterday.

Courtney Davidson became Navy women's basketball's all-time leading scorer last night as the Mids (13-15, 6-7 Patriot League) defeated Lafayette, 67-53, at Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa. With 1,818 points, Davidson broke the 22-year-old record of Colleen Cassidy (1,817 points from 1979 to 1982). William and Mary 53, Towson 50: Christin Gethers set a career high in points with 21, including her last four points with under two minutes to play, to power the host Tribe (10-15, 6-10 Colonial Athletic Association)

Navy women's coach Tom Marryott delivered a very simple halftime message last night - play better defense. The Midshipmen let Morgan State find too many open shots in a close first half, but that changed after Marryott's halftime words. Navy held the Bears to only six second-half baskets and ran away with an 80-47 victory at Alumni Hall in Annapolis. Morgan State (0-3) shot 52 percent in the first half and stayed close despite committing 20 turnovers. Navy (2-1) looked flat and held just a 39-30 lead at the break, and Marryott made his message very clear during halftime.

Navy scored three times in the second half to rout American, 4-1, yesterday in the women's Patriot League championship game. The victory gave Navy its first Patriot League title and its first berth in the NCAA women's soccer tournament. It also was the first NCAA berth for any Navy women's program. Navy (17-4-1) held a 1-0 lead at halftime on Amelia Sheveland's 26th-minute goal. Sheveland, the tournament's most valuable player, beat American goalkeeper Lauren Wohl one-on-one for the first of her two goals in the game.

Navy's women unleashed a 23-5 run after falling behind briefly and pulled away from UMES, 67-54, in the first round of the Navy Classic last night at Alumni Hall. The Midshipmen advanced to tonight's championship game against Winthrop, which defeated Southern Illinois, 72-65, in last night's opener. After Tekeya Gooden hit a three-pointer to give the Hawks their final lead at 45-44, UMES went more than nine minutes without a field goal, not scoring another until Navy (6-3) had the victory in hand in the waning seconds.