Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Leopards overcame a cold shooting first quarter to stage a furious comeback in Alumni Hall, but the attempt came up just short as Navy downed Lafayette by a final score of 65-59.

The Leopards (7-10, 3-4 PL) struggled to knock down their shots in the opening quarter, shooting 33 percent from the floor. Navy (15-3, 5-2 PL) came out hot, shooting at a 57 percent clip in the opening period to build an 11-point lead by the end of the first quarter. Lafayette battled back over the rest of the contest, holding the Midshipmen to six points in the third quarter and pulled within three points in the fourth, but the early deficit proved too much in the end.

Navy came out firing from deep over the first seven minutes of the contest, knocking down three treys in the early goings. Taylor Dunham opened the scoring for the Mids with a three, which Anna Ptasinski answered two possessions later with a triple of her own. Following Ptasinski's make, Navy went on an 8-2 run to put the Leopards down 13-6 at the media timeout. The Mids continued to find the bottom of the basket over the final three minutes, outscoring Lafayette 8-4 the rest of the way. Sammy Stipa had the final say for the Maroon and White in the quarter, knocking down a pull up jumper to close out the scoring.

Down 21-10 to start the second quarter, Lafayette was more aggressive to start the period as the Maroon and White outscored the Mids 7-4 over the first 3:13. Alexis Santarelli got things started with a jumper, and Olivia Martino added a three before drawing a foul and knocking down both of her attempts from the charity stripe. Navy responded with a 7-0 run to head into the media timeout at the five minute mark up 32-17. The Leopards added baskets from Martino and Santarelli before the end of the quarter, but Navy continued to hit its shots and Lafayette entered the halftime break down 40-21.

Lafayette found its shooting stroke in the third quarter while coming alive on defense to hold Navy to six points during the period. The Leopards grabbed the first two baskets of the quarter, with Stipa slashing to the hoop for a lay-in and Ptasinski added a three to bring the score to 40-26. The midshipmen continued to struggle to score and Lafayette's defense ratcheted down to force them into going 2-for-15 (13%) from the floor. The Maroon and White cut the deficit to ten by the end of the quarter on a jumper from Santarelli to head into the final stanza down 46-36.

The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair as the Leopards staged a comeback attempt. The Maroon and White came out firing to start the quarter, scoring the first seven points of the period as a triple from Ptasinski pulled Lafayette within three, 46-43. That was as close as the Leopards would get as the teams traded buckets the rest of the way. A trey from Freeland brought the Leopards within five with 47 seconds to play, but they couldn't complete the comeback as the Midshipmen knocked down their free throws to hand the Maroon and White a 65-59 loss.

Ptasinski led the Leopards with 15 points and seven rebounds. Santarelli finished in double figures as well, adding 12 points off the bench. The Maroon and White won the battle on the boards 38-34 and outshot the Midshipmen, 37 percent to 36.

The Leopards return home for their next contest on Saturday, when American visits Kirby Sports Center for a 2 p.m. showdown.