Blackbirds Survive Scare to Hold Off Navy, 51-49 

(boxscore)

11/28/06 -- In what was a tale of two halves, the Long Island University women’s basketball team staved off a late Navy charge to win its fourth game in a row. After a streaky first half, the Blackbirds held on to defeat the Midshipmen by a slim 51-49 margin. Freshman Valerie Nainima (Suva, Fiji) led Long Island with 18 points.

After leading by as many as 15 points, the Blackbirds (4-3) let Navy creep back into the game. Long Island needed three free throws from Nainima down the stretch to fend off a late Navy push. With the Blackbirds leading 48-45, Navy’s Carly Meyer found Betsy Burnett under the net for a layup to cut the Long Island lead to one point. On the Blackbirds’ next trip down the court, Nainima was fouled and sank a pair of free throws to reestablish the three-point edge with 31 seconds to play.

Navy had a chance to tie it, but a three-point attempt by Meyer clanked off the rim and Ali Currier’s jumper also missed. Navy’s Kate Hobbs grabbed the rebound and deposited the ball into the hoop to cut the lead to one with three seconds left. Nainima was fouled on the next play and drained one of two foul shots. The Midshipmen tried a long pass off the inbound, but Hobbs bobbled the ball at midcourt and the clock expired.

A look at the score at halftime would not have predicted a down-to-the-wire finish, as the Blackbirds led 20-10 at the break. Long Island came out strong, jumping out to a 20-5 lead in the first eight minutes. The Blackbirds defense flustered the Midshipmen into 15 first-half turnovers and allowed only five Navy shots in the early going. Navy’s icy shooting was contagious as Long Island caught a cold streak of its own, going scoreless for the last 12 minutes of the half. Navy outscored LIU 5-0 during that span.

The scoring for both sides warmed up in the second stanza, especially for Navy’s Meyer. After going 0-for-2 in the first frame, Meyer made eight of her next nine shots to almost single-handedly put the Midshipmen back in the ballgame. Meyer finished with a game-high 23 points.

Reigning Northeast Conference Player of the Week Marquita Thompson (Garland, Texas) tallied 12 points for the Blackbirds, adding nine rebounds. Hobbs led Navy with eight boards.

Long Island will hit the road for just the second time this season, traveling to Ohio to take on Dayton on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 2:00 p.m.