ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Kennesaw State women's basketball team fell to the host Midshipmen 82-62 Saturday evening to open the Navy Classic.

"I am proud of my ladies. We have to find a new normal and we are working on it," said head coach Agnus Berenato. "I felt Amani Johnson did a tremendous job of running our team and keeping her composure. Her stats tonight were amazing. Alexis Poole came on late, but we have to find a way to get her involved early. Navy showed great grit and did an amazing job from behind the arc. We are excited to play tomorrow."

Amani Johnson, Alexis Poole and Carlotta Gianolla all finished the game in double-figures with Poole (17 points, nine rebounds) and Gianolla (10 points, eight rebounds) nearly earning double-doubles.

The Owls (4-3) gained an early 4-2 advantage thanks to jumpers from Gianolla and freshman Gillian Piccolino. Navy (4-3) took the lead back with a 6-0 run to pull ahead 8-4 with five minutes to go in the opening quarter. The Midshipmen pushed their lead to as high as 11 points, 21-10, following a three-pointer just before the final buzzer sounded. Navy scored 13 points in the final four minutes as the Owls lone bucket came courtesy of a three-pointer from Peyton Lewis at the 1:59 mark.

Navy opened the second quarter with yet another three-pointer, finishing the game 9-of-20 from beyond the arc, adding three more points before Gabi Legister netted KSU's first bucket of the quarter to make it 27-12 with 6:34 to play. The two squads traded buckets the rest of the quarter with the Owls scoring seven of the final 11 points to keep it within 15, 43-28, at the half.

Navy extended its lead in the opening minutes of the second half with a 10-2 run over the first four minutes to make it 53-30. Gianolla finally snapped the drought with a layup to spark a small 5-0 run for KSU to pull back within 20. KSU continued to cut into Navy's lead, getting it down to as low as 16, but the Midshipmen managed to respond, closing out the third quarter outscoring KSU 10-2 to lead 67-43 heading into the final frame.

Poole opened the fourth quarter with three points the hard way, but KSU could not capitalize on the momentum as the Owls went four minutes without a bucket as Navy pushed its lead to 74-48 with five minutes to play. Johnson ended KSU's drought as she and Poole combined for nine of KSU's final 13 points down the stretch. Simina Avram netted her only bucket of the night in the final seconds to keep the Owls within 20, 82-62.

Johnson finished the game with 13 points while leading the team with six assists and four steals.

KSU closes out the Navy Classic Sunday afternoon against UMBC at 1 p.m.