Coming so close to ultimate victory and then losing, especially more than once, could either kill a team’s spirits or light the fire underneath them.
For Navy, though, it’s neither. The runner-up in the Patriot League finals for the last two years is always burning.
“They, I think, have a fire lit under them kind of all the time. To play well, represent Navy women's basketball well,” head coach Stefanie Pemper said. “Our program has had a lot of success in the last 10 years, and I think they take a lot of pride in that.