Aug. 9, 2006

Complete 2006-07 Schedule in PDF Format
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Navy women's basketball head coach Tom Marryott announced the program's 2006-07 schedule today, a slate of games which has the Mids spending much of the early portion of the campaign on the road but ending the season by playing host to the Patriot League Tournament.

The Mids return three starters, nine letterwinners and 11 players from last year's team which posted a 14-14 overall record and placed fourth in the Patriot League with a mark of 7-7 during the league season.

"This is one of the most challenging and diverse non-league schedules we have put together," said Marryott who is entering his fourth season as the program's head coach. "These opponents will challenge us during every outing and help prepare us for our always difficult Patriot League schedule."

After playing seven of its 13 non-league games at home last year, the Mids will take to the road for 10 of its 15 non-conference matchups this season. The new season begins for the Mids Nov. 10 at Ohio, with the home opener against Marshall slated to be played two days later in Alumni Hall.

The Mids then begin a stretch of four road games in their next five contests, starting with a pair of games at the Seton Hall Tournament Nov. 17-18. Pairings have not been set for the tournament, but the Mids and the Pirates will be joined at the event by Howard and Massachusetts. Navy returns home the next weekend for a Nov. 25 game against Mount St. Mary's, then takes to the road again for games Nov. 28 at Long Island and Dec. 1 at Saint Francis (Pa.).

After playing host to Georgetown Dec. 4 in Alumni Hall, the first meeting between the Mids and the Hoyas in 14 years, Navy will play just one home game over a span of seven games and four weeks. The Mids will stay local for the first of those games Dec. 6 when Navy makes the short drive to play at UMBC before playing Dec. 18 at North Carolina A&T and Dec. 20 at Charleston Southern. The Mids will play a third game in five days Dec. 22 when Navy plays host to Air Force in the program's final game prior to the holidays.

The Mids then close out their pre-conference slate of games with contests Dec. 29 at Marquette and Jan. 2 at Stetson.

The Patriot League season begins for the Mids Jan. 6 when Navy plays at Bucknell, with back-to-back home games slated for Jan. 9 against Lehigh and Jan. 13 against Lafayette.

Navy's third and final stretch of three-straight road games this season is next up for the Mids, with games scheduled for Jan. 16 at Holy Cross, Jan. 20 at Army and Jan. 23 at American. Those trio of games will be followed by three-straight games at home when the Mids take on Colgate (Jan. 27), Winston-Salem State (Jan. 30) and Bucknell (Feb. 3).

After making a pair of trips to the Lehigh Valley in a span of five days for games Feb. 6 at Lehigh and Feb. 10 at Lafayette, Navy will conclude the home portion of its season with games Feb. 13 against Holy Cross, Feb. 18 against Army and Feb. 20 against American. The middle game of this final homestand will serve as the Star Game between the two service academies.

Navy will close its regular season Feb. 24 at Colgate.

Alumni Hall will serve as the host site for all four quarterfinal games and both semifinal games of the women's Patriot League Tournament. The quarterfinal contests will be played March 3, with the semifinal games slated for the following day.

"It is a great honor for the Naval Academy to have been chosen as the host school for this year's Patriot League Tournament," said Marryott. "I cannot think of a finer venue than Alumni Hall and Annapolis to serve as this year's host."

The championship game of the postseason will once again be played at the highest-seeded team playing in the title tilt, which is scheduled to be played March 7.

2006-07 Schedule Notes
* The Mids will open the Patriot League regular season against Bucknell for the eighth time in Navy's 16 seasons as a league member. In addition to the eight games against the Bison, the Mids have opened their league seasons against Army and Lehigh three times apiece and versus both Lafayette and Holy Cross once.

* Alumni Hall has previously been the host site for the Patriot League Tournament in 1994, '98 and 2001. Navy has posted a 3-2 record in league tournament games played in Alumni Hall.

* Navy is guaranteed to play at least 30 games this season (15 non-conference games, 14 league regular season games, at least one game in the league tournament). In only one other year during Navy's previous 28 seasons have the Mids played 30 games (2003-04).

* Navy's season-opening game Nov. 10 at Ohio will mark the earliest opening to a campaign in school history. The Mids previously played their earliest opening game to a year on Nov. 13, 1998. The Mids will have played two games by that date this year.

* Navy will play three-straight games away from home three times this season, while playing three-straight home games twice.

* The Mids posted a 2-2 record in games during the 2005-06 season against non-conference teams who also appear on Navy's 2006-07 schedule. Navy defeated Long Island and North Carolina A&T last year, while losing to Mount St. Mary's and UMBC.

* Four of Navy's opponents have first-year head coaches: Sylvia Crawley, Ohio; Julie Goodenough, Charleston Southern; Dee Stokes, Winston-Salem State; Dave Magarity, Army.

* Three of Navy's non-conference opponents appear on the schedule for the first time (Marquette, Massachusetts and Winston-Salem State), while four foes have previously faced the Mids only once (Marshall, Ohio, Seton Hall, Stetson).

* Navy has faced UMBC 21 times in its history, the most games against one opponent appearing on this season's schedule.

* It has been at least a decade since the Mids last faced 2006-07 opponents Georgetown (14 years), Howard (12) and Charleston Southern (11), and nearly that long since last playing Saint Francis (nine years).

* Navy's 10 non-conference road games will be played in nine different states: Florida (Stetson), Maryland (UMBC), New Jersey (Seton Hall Tournament, two games), New York (Long Island), North Carolina (North Carolina A&T), Ohio (Ohio), Pennsylvania (Saint Francis), South Carolina (Charleston Southern), Wisconsin (Marquette).

* Navy's trip to Marquette will mark the first time the Mids will play a game in the state of Wisconsin, with Wisconsin also becoming the 31st state Navy will have played a game in.

* Navy's non-conference foes hail from 10 different conferences: America East (UMBC), Atlantic Sun (Stetson), Atlantic 10 (Massachusetts), Big East (Georgetown, Marquette, Seton Hall), Big South (Charleston Southern), Conference USA (Marshall), Mid-American (Marshall), Mid-Eastern Athletic (Howard, North Carolina A&T), Mountain West (Air Force), Northeast (Long Island, Mount St. Mary's, Saint Francis). In addition, Winston-Salem State is competing this season as an independent.

2006-07 Schedule
(as of August 9 and subject to change)
November
10 at Ohio (7 p.m.)
12 vs. Marshall (2 p.m.)
17-18 at Seton Hall Tournament (Howard, Massachusetts, Navy, Seton Hall)
25 vs. Mount St. Mary's (2 p.m.)
28 at Long Island (7 p.m.)

December
1 at Saint Francis (Pa.) (7 p.m.)
4 vs. Georgetown (5 p.m.)
6 at UMBC (7 p.m.)
18 at North Carolina A&T (7 p.m.)
20 at Charleston Southern (5 p.m.)
22 vs. Air Force (5 p.m.)
29 at Marquette (8 p.m. EST/7 p.m. CST)

January
2 at Stetson (7 p.m.)
6 at Bucknell (4 p.m.)
9 vs. Lehigh (7 p.m.)
13 vs. Lafayette (1 p.m.)
16 at Holy Cross (7 p.m.)
20 at Army (3:15 p.m.)
23 at American (7 p.m.)
27 vs. Colgate (1 p.m.)
30 vs. Winston-Salem State (7 p.m.)

February
3 vs. Bucknell (1 p.m.)
6 at Lehigh (7 p.m.)
10 at Lafayette (4 p.m.)
13 vs. Holy Cross (7 p.m.)
18 vs. Army (1 p.m.)
20 vs. American (7 p.m.)
24 at Colgate (1 p.m.)

March
3-4, Patriot League Tournament, Annapolis, Md. (TBA)
7, Patriot League Championship (TBA)