ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Patriot League action continues for the Navy women's basketball team this weekend as the squad heads north to Easton, Pa. for a Saturday afternoon tilt versus Lafayette. Coming off its most complete Patriot League performance so far in 2020, the Mids (5-11, 0-5 PL) will look to carry that effort from Wednesday into Saturday's matchup at the Kirby Sports Center against a Leopard (6-9, 2-3 PL) team that is 5-2 when playing at home. The 2019 series between Navy and Lafayette saw each team win on their home court, the Leopards by 13 on Jan. 23 and the Mids by 12 on Feb. 20. Tip-off between the two clubs is set for 2 p.m. with live video streaming available on the Patriot League Network and live stats coming courtesy of Lafayette.

Last Time Out
13 days after dropping a 70-40 contest versus the Mountain Hawks on the road, the Mids came out on Wednesday with a hard-nosed attitude and an effort that had the hosts ahead going into the fourth quarter before Lehigh overtook them late for a 60-53 victory. In an extremely competitive game neither team held a lead of more than five points until Lehigh went to the foul line a handful of times in the final minute of play. Navy's senior trio of Morgan Taylor, Mary Kate Ulasewicz and Montana Braxton was at the forefront of Navy's performance on Wednesday night as they combined for 39 points and 14 rebounds. Taylor led the way with a season-high 19 points on 8-13 shooting. Additionally, she had five rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes of action. Ulasewicz also reached double figures with 11 points, six rebounds and six assists. Braxton rounded out the Class of 2020's night with a career-high nine points.

The game opened extremely even as the teams traded makes for the first 3:01 of play. With Lehigh holding a slight 7-6 advantage, Navy took its first lead when Jasmine Bishop found a cutting Taylor for an easy layup at 6:01. The tight action continued as the Mountain Hawks and Mids played out the next minute with the guests netting a pair of baskets surrounded by another Taylor field goal. The score stayed at 12-10 for over four minutes until Ulasewicz corralled an offensive rebound and immediately put up a jumper in the paint. Two baskets, one for Lehigh and one for Navy helped send the game into the first quarter break tied at 14-14.
 
The back-and-forth one-possession battle carried over into the second quarter. Lehigh took the game's first four-point lead at 5:20 when Megan Walker hit a jumper. The Mids didn't let the scoreboard stay 20-16 for long as Taylor came right down the court on the ensuing possession with a jumper in the paint. After a Camryn Buhr three-pointer at 4:45 made it a 23-18 game, Navy shutout Lehigh the rest of the half. Energized by its defense holding the Mountain Hawks to an 0-4 shooting performance and forcing four turnovers, the Mids closed out the second quarter on a 9-0 streak. Mimi Schrader sparked this run with a banked in three-pointer at 2:51.
 
Beginning the second half with the score 27-23 in favor of the Mids, the Mountain Hawks registered the first four points to knot the game by the 7:36 mark. The teams rotated made baskets for next two-plus minutes with each club adding five points to their total. Tied 32-32 at 5:02, Navy began a 7-2 run over the next 3:30 of play to obtain its largest lead of the game, 39-34. Ulasewicz put the exclamation point on this span of action with a three-pointer from the top of the arch with the shot clock flashing less than three seconds. A pair of Lehigh treys in the final 1:20 of the period helped the visitors close its deficit to just one point by the expiration of the third quarter.
 
The fourth quarter opened with Navy holding a slim one-point lead, 41-40. Similar to the third period Lehigh started with a short run of unanswered points, this time to the tune of a 6-0 stretch over 2:06. Trailing 46-41, Taylor came through again for the Mids with a three-pointer at 7:12. Navy's comeback attempt continued when Braxton found a streaking Ciera Hertelendy for a fast break layup at 6:09 to make it 47-46 Lehigh. That was as close as it would get for the Mids as the Mountain Hawks immediately answered this threat with a 5-0 run. With the clock ticking under four minutes, Navy's final push saw the host team receive four unanswered points from the duo of Braxton and Taylor to tighten the game to two points, 52-50 at 2:30. Lehigh slowly rebuilt its lead out to a game-high seven-point cushion with 42 seconds remaining. Braxton cut it to a four-point contest with her first career three-point basket, but unfortunately Navy was unable to hit either of their final two shots and Lehigh went 3-4 from the foul line to conclude the game with a 60-53 score.
 
For the game, Navy outshot Lehigh, 43.4 percent (23-53) to 38.5 (20-52), though the Mountain Hawks held advantages in both three-point 32.0 percent (8-25) to 22.7 (5-22) and foul shooting 75.0 (12-16) to 66.7 (2-3).

Navy versus Lafayette
The Mids and Leopards have met 74 times in a series that began on Feb. 16, 1980  ... All-time, Navy leads Lafayette, 52-22 with a 19-14 advantage in games played in Easton ... Prior to last season's setback at the Kirby Sports Center (Jan. 23), Navy had won seven straight contests on Lafayette's homecourt ... In her 12 seasons as head coach Stefanie Pemper is 20-5 versus Lafayette ... Over the last ten matchups, Navy is 9-1; that loss earlier last season in Easton ended a nine-game winning streak for the Mids.
     Last 5 Games:
    Feb. 20, 2019 (H): Navy 65 - Lafayette 53
    Jan. 23, 2019 (A): Lafayette 55 - Navy 42
    Feb. 14, 2018 (A): Navy 59 - Lafayette 43
    Jan. 17, 2018 (H): Navy 65 - Lafayette 59
    March 6, 2017 (H): Navy 53 - Lafayette 37 *Patriot League Quarterfinals 

Most Recent Matchup: February 20, 2019
Navy earned a win on Wednesday night versus Lafayette as it looked to jumpstart its push towards the 2019 Patriot League Tournament. Trailing 25-21 with less than a minute to play in the first half, the Mids closed the quarter on a 6-0 run to take a two-point lead into the locker room. In the second half, it was all Mids as the hosts scored 38 points and eventually pulled away for the 65-53 victory over the Leopards at Alumni Hall. 23 points from Navy's bench and eight made three-pointers led the way for the Mids in the contest. Individually, Navy had five players record nine or more points versus Lafayette. Jennifer Coleman highlighted the quintet with her eighth double-double of the season as she scored 16 points and corralled 11 rebounds. Coming off the bench, Mary Kate Ulasewicz was the second-highest scorer for Navy with a career-high 12 points on 3-3 shooting from three-point range and three made foul shots over 25 minutes of play. Sophie Gatzounas added 10 points to help the Mids' cause. 

Both teams opened the game over the first 3:30 with some success on offense as the Leopards were 3-5 from the field, while the Mids were 2-4. Trailing 6-4, Navy jumped ahead of Lafayette with a three-pointer at 6:01. Consecutive layups by Morgan Taylor and Coleman at 2:45 and 2:08 helped Navy take a seven-point lead of 15-8. The Leopards netted a pair of scores over the final 92 seconds, while the Mids countered with one, a Gatzounas jumper, to make it 17-12 game at the end of the first quarter. 
 
The visitors from Easton, Pa. started the second period off strongly as the Leopards' freshman guard Jiselle Havas made three consecutive three-pointers in a space of 2:38 to spot Lafayette a 21-17 lead by the 7:22 mark. The contest stayed at that four-point margin for over three minutes until Jasmine Bishop broke the Mids' scoreless streak at 4:02 to make it 21-19. After Lafayette re-established a four-point lead of 25-21, Navy's bench duo of Ulasewicz and Darryl Langford went back-to-back with three-pointers in the final 37 seconds to help the Mids end the half up 27-25.

Coming out of the locker room up by two, the Mids recorded five points in a matter of 31 seconds. This quick run forced the Leopards to burn a timeout. After Lafayette cut it to five at 32-27, Navy tallied five unanswered points to take a 10-point lead. As quickly as the that momentum went the way of the Mids, the Leopards were able to counter it with a 10-0 run of their own over a span of 2:36. Tied 37-37 at 5:26, Ulasewicz notched her second three-pointer of the game to help Navy re-take the lead. After the teams traded baskets to make it a 42-39 contest, Langford quickly turned it into a nine-point game with consecutive three-pointers at 2:53 and 2:04. The Mids capped the their highest-scoring quarter of the 2018-19 season with four more points to make it 52-42 after 30 minutes of play. The Mids' 25-point period was buoyed by four three-pointers and a perfect 5-5 showing at the foul line. 
 
Starting the fourth quarter up 10, Navy used seven points from the duo of Ulasewicz (4) and Coleman (3) to extend its lead to 17 at 59-42 by the 7:58 mark. The action slowed down over the next five-plus minutes as both teams scored just four points. Trailing 63-46, the Leopards scored seven of the game's last nine points to conclude the contest at 65-53.
 
For the game, Navy outshot Lafayette, 41.7 percent (25-60) to 40.7 percent (22-54). Both teams posted similar three-point marks as the Leopards were 33.3 percent (6-18) from distance versus a 30.8 mark (8-26) for the Mids. The eight made treys were the second-most by Navy this season.

Comparing the Teams

(2019-20 Stats)	Navy	Lafayette
Record / PL	5-11 / 0-5 PL	6-9, 2-3 PL
Home / Away / Neut. Record	4-4 / 1-7	5-2, 1-7
Points Per Game	53.9 PPG	54.9 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	59.8 PPG	59.5 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	36.4 %	37.6 %
3-Point Percentage	29.2 %	28.6 %
Free Throw Percentage	58.3 %	60.6 %
Rebounds Per Game	34.0 RPG	38.8 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	12.4 / 14.9	10.9 / 17.6

Individual Leaders

(2019-20 Stats)	Navy	Lafayette
Points Per Game	Taylor, 8.0 PPG	N. Kucowski, 12.9 PPG
Rebounds Per Game	Gatzounas, 4.9 RPG	N. Kucowski, 13.6 RPG
Assists Per Game	Ulasewicz, 3.4 APG	N. Kucowski, 2.2 APG
Field Goal Percentage	Gatzounas, 46.8 %	N. Kucowski, 45.1 %
3-Point Percentage	Taylor, 33.3 %	D. Freeland, 36.2 %
Free Throw Percentage	Ulasewicz, 70.6 %	N. Johnson, 81.3 %