ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball team will conclude its busy week to start the 2020 calendar year with a home contest versus Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon. Two days after facing off with the Patriot League preseason favorites, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, Saturday's game will feature the Mids (5-7, 0-1 PL) welcoming a Crusader (8-4, 1-0 PL) team that was picked second in the preseason poll. Tip-off for Navy's Patriot League home opener is set for 4 p.m. at Alumni Hall. Saturday's game will will be streamed online via the Patriot League Network. Additionally, the game will be available over-the-air (OTA) via the Stadium TV Channel with a radio broadcast for listeners on WNAV (AM-1430, FM-99.9, 1430wnav.com). Live stats will be hosted on NavyStats.com.
Last Time Out
Navy started the Patriot League portion of its 2019-20 schedule Thursday night on the road at Lehigh University. Taking on the preseason favorite for the Patriot League, the Mids started out strong, but were held back by a 16-point advantage in favor of the Mountain Hawks during the second quarter. At the conclusion of play at Stabler Arena on Thursday, Lehigh was victorious by a score of 70-40. The Mids' effort was led by quartet of
Lindsay Llewellyn,
Laurel Jaunich,
Morgan Taylor and
Mary Kate Ulasewicz, who all tallied between seven and nine points during the contest. Llewellyn was Navy's top scorer with nine points, including a trey and a 2-2 showing at the foul line., while Jaunich was one back with eight points during a team-high 29 minutes of action. Jaunich added six rebounds and a block to her stat-line on Thursday.
The early action in Bethlehem saw the teams trade baskets for the opening five-plus minutes with each squad netting five points. Back-to-back field goals by
Montana Braxton (Sr., Cape Elizabeth, Maine) and Ulasewicz at 4:58 and 4:37 helped Navy jump out to a five-point advantage, 10-5. Lehigh had a five-point rebuttal of its own to knot the game at 10-10. On the strength of their third made three-pointer, a trey from the wing by
Nyah Garrison (Fr., Brookhaven, Pa.), the Mids went ahead 13-10 with 2:45 remaining in the quarter. From this point through the end of the period the host Mountain Hawks tallied six unanswered points.
Coming out in the second quarter trailing 16-13, Navy saw Lehigh extend that 6-0 run out to 15-0 through the 3:57 mark of the stanza. Llewellyn put an end to the Mids' 0-8 shooting effort to start the quarter with a drive along the baseline and layup. This basket invigorated Navy as the Mids they shaved four points off their deficit and made it a 26-20 game by 2:31. As part of this 5-1 run, Llewellyn made a three-pointer from the left corner before Jaunich posted up and sank a short jumper. Unfortunately for Navy, Lehigh caught fire down the stretch with a 13-0 run on the strength of 4-4 shooting, including a trio of three-pointers.
Down 39-20, Navy immediately started its comeback attempt. Taylor got the Mids off to a good start with a three from the top of the arch on their first possession. That trey kickstarted a 9-0 run with baskets by all four seniors as Ulasewicz, Jaunich and Braxton followed Taylor to make it a 39-29 game, forcing Lehigh to burn a timeout at 6:54. A little over a minute late, Taylor got Navy within nine points with a 1-2 effort at the foul line. An Emma Grothaus layup at 4:43 ended the Mountain Hawks' scoreless start to the second half. Two made free throws by Llewellyn helped Navy get its deficit into the single-digits once again at 3:21, 41-32. Just as the Mids rode a 9-0 streak get back in the game at the beginning of the quarter, the Mountain Hawks closed the quarter with a 9-0 run of their own to make it 50-32 through 30 minutes of play. Lehigh kept its foot on the offensive pedal with the first seven points of the fourth quarter to put the game. This was part of a 20-8 final quarter of play that closed the game with a 70-40 final score.
Lehigh outshot Navy, 47.2 percent (25-53) to 28.1 (16-57) from the floor and 33.3 percent (7-21) to 25.0 (5-20) from three-point range. The Mids shot 75.0 percent (3-4) from the foul line, while the Mountain Hawks were 13-23 for a 56.5 percent mark.
Navy versus Holy Cross
The Mids and Crusaders have met 65 times in a series that began on January 18, 1992 ... All-time, Holy Cross leads Navy, 43-22 with a 19-13 advantage in games played in Annapolis ... The two teams had not ever met prior to the Mids joining the Patriot League in 1991-92 ... After three Navy coaches from 1992-2008 went a combined 4-36 versus the Crusaders, Head Coach
Stefanie Pemper has righted the ship and is 18-7 in 25 career matchups ... Over the last ten matchups, Navy is 6-4 as the Mids won six straight with season sweeps during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 campaigns.
Last 5 Games:
Feb. 13, 2019 (A): Holy Cross 47 - Navy 44
Jan. 16, 2019 (H): Navy 54 - Holy Cross 47
Feb. 7, 2018 (H): Navy 62 - Holy Cross 54
Jan. 11, 2018 (A): Navy 65 - Holy Cross 58
Jan. 28, 2017 (A): Navy 73 - Holy Cross 71
Most Recent Matchup - February 13, 2019 at Worcester
Faced with a difficult matchup against a Holy Cross team that came into the day 9-2 in home games, the Navy women's basketball team faced another uphill climb on Feb. 13 as it found itself with a gameday unlike any other in its recent history. Due to a winter storm in the Northeast on Tuesday, the team was forced to start its day in Annapolis with an 8 a.m. walkthrough before jumping on a plane to Boston and bussing directly to the Hart Center. After the Mids finally arrived in Worcester they matched up with a physical Crusader squad in an extremely competitive Patriot League women's basketball game with tight back-and-forth action throughout. After the horn sounded following 40 minutes of play, the host Crusaders were three points better than the Mids with a final score of 47-44. During the course of play neither team was able to hold more than a six-point lead.
Jennifer Coleman led Navy's offensive attack with a game-high 14 points. The freshman point guard added to her stat-line with a career-high 16 rebounds. Junior
Morgan Taylor aided the Mids' effort with seven points off the bench.
After trading baskets for much of the first quarter to the tune of a 14-13 score, the second quarter in Worcester saw more of the same action continue. After Holy Cross netted the first basket of the second quarter to go up 16-13, Navy fired back with five unanswered points with Taylor adding the exclamation mark with a three-pointer at 7:54. With the Mids up 18-16, the Crusaders took the next five minutes of play by an 11-4 margin. Trailing 27-22,
Sierra Swanda got Navy back in the scoring column at 1:14 with a layup before a late three-point basket by the Mids tied the game going into the locker room, 27-27.
Coming out in the second half even, the host Crusaders immediately went up by three as they sank a trey 23 second in. That was the only basket for three minutes until Holy Cross made a layup at 6:32. Behind on the scoreboard 32-27, Taylor and Coleman shaved four points off the Mids' deficit by 5:31 before another Coleman basket put Navy back ahead, 33-32 at 4:53. The back-and-forth competition continued as Holy Cross fired back with a three-pointer 19 seconds later to make it 35-33 in its favor. In total, that trey was part of a larger 7-2 run by the Crusaders to close the third quarter.
With Holy Cross up 39-35 to start the final period of regulation play,
Laurel Jaunich made the only basket of the first four minutes as she caught a back-door screen pass from Coleman and deposited the easy layup at 7:45. Coleman tied the game for the ninth time when she collected her own rebound and beat the shot clock at 5:56. Holy Cross scored seven of the next 10 points to go up 46-42 by the 1:27 mark. Jaunich cut the Mids' deficit to two points with a layup with 52 seconds left. The Crusaders made one foul shot in the waning seconds to conclude the game with a 47-44 final score.
In the contest, Holy Cross outshot Navy, 39.6 percent (21-53) to 33.3 (19-57). Neither team had much success from three-point range or the foul line as the Crusaders shot 27.3 percent (3-11) from distance and 15.4 percent (2-13) from the charity stripe, while the Mids were 20.0 percent (3-15) from three and 37.5 percent (3-8) from the foul line.
Comparing the Teams
| (2019-20 Stats) |
Navy |
Holy Cross |
| Record |
5-7 / 0-1 PL |
8-4 / 1-0 PL |
| Home / Away / Neut. Record |
4-1 / 1-6 |
4-0 / 4-4 |
| Points Per Game |
56.0 PPG |
72.4 PPG |
| Points Allowed Per Game |
58.1 PPG |
66.4 PPG |
| Field Goal Percentage |
36.7 % |
43.5 % |
| 3-Point Percentage |
30.4 % |
43.9 % |
| Free Throw Percentage |
59.5 % |
70.7 % |
| Rebounds Per Game |
35.1 RPG |
40.9 RPG |
| Assists/Turnovers Per Game |
12.8 / 14.1 |
15.3 / 15.3 |
Individual Leaders
| (2019-20 Stats) |
Navy |
Holy Cross |
| Points Per Game |
Coleman, 10.4 PPG |
L. Manis, 18.7 PPG |
| Rebounds Per Game |
Gatzounas, 5.2 RPG |
L. Manis, 12.1, 7.3 RPG |
| Assists Per Game |
Ulasewicz, 3.5 APG |
M. Smith, 5.1 APG |
| Field Goal Percentage |
Gatzounas, 50.5 % |
M. Swords, 55.5 % |
| 3-Point Percentage |
Coleman, 40.7 % |
K. Pedi, 46.4 % |
| Free Throw Percentage |
Ulasewicz, 70.6 % |
L. Manis, 80.4 % |
Parking/Shuttle Ticket Information
Vehicle access to the U.S. Naval Academy is limited to those with a Department of Defense identification card ... It is suggested that everyone else park at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium ($5 per vehicle) and ride the free shuttle bus to and from the game ... Shuttle bus service will begin one hour prior to tip. Note that a government issued identification card must be carried and presented by visitors ages 18 and older to the USNA prior to being allowed onto The Yard.
Tickets
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth online in advance of the game at NavySports.com. The Alumni Hall Ticket Office will open one hour prior to the start of the game.
Upcoming Promotional Schedule
vs. Holy Cross | Saturday, Jan. 4 | 4pm | BOGO Day
- BOGO tickets are available to all fans!
- The first 75 fans will receive a 'Go Navy' scarf!
vs. Bucknell | Wednesday, Jan. 8 | 7pm | Winter Luau
- Think warm thoughts as we host a winter luau in Alumni Hall with special promotions and music during the game. Also, be one of the first 150 fans through the doors to receive a free lei!
- Fans dressed in Hawaiian shirts will be entered to win some great prizes throughout the game!
