ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball team will conclude its brief two-game homestand with a Wednesday night contest at Alumni Hall versus the Bucknell Bison. After facing off with Lehigh and Holy Cross, two teams that were respectively picked to finish first and second in the 2019-20 Preseason Patriot League Coaches Poll, Bucknell will continue this trend as the Bison were selected to finish third overall. After a slow start in which the Bison (9-4, 2-0 PL) opened 2-3 over their first five games, they've won seven of their last eight games, including both Patriot League tilts so far. The host Midshipmen (5-8, 0-2 PL) come into Wednesday's contest looking to build off of their hard fought matchup versus Holy Cross on Saturday, in which the Mids led at halftime before being overtaken down the stretch by the Crusaders. Tip-off for Wednesday's Patriot League showdown is set for 7 p.m. The game will be streamed online via the Patriot League Network with live stats available through NavySports.com.
Last Time Out
Less than two days after taking on the Patriot League preseason favorites Lehigh on the road, the Navy women's basketball team came home on Saturday to face off with the team picked number two in the Patriot League, Holy Cross. In 40 minutes of competitive action, Navy and Holy Cross went toe-to-toe at Alumni Hall with the Mids (5-8, 0-2 PL) leading at half before the Crusaders (9-4, 2-0 PL) came from behind for a 58-49 victory.
The Mids stayed close throughout as they converted nine three-pointers during the contest with seven of those coming from the duo of
Laurel Jaunich and
Lindsay Llewellyn. Jaunich's line on Saturday consisted of a career-high 16 points and four three-pointers over 38 minutes of play, while Llewellyn tallied a personal-best 13 points and three treys.
Trailing by three, 12-9, coming out of the first quarter break, Navy immediately found its scoring touch with four makes on its first six shots. This 10-2 run over the first 2:59 of the quarter helped the Mids build up a 19-14 lead. Llewellyn was at the forefront of this effort for Navy with five points, including a three-pointer from the wing. After Holy Cross' Avery LaBarbera netted a trey of her own, the Mids fired back with five unanswered points, a Jaunich layup and a
Mimi Schrader three-pointer to give Navy its largest lead of the game of seven, 24-17. The teams traded baskets down the stretch with the Crusaders scoring five and the Mids three. Jaunich put the exclamation mark on Navy's first half effort with her third three-pointer of the game to give her 11 total points. The teams retired to the locker room with the score 27-22 for the Mids.
The second half began similar to the way the first half ended with teams finding success from long range as both Navy and Holy Cross tallied a three-pointer with the first 83 seconds. For the Mids, that trey came courtesy of Jaunich, her fourth such made field goal of the game. Of note, Jaunich came into the game shooting one of nine from three-point range for the season. From that basket at 8:27 through the 6:03 mark of the quarter the Crusaders ran off an 11-2 streak to flip the score from 30-25 in favor of Navy to 36-32 for Holy Cross. The Mids quickly cut that four-point deficit down to one with a Llewellyn three-pointer and a
Nyah Garrison offensive rebound and putback. With the score 38-37 at 3:02, Holy Cross scored the final four points of the period.
Leading 42-37 to start the fourth quarter, the visitors from Worcester, Mass. kept the game's momentum on its side with a 7-0 run to take a 12-point lead by the 7:01 point of the quarter. Later on after Holy Cross built its advantage out to 13 points, a Ulasewicz three-pointer and a pair of made free throws by
Sophie Gatzounas quickly made it 52-44 by 3:54. Two more baskets by Jaunich and Llewellyn down the stretch helped Navy keep it close with Holy Cross as the final horn sounded with the score Holy Cross 58 and Navy 49.
For the game, Holy Cross out-shot Navy, 41.5 percent (22-53) to 32.7 (18-55) from the field and 41.7 percent (5-12) to 33.3 (9-27) from three-point range. The Mids were four of six from the line (66.7 percent), while the Crusaders were nine of 17 (52.9 percent) from the charity stripe.
Navy versus Bucknell
The Mids and Bison have met 68 times in a series that began on December 5, 1981 ... The series is dotted with multiple lengthy streaks of wins and losses; overall Bucknell leads Navy 39-29 ... Over 31 games played in Annapolis the series leans towards Bucknell ever so slightly, 16-15 ... During the 39 years of competition between the squads, Navy has run off streaks of nine wins (2009-2013) and five games twice (1981-1992 / 1997-1999), while Bucknell won 13 straight (1999-2004), nine straight (2005-2009) and most recently seven straight (2015-2018) ... Over the last ten matchups, Bucknell is 9-1 versus Navy.
Last 5 Games
Feb. 27, 2019 (A): Bucknell 90 - Navy 48
Jan. 30, 2019 (H): Bucknell 77 - Navy 43
March 8, 2018 (A): Navy 68 - Bucknell 62 *Patriot League Semifinals
Feb. 21, 2018 (H): Bucknell 49 - Navy 40
Jan. 24, 2018 (A): Bucknell 47 - Navy 37
Most Recent Matchup - Feb. 27, 2019 in Lewisburg
Faced with the prospect of slowing down the Patriot League's top-scoring women's basketball team, the Bucknell Bison on the road, Navy was up for the task early on Feb. 27 before a lengthy 25-0 run over the end of the first quarter and the majority of the second put the Bison handedly in the lead for good on their way to a 90-48 victory. One of the top-20 three-point shooting teams in the NCAA, Bucknell was dangerous from deep on Wednesday night at Sojka Pavilion as the Bison hit 52.0 percent of their shots in their home arena versus Navy.
The teams traded baskets early on in the matchup as
Jennifer Coleman's second field goal in a span 2:55 knotted the game at four-all. Four made free throws in quick succession expanded the Bison's lead out to 8-4 before Coleman connected for her third basket as many tries. With the score 11-8 in favor of Bucknell, Coleman continued her fast start with a layup in transition at 3:58 to tighten it to a one-point margin at 11-10. The Bison tallied five of the next seven points to go up 16-12 with 3:01 left in the first quarter. On the strength of a 5-0 run over the final 30 seconds, the host Bison took a 23-16 lead into the first quarter intermission.
Bucknell extended its run out to 18-0 with 13 quick unanswered points over the first 3:56 of play in the second quarter. The top-scoring team in the Patriot League kept its foot on the pedal and expanded its lead out to 27 points at 43-16 by 4:09. Navy outscored the hosts down the stretch with seven of the final nine points of the first half.
Coming out of the locker room with the score 45-23, Bucknell kept knocking down shots at a break-neck pace as the Bison made five of its first eight shots over the opening 4:02 of the quarter. Trailing 56-23,
Sophie Gatzounas deposited her second field goal of the game at 5:29. Coleman continued holding onto her title of the game's leading scorer with five points in a matter of 41 seconds with a jumper at 2:02 and a triple at 1:21. Bucknell closed out its victory with a 26-point fourth quarter to win by a score of 90-48.
For the game, Bucknell outshot Navy from the field, 54.4 percent (31-57) to 28.6 (18-63) and 52.0 percent (13-25) to 20.0 (4-20) from three-point range. The Bison also held a 71.4 percent (15-21) to 61.5 percent (8-13) edge at the foul line. Coleman made three of the Mids' four treys on Wednesday night.
Comparing the Teams
| (2019-20 Stats) |
Navy |
Bucknell |
| Record |
5-8 / 0-2 PL |
9-4 / 2-0 PL |
| Home / Away / Neut. Record |
4-2 / 1-6 |
4-1 / 3-3 / 2-0 |
| Points Per Game |
55.5 PPG |
64.2 PPG |
| Points Allowed Per Game |
58.1 PPG |
57.6 PPG |
| Field Goal Percentage |
36.5 % |
42.0 % |
| 3-Point Percentage |
30.7 % |
35.7 % |
| Free Throw Percentage |
59.8 % |
74.9 % |
| Rebounds Per Game |
34.8 RPG |
32.5 RPG |
| Assists/Turnovers Per Game |
12.8 / 14.0 |
11.6 / 11.9 |
Individual Leaders
| (2019-20 Stats) |
Navy |
Bucknell |
| Points Per Game |
Coleman, 10.4 PPG |
E. Mack, 14.6 PPG |
| Rebounds Per Game |
Gatzounas, 5.3 RPG |
E. Mack, 7.3 RPG |
| Assists Per Game |
Ulasewicz, 3.3 APG |
M. Walls, 3.2 APG |
| Field Goal Percentage |
Gatzounas, 46.9 % |
E. Mack, 50.3 % |
| 3-Point Percentage |
Coleman, 40.7 % |
E. Mack, 39.2 % |
| Free Throw Percentage |
Ulasewicz, 70.6 % |
T. Brugler, 83.0 % |
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. 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!
