ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball team will celebrate its Class of 2020 on Saturday night before turning its attention to a Lafayette club that comes into the matchup aiming to cement its spot in the top-four of the upcoming Patriot League postseason tournament. The Mids (7-20, 2-14 PL) will be looking to avenge an earlier 79-52 loss that they suffered on road in Easton as the Leopards (14-12, 10-6 PL) turned a one-point lead at halftime into a comfortable win on January 18. Lafayette struggles away from home as illustrated by its 4-9 mark in road contests in 2019-20. Prior to the 7:05 tip-off, the Mids will honor the Senior Class of Montana Braxton, Laurel Jaunich, Morgan Taylor and team captain Mary Kate Ulasewicz with a brief ceremony beginning at 6:45 p.m. at center court of Alumni Hall. Student assistant Taj Middleton will also be recognized for his contributions to the program alongside his fellow seniors. Saturday's game action will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network with live stats available through NavySports.com. The Navy-Lafayette game is presented by First Command.

The Class of 2020
Since beginning their journey on the hardwood in the fall of 2016, the Senior Class has been apart of 66 overall wins and 34 victories in Patriot League action as members of the Navy women's basketball team. Starting with the two winningiest seasons in program history, the Class of 2020 participated in back-to-back WNIT postseason tournaments. As freshman in the 2017 WNIT event, these Midshipmen won the first-ever postseason game in Navy Women's Basketball history with a 61-51 overtime win at George Washington. They followed up that postseason success the next season when the Mids nearly knocked off the Hokies of Virginia Tech in the first round of the 2018 WNIT, falling 56-55 in Blacksburg. Fast forward to the 2019-20 season when this year's squad entered its name in the program record books with the first-ever victory over an ACC school when Navy defeated Clemson on the road, 65-52. Three members of the Class of 2020 will be commissioned in May as 2nd LT in the Marine Corps: Ulasewicz and Taylor (Marine Corps Ground) and Braxton (Marine Corps Cyber Warfare), while two more will be commissioned as Ensigns in the Navy: Jaunich (Submarines) and Middleton (Surface Warfare).

Last Time Out
The Navy women's basketball team was unable to overcome a combined 37-23 advantage by Loyola during the middle quarters of play even as team captain Mary Kate Ulasewicz went for 13 individual points in the fourth quarter during a valiant comeback attempt at Reitz Arena on Wednesday. The Mids played the Greyhounds nearly even during the first quarter before Ulasewicz' effort helped Navy outscore Loyola by seven points in the fourth. Following 40 minutes of action the score was Loyola 64 - Navy 54. Ulasewicz finished the game with 26 points on 10-of-15 field goal shooting and a six-of-nine performance from three-point range. She was joined in double-figures by Jennifer Coleman, who tallied 11 points and three assists in 21 minutes off of the bench.

Loyola jumped out to a 8-0 lead over Navy as the hosts held the Mids to an 0-6 start from the field and four turnovers. Ulassewicz ended that cold start as she squared up and hit a three-pointer from the top of the arc at 4:19. Navy found success from distance once again as Sophie Gatzounas sank a trey the next time down the court. Coleman made it three three-pointers in as many trips as she swished a three at 2:41 to draw the Mids within four, 13-9. Navy's comeback continued as a free throw by Coleman and a jumper by Ulasewicz made it a 13-12 game with under two minutes to go.
 
Coming out in the second quarter with the score 15-12 in favor of Loyola, the contest stayed at that one-possession margin for the first four-plus minutes as Navy came as close as two, 19-17 when Coleman went one-for-two from the foul line at 6:13. From that point on, Loyola scored six unanswered points to build out an eight-point lead, 25-17 by the 4:13 mark. The Greyhounds continued knocking down shots as they closed out the period with seven of the final 11 points to take a 32-21 lead into the halftime intermission. Montana Braxton netted both of Navy's final two baskets of the quarter. For the stanza, Loyola shot 50.0 percent (8-16) from the field and ultimately outscored Navy, 17-9.
 
Trailing by 11 to start the second half, the Mids cut their deficit into single-digits early when Ulasewicz hit her second three-pointer of the contest to make 34-26. The Mids' team captain helped draw her squad even closer with another trey next time down the court. With the score 36-29 at 7:37, Loyola tallied the next nine points over a span of 2:55 to build its lead out to 16. Morgan Taylor was the catalyst in stopping the run with a jumper at 2:31. Just over a minute later, Coleman found a streaking Gatzounas for a transition layup to make it 48-35. Loyola ended the quarter by scoring the final four points over 51 seconds.
 
Navy looked to get back in the game with three straight baskets over its first four possessions, unfortunately for the visitors their six points were mirrored by six points from Loyola. The back-and-forth play continued until Ulasewicz caught fire with three three-pointers in a span from 3:36 through 1:51 to make it a 64-52 game. She completed her lights-out fourth quarter with a driving layup with 30 seconds to go and conclude the matchup with a 64-54 final score. In total, she closed the game by hitting five of her final six three-point attempts and seven of her last eight field goal tries. She netted 13 of Navy's 19 overall points in the fourth quarter.
 
For the game, Navy was outshot from the field 47.1 percent (24-51) to 41.5 percent (22-53), 42.9 percent (6-14) to 33.3 (8-24) from three-point range and 66.7 percent (10-15) to 50.0 (2-4) from the free throw line.

Navy versus Lafayette
The Mids and Leopards have met 75 times in a series that began on Feb. 16, 1980  ... All-time, Navy leads Lafayette, 52-23 with a 32-7 advantage in games played in Annapolis ... The Mids have been victorious in each of the last six Navy-Lafayette matchups played in Annapolis ... In her 12 seasons as head coach Stefanie Pemper is 20-6 versus Lafayette ... Over the last ten matchups, Navy is 8-2; with just two road losses in Easton to its name during that stretch (Jan. 23, 2019 and Jan. 18, 2020).
    Last 5 Games:
    Jan. 18, 2020 (A): Lafayette 79 - Navy 52
    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

Most Recent Matchup ~ January 18 in Easton, Pa.
In a game with two very different halves, the Navy women's basketball team was unable to respond to Lafayette's hot-shooting second half as it fell by a score of 79-52 at the Kirby Sports Center on Saturday afternoon. After an even first half in which the Leopards took a scant 31-30 lead into the locker room, the Mids could not recreate that performance in the second 20 minutes as the hosts shot 66.7 percent from the field and 75.0 percent from three-point range on their way to victory. Mary Kate Ulasewicz stood out for Navy on Saturday as the team captain led the Mids in points with 14, three-point field goals with four and assists with three over 30 minutes of action. Morgan Taylor and Montana Braxton backed up their fellow senior's effort as Taylor tallied nine points and seven rebounds, while Braxton notched eight points and three rebounds.

After Lafayette scored on its first possession of the game, Navy came down and netted seven points the first three times it had the ball. Ulasewicz spearheaded this fast offensive start with five points over the initial 1:35 of play. With the score 7-2, the Leopards came down the court 15 seconds later and pulled it to within two points with a trey. Ulasewicz' scorching effort continued as she answered Lafayette's three-point basket with one of her own 32 seconds later to make it 10-5 at 7:38. Navy's offense hit a cold stretch over the next three-plus minutes as Lafayette crept back on the scoreboard. The Mids scored just five points the rest of the quarter. Down 15-12, the host Leopards closed the first quarter with baskets on its final two possessions to take a 16-15 lead at the break.
 
The tight back-and-forth action continued in the second quarter as the teams were tied or within one possession of each other for the first five minutes. Navy scored nine points during this portion of the period, while Lafayette countered with eight. The duo of Taylor (5) and Braxton (4) scored all nine points for the Mids. After a Braxton jumper tied the game at 24-24 at 5:49, the Leopards went 4-4 at the foul line over their next two possessions. Navy kept grinding away as Braxton found the bottom of the basket next time down the floor. Over the closing 2:08 of the period, the Mids held the Leopards to just one make, a Drew Freeland three-pointer, while their offense was aided by a pair of success Lindsay Llewellyn shots.
 
Coming out of the locker room following halftime with the score, 31-30 the teams found their offensive flow early with makes on each of their initial possessions. Lafayette continued that fast start with six unanswered points to take its then-largest lead of the game at seven points, 39-32 by the 6:41 mark of the third quarter. Following a timeout, the Leopards kept streaking to the tune of an eventual 11-0 run. A three-pointer by Ulasewicz and a jumper by Maggie Moore helped the Mids cut further into their deficit as they trailed by just seven, 44-37 at 5:00. Ulasewicz tried willing her team back into the game, but she netted Navy's only field goal for the final five minutes of the period, a three-pointer at 3:07. During this offensive lull for the Mids, the Leopards were able to score 14 points to take a 58-40 lead into the final quarter intermission.
 
Navy's cold second half carried over into the fourth quarter as the Mids made just one of its first four field goal attempts. This hindered the visitor's comeback attempt as the Leopards added three points to their lead to go up 64-43 before Mimi Schrader fought her way into the box score with a jumper off the glass at 5:51. Three-pointer shooting was the common theme of the next three-plus minutes with Lafayette tallying a trio of treys. Nyah Garrison scored the last four points of the game for the Mids over the final 1:40 of play.
 
In the 79-52 victory, Lafayette outshot Navy, 52.9 percent (27-51) to 36.8 (21-57) from the field, as well as from three-point range, 43.5 percent (10-23) to 30.0 (6-20) and the foul line, 88.2 percent (15-17) to 57.1 (4-7). As a team, the Leopards shot 66.7 percent (16-24) from the field and 75.0 percent (6-8) from three-point range in the second half as they pulled away from the Mids.

Comparing the Teams

(2019-20 Stats)	Navy	Lafayette
Record / PL	7-20 / 2-14 PL	14-12 / 10-6 PL
Home / Away / Neut. Record	6-7 / 1-13	10-3 / 4-9
Points Per Game	52.8 PPG	57.5 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	59.7 PPG	57.2 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	35.9 %	38.1 %
3-Point Percentage	28.6 %	30.8 %
Free Throw Percentage	63.5 %	66.6 %
Rebounds Per Game	32.6 RPG	37.9 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	12.0 / 14.6	11.7 / 15.1

Individual Leaders

(2019-20 Stats)	Navy	Lafayette
Points Per Game	Ulasewicz, 10.4 PPG	N. Kucowski, 13.6 PPG
Rebounds Per Game	Taylor, 5.0 RPG	N. Kucowski, 12.9 RPG
Assists Per Game	Ulasewicz, 3.3 APG	N. Kucowski, 2.5 APG
Field Goal Percentage	Gatzounas, 46.1 %	N. Kucowski, 44.0 %
3-Point Percentage	Ulasewicz, 34.0 %	S. Sabino, 36.7 %
Free Throw Percentage	Ulasewicz, 81.8 %	N. Johnson, 78.5 %

Upcoming Promotional Schedule

vs. Lafayette | Saturday, February 29 | 7pm | Senior Night presented by First Command

• Help us celebrate the Class of 2020 with a special Senior Night ceremony beginning at 6:45 PM
• First Command is the game sponsor and will be giving away limited edition "Class of 2020" coins to the first 100 fans in attendance at Alumni Hall

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.