ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball team will begin 2020 postseason action on Saturday with a Patriot League Tournament First Round game against the American Eagles. In a rematch of Wednesday's season-ending contest, the tenth-seeded Mids (7-22, 2-16 PL) will go head-to-head versus the seventh-seeded Eagles (12-16, 8-10 PL) at Bender Arena in Washington, D.C. After holding a lead into the third quarter on Wednesday night, Navy will look to reverse its final outcome that saw it drop the road tilt, 57-42. The winner of Saturday's first round game will advance to play the second-seeded Boston University Terriers on Monday night in Boston. The action between the Mids and Eagles will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network, as well as over the radio waves in Annapolis on WNAV AM-1430, FM-99.9.

This regular season conclusion followed by an immediate rematch in the Patriot League Tournament pattern has occurred six previous times for the Mids ...
    2011 (Feb. 26 & March 5: Away/Home with Colgate) 
    2010 (Feb. 27 & March 5: Home/Neutral with Colgate) 
    2006 (Feb. 25 & March 2: Home/Neutral with Colgate)
    2005 (Feb. 26 & March 3: Home/Neutral with American) 
    1999 (Feb. 20 & Feb. 26: Away/Neutral with Colgate)
    1993 (Feb. 27 & March 2: Away/Away with Fordham)

Navy in the Patriot League Tournament
The Mids' 29th appearance in the Patriot League Tournament kicks off on Saturday against a familiar opponent as they have played the American University Eagles seven times prior ... Navy has only played Bucknell (nine times) and Holy Cross (nine) more frequently in the postseason ... All-time, the Eagles hold a 5-2 advantage over the Mids in Patriot League Tournament ... Most recently, Navy and American faced off in the finals of the 2018 tournament; AU won 58-48 ... Overall in 51 games in the Patriot League Tournament, Navy is 26-25.

Last Time Out
The 2019-20 regular season wrapped up for the Navy women's basketball team on Wednesday night with a 57-42 loss on the road at American University. Holding a 34-26 lead half way through the third quarter, the Mids ran into a stiff Eagles' defense that allowed just eight total points over the final 16-plus minutes of action at Bender Arena. This stretch of play allowed American to pull ahead and eventually away for the 15-point victory.

Mary Kate Ulasewicz spearheaded Navy's offense with 15 points on Wednesday night. The Mids' team captain knocked down three three-pointers, while going 4-4 from the free throw line in 35 minutes of play.

Offense was hard to come by during the early portion of the contest at Bender Arena as it was just 2-2 through the first four minutes of the game. The Eagles hit their stride first as the hosts scored 10 of the next 12 points to grab a 12-4 lead by the 2:52 mark of the first period. The three-ball helped Navy get back in the game immediately with consecutive three-pointers from Ulasewicz and Lindsay Llewellyn to make it 12-10. American outscored Navy, 5-2 over the final 68 seconds to hold a 17-12 advantage at the first quarter break.

Similar to the first stanza both teams struggled early to find their shot as the score slowly advanced to 18-14 over the initial four-plus minutes of the second quarter with only free throws falling for either squad. The first field goal the quarter came at 5:23 when Sophie Gatzounas got an offensive rebound and quick put back. Navy's comeback resulted in a tie less than a minute later when Ulasewicz drove the lane and athletically flipped the ball towards the rim to make it 18-18. The Mids' first lead came at 3:15 when Mimi Schrader pulled up for a mid-range jumper. American ended Navy's 8-0 run when the Eagles hit their first field goal of the quarter at 2:21 when Maddie Doring sank a three-pointer from the wing. Before that basket, the Eagles were 0-7 from the field. Another jumper by Schrader flipped the score back in Navy's favor, 22-21 before Schrader facilitated a Ulasewicz three-pointer with 58 seconds left. A late Taylor Brown three-pointer helped the hosts cut their deficit back to one, 25-24 before the break.

After American opened with the first two points of the second half to re-take the lead 26-25, Ulasewicz calmly came down the court and called her own number for a pull-up three-pointer from the top of the arc at 8:47. This sparked a 9-0 run as the Mids went up 34-26 by the 6:37 mark when Morgan Taylor drove the lane and banged home a physical layup. The momentum pendulum of the third quarter swung back in the Eagles' direction as the host squad scored 10 of the next 12 points over a 2:35 span of play to even the score 36-36 with 3:33 left in the third quarter. A pair of Brown free throws at 2:12 allowed the Eagles re-take the leave by two. Jasmine Bishop got her name into the box score during the next possession with a mid-range jumper. With the score 38-38, American scored the last seven points of the quarter to take a 45-38 lead after 30 minutes of play. Overall, that was part of a 17-4 run over the final 6:08.

The cold shooting that plagued both teams in the first and second quarters reared its head again in the fourth quarter as the Eagles netted four points over the opening six-plus minutes, while the Mids tallied just one, a Laurel Jaunich free throw. Trailing 49-39, Maggie Moore drew Navy within single-digits with a free throw of her own at 3:58. American didn't allow Navy to whittle its deficit any closer than nine the rest of the game as the Eagles immediately answered Moore's foul shot with back-to-back three-pointers to build out a 55-40 lead. Taylor ended Navy's long streak without a field goal with a jumper with 1:10 remaining. 

In the 57-42 contest, American outshot Navy, 38.0 percent (19-50) to 30.4 (14-46) from the field, as well as from three-point range, 40.9 percent (9-22) to 28.6 (4-14). The Mids held a slight 66.7 percent (10-15) to 62.5 percent (10-16) advantage in foul shooting.

Navy versus American
The Mids and Eagles have met 58 times in a series that began on February 16, 1978  ... All-time, American leads Navy, 35-23 with a substantial 22-5 advantage in games played at the Eagles' Bender Arena ... The Mids' last win in D.C came on Feb. 20, 2013; since then AU has won eight straight home games, six in the regular season and two in the postseason ... Since the Eagles joined the Patriot League in 2003-04, American is 22-16 ... Over the last ten matchups, the Mids are 2-8.
    Last 5 Games:
    March 4, 2020 (A): American 57 - Navy 42
    February 19, 2020 (H): American 48 - Navy 40
    March 6, 2019 (A): American 69 - Navy 44
    January 9, 2019 (H): American 58 - Navy 45
    March 11, 2018 (A): American 58 - Navy 49 (PL Championship Final)

Comparing the Teams

(2019-20 Stats)	Navy	American
Record / PL	7-22 / 2-16 PL	12-16 / 8-10 PL
Home / Away / Neut. Record	6-8 / 1-14	8-5 / 4-10 / 0-1
Points Per Game	52.6 PPG	58.0 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	59.7 PPG	60.5 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	35.6 %	38.8 %
3-Point Percentage	29.0 %	29.5 %
Free Throw Percentage	63.1 %	73.9 %
Rebounds Per Game	33.2 RPG	31.8 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	11.9 / 14.8	12.5 / 15.0

Individual Leaders

(2019-20 Stats)	Navy	American
Points Per Game	Ulasewicz, 10.3 PPG	J. Edwards, 14.6 PPG
Rebounds Per Game	Gatzounas/Taylor, 5.2 RPG	J. Edwards, 6.7 RPG
Assists Per Game	Ulasewicz, 3.1 APG	I. Sanders, 4.4 APG
Field Goal Percentage	Gatzounas, 46.0 %	J. Edwards, 46.3 %
3-Point Percentage	Ulasewicz, 34.8 %	K. Marenyi, 32.4 %
Free Throw Percentage	Ulasewicz, 83.3 %	K. Marenyi, 80.9 %