ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball program will be back in action for the first time in 29 days this weekend when the Mids host a pair of home matchups against the American University Eagles on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The combination of the holiday break and back-to-back postponements of Patriot League weekend series against Bucknell and Loyola will see the Mids playing in Alumni Hall for the first time since February 29, 2020. Under the direction of first-year head coach Tim Taylor, Navy played four non-conference games in November and December and while the team went winless, the Mids were within contention late in four-point losses to George Mason and Morgan State and a nine-point defeat at William & Mary. As the injuries that plagued them throughout the preseason and non-conference begin to heal up the Mids will look to open Patriot League play this weekend and make an early statement to its South Division rival American. The Mids and Eagles will play four times this season as the league makes an effort to minimize travel with more regional "pod" play during this COVID-19 impacted season. Both games this weekend will hosted by Navy at Alumni Hall and have 3 PM tip times, all of the action will be streamed on ESPN+ with radio broadcasts available via WNAV (AM 1430, FM 99.9 and 1430WNAV.com).
Navy versus American
The Mids and Eagles have met 59 times in a series that began on February 16, 1978 ... All-time, American leads Navy, 36-23 though the Mids have a 17-11 advantage in games played at Navy's Alumni Hall ... The Mids won consecutive home games over the Eagles in 2016, 2017 and 2018 before dropping their 2019 and 2020 contests ... As of late, American has won 8 of the last 10 matchups dating back to Feb. 2017 and 13 of the last 16 games overall ... Since the Eagles joined the Patriot League in 2003-04, American is 23-16 ... Over the last ten matchups, the Mids are 2-8.
Last 5 Games:
March 7, 2020 (A): American 63 - Navy 53 *Patriot League Tournament First Round
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
Looking Back at the Last Navy-American Matchup, March 7, 2020
Navy saw its 2019-20 season come to an end on Saturday, March 7 in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament at American University. In a matchup between the seventh-seeded Eagles and the tenth-seeded Mids a late 13-4 run over the final three minutes turned a one-point advantage by American into its final 63-53 margin of victory. A near flawless 24-of-27 showing at the foul line by the Eagles helped the hosts overcome a pesky Midshipmen defense that forced them into 19 turnovers in the contest at Bender Arena.
Navy's senior backcourt duo of Morgan Taylor and Mary Kate Ulasewicz spearheaded the team's effort on Saturday with a combined 37 points, five three-pointers and eight rebounds. Taylor had a season-high 21 points, including 15 in the first half, while Ulasewicz had 12 of her 16 points over the third and fourth quarters.
For the game, Navy outshot American nominally, 38.9 percent (21-54) to 37.8 (17-45) from the field and 31.3 percent (5-16) to 27.8 (5-18) from three-point range. The key number in shooting categories was American going to the foul line 27 times and making 24 shots for a 88.9 percent clip. Navy was six-for-six from the charity stripe on Saturday.
Comparing the Teams
| (2020-21 Stats) |
Navy |
American |
| Record / PL Division-Only |
0-4 / 0-0 PL S. |
0-2 / 0-0 PL S. |
| Home /Away Record |
0-0 / 0-4 |
0-0 / 0-2 |
| Points Per Game |
57.8 PPG |
70.5 PPG |
| Points Allowed Per Game |
66.0 PPG |
84.0 PPG |
| Field Goal Percentage |
39.2 % |
44.5 % |
| 3-Point Percentage |
34.1 % |
25.0 % |
| Free Throw Percentage |
76.8 % |
71.8 % |
| Rebounds Per Game |
39.8 RPG |
33.5 RPG |
| Assists/Turnovers Per Game |
10.8 / 23.3 |
14.5 / 14.0 |
Last Time Out: Friday, December 18 at Morgan State
Opening the game with back-to-back 19-point quarters, Navy was unable to hold over that first half momentum on the road as the host Morgan State Bears pulled ahead in the third quarter and eventually scored six of the final eight points after the game was knotted at 61 with 82 seconds left to play to earn the 67-63 victory. Playing their fourth game of this abridged non-conference schedule the Mids out-shot and out-rebounded the Bears, but were ultimately undone by 25 turnovers in the game that was held at Morgan State's Hill Field House.
Individually, Navy was led by Jennifer Coleman, who filled the box score in her first appearance of the season, as she tied a career-high with 25 points, while grabbing 10 rebounds and seven assists in playing a complete 40-minute game. Sophie Gatzounas also never left the floor on Friday and tallied 12 points, seven rebounds and a block. Kristina Donza gave the Mids three players in double figures as she scored 10 points in her first collegiate start.
For the contest, Navy out-shot Morgan State from the field, 45.6 percent (26-57) to 39.3 (24-61), from three-point range, 50.0 percent (5-10) to 42.9 (9-21) and from the foul line, 85.7 percent (6-7) to 62.5 (10-16). The Mids also won the rebounding battle by 12, 42-30. Coleman posted a team-high 10 boards, while Gatzounas and Hertelendy each tallied seven caroms.
Navy News & Notes
- Captain Takes the Lead: Sophie Gatzounas, the Mids' team captain has started out fast for Navy in 2020-21 with back-to-back games of 20 or more points, including a career-high 26 in the season opener at George Mason ... Prior to this season, she had reached the 20-point plateau in just three of her first 85 appearances ... Nationally, she ranks 61st with a 18.5 points per game average ... Additionally, she has played in 157 of a possibly 160 minutes; her 39.2 minutes per game average is 5th-best in NCAA Division I.
-Are We There Yet?: With COVID-19 constantly throwing wrenches into early iterations of the 2020-21 schedule and the eventual games played, the Mids opened their 2020-21 season with four straight road games ... Of the 22 times that Navy has played four straight contests on the road in program history this is only the third time its been to start the season: 1992-93, 1998-99 and 2020-21.
-Playing the Waiting Game: After playing Morgan State on December 18, taking a break for the holidays and seeing its January 2-3 series versus Bucknell and January 9-10 series against Loyola postponed due to COVID protocols, Navy will go 29 days in-between games ... In the previous 10 years, the Mids longest break was 23 days from December 6 to December 29 during the 2013-14 season ... All-time, the longest in-season break was 37 days during the 1980-81 season, December 6 to January 12.
