ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball team will play the first of its final two non-conference games this Sunday afternoon on the road at Maryland Eastern Shore. Collecting a pair of wins in their previous homestand, the Mids (2-6) will make the short trip to Princess Anne, Md. on Sunday and rekindle a series with the Hawks (3-4) that has been dormant for 20 years. Navy will be looking to improve some aspects of its recent play with Patriot League action on the horizon at the end of the month. Tip-off at Hytche Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m. with the action streamed by Eastern Shore on Facebook Live. 

Scouting the Competition
Maryland Eastern Shore
The Hawks come into Sunday's game with a 3-4 record ... Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program did not play at all during the 2020-21 school year so they're slowly getting back into the swing of competition this non-conference season ... All three of Eastern Shore's victories this season have come versus non-DI opponents as the team has defeated Claflin-D2 (Nov. 13, 73-57); Bryn Athyn-D3 (Nov. 16, 86-28) and Millersville-D2 (Nov. 28, 74-39) ... Most recently, the team dropped a 69-59 decision at the University of Richmond on Wednesday. After a slow first half, the Hawks played the Spiders even in the second half as both squads netted 37 points ... William & Mary is a common opponent to both Navy and Eastern Shore as the Mids defeated the Tribe, 66-54 on Nov. 16, while a week later the Hawks dropped a 65-58 decision at home to the Tribe ... In the 2021-22 MEAC preseason poll, Eastern Shore was picked to finish fifth in the conference. Of note in that same announcement, Bairesha Gill-Miles and Brooklyn Bailey were voted to the All-MEAC Preseason Third Team.

Navy vs. Maryland Eastern Shore
The Mids and Hawks have met seven times on the hardwood in a series that dates back to Feb. 1, 1978 ... That matchup was just the eighth ever for Navy as a varsity basketball program and the Mids came away with a 73-58 victory ... The first six meetings between Navy and Eastern Shore came at the NCAA Division II level with the Mids winning 5 of those 6 contests ... Including their one DI matchup in 2001 as part of that year's Navy Classic, the Mids hold a 6-1 all-time lead in the series ... The only meeting between Navy and Eastern Shore in Princess Anne was on Nov. 29, 1990; the Hawks held on for a 62-60 victory that day ... Navy is currently on a two-game winning streak over Maryland Eastern Shore ... All-time, the Mids are 27-17 against teams from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and has played seven of the eight associated schools; they've faced off with Morgan State (16), Delaware State (8) and Howard (8) the most times.
    Last Five Matchups:
    Dec. 19, 2001 (Annapolis): Navy 67 - Eastern Shore 54 (Navy Classic)
    Dec. 9, 1991 (Annapolis): Navy 63 - Eastern Shore 55
    Nov. 29, 1990 (Princess Anne): Eastern Shore 62 - Navy 60
    Feb. 16, 1982 (Annapolis): Navy 72 - Eastern Shore 51
    Feb. 3, 1981 (Annapolis): Navy 92 - Eastern Shore 60    

Comparing the Teams

(2021-22 Stats)	Navy	Eastern Shore
Record / League-Only	2-6	3-4
Home /Away/Neut. Record	2-5 / 0-1	3-2 / 0-2
Points Per Game	54.6 PPG	65.6 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	64.3 PPG	58.1 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	34.9 %	40.4 %
3-Point Percentage	26.3 %	25.5 %
Free Throw Percentage	65.6 %	64.9 %
Rebounds Per Game	36.0 RPG	40.3 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	11.1 / 15.9	13.4 / 15.3

Individual Leaders

(2021-22 Stats)	Navy	Eastern Shore
Points Per Game	Coleman, 22.5 ppg	B. Gill-Miles, 9.1 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Coleman, 9.8 rpg	B. Gill-Miles, 5.4 rpg
Assists Per Game	Coleman, 4.8 apg	Thomas/Wilson, 2.1 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Coleman, 43.5 %	B. Gill-Miles, 52.2 %
3-Point Percentage	Coleman, 40.7 %	A. Carney, 25.6 %
Free Throw Percentage	Coleman, 79.0 %	A. Carney, 1.000 %

Last Time Out, Thursday versus Morgan State
The Navy women's basketball team concluded its six-game homestand on Thursday night with a 71-50 loss to Morgan State at Alumni Hall. After dropping a nail-biter last year in Baltimore to the Bears by four-points, the Mids were unable to get their offense going throughout most of the action on Thursday and were held to just six made field goals and forced into 15 turnovers in the first half. Down by double-digits early in the second quarter, Morgan State's consistent pressure and physicality helped the road squad to the victory. Jennifer Coleman led Navy with 23 points and nine rebounds over 39 minutes of action. Mimi Schrader and Sydne Watts were second on the team with six points each.

Morgan State set the tone early as the visitors netted the game's first seven points and held Navy off the scoreboard until the 5:25 mark. Trailing 7-0, the Mids received six straight points over the next 1:28 beginning with a driving layup by Lindsay Llewellyn and concluding with back-to-back pull-up jumpers by Watts. The momentum swung back in the Bears' direction over the next three-plus minutes with a 7-2 run. With the score 14-8 and just seconds left in the quarter, Schrader grabbed a long rebound and raced down the court for a fast break layup at 0:03 to send the game into the break at 14-10.
 
After shooting 26.3 percent (5-19) with six turnovers in the first quarter, Navy's offense was challenged further in the second period by a tenacious Morgan State defense. As the Bears increased their lead from four points to 12 over the first two minutes of the quarter, the Mids were unable to get on track as they turned the ball over five times before Watts notched the team's first field goal at 5:34. Unfazed by the basket, Morgan State continued clicking offensively and ran off another 8-0 run to charge ahead 30-12 at 2:00. Navy added five points over the final minutes of the quarter courtesy of free throws.
 
Coming out of the locker room down 34-17, the Mids did a better job with their ball-handling and shot-making in the second half as they cut their turnovers down from 15 to nine and increased their field goal percentage from 23 percent (6-26) to 38 percent (10-26), but the Bears never allowed them to get closer than 14. The two times Navy pulled within 14 points were on the first possession of the third quarter when Coleman converted an and-one situation and a little over a minute later when once again Coleman slashed to the hoop and sank a layup. Coleman and Savanna Lewis led the Mids' scoring effort in the third quarter as the duo registered 13 of the team's 14 points on 6-8 shooting with Coleman going for nine and Lewis for four. In the fourth quarter, Coleman spearheaded Navy's offense with eight points with Ciera Hertelendy seconding her effort with five points, all from the foul line. As a team, the Mids netted 19 points in the final quarter, while the Bears countered with 20 to round out the contest with a 21-point victory at 71-50.
 
For the game, Morgan State outshot Navy, 46.0 percent (29-63) to 30.8 (16-52) from the field and 27.3 percent (3-11) to 11.1 (1-9) from three-point range. Neither team had much success from the foul line as the Mids shot 65.4 percent (17-26) versus 62.5 (10-16) for the Bears.