ANNAPOLIS, Md. - After having their initial meetings from this past weekend washed off the slate due to the re-worked Patriot League schedule that came out on Tuesday, Feb. 9, the women's basketball teams from Navy (4-6, 4-2 PL, 3-1 PL South) and Lafayette (2-5, 2-5 PL, 0-4 PL) will finally get to meet on the hardwood this Wednesday in Alumni Hall at 6 p.m. The matchup will be a rematch of one of the most dramatic games of the 2019-20 season that saw Sophie Gatzounas hit an off-balanced three-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime before the Leopards held on for the three-point victory on Feb. 29, 2020. On Wednesday, Navy will look to build on its momentum from its weekend sweep of Loyola, while trying to not look too far ahead as a weekend series with service academy rival Army lies ahead this Saturday and Sunday. The game between the Mids and Leopards will be streamed live on ESPN+ with an additional radio broadcast on WNAV (AM 1430, FM 99.9 and 1430wnav.com).

Navy versus Lafayette
The Mids and Leopards have met 76 times in a series that began on Feb. 16, 1980  ... All-time, Navy leads Lafayette, 52-24 with a 32-8 advantage in games played in Annapolis ... Prior to last season's 62-59 overtime loss, the Mids had been victorious in each of the last six Navy-Lafayette matchups played in Annapolis dating back to 2015 ... Navy hasn't lost consecutive games at Alumni Hall to Lafayette since January 1992 and 1993; the Mids will be looking to make sure the record books stay that way on Wednesday... Over the last ten matchups, Navy is 7-3; with two road losses in Easton to its name during that stretch (Jan. 23, 2019 and Jan. 18, 2020).
    Last 5 Games:
    Feb. 29, 2020 (H): Lafayette 62 - Navy 59, OT
    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

Looking Back at Navy-Lafayette...  February 29, 2020 in Annapolis
Navy laid it all out on the line and then some in an exciting and emotional Senior Night showdown with Lafayette on Saturday, February 29. Trailing by 14 points after one quarter of play, the Mids inched closer each stanza before an off-balanced three-pointer from the corner by Sophie Gatzounas with 0.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter sent the fans at Alumni Hall into a frenzy and the game into overtime. At the conclusion of the five-minute overtime period the Leopards survived and walked away with the 62-59 victory.

The Mids' furious comeback came from standout efforts off the bench by Gatzounas and Jennifer Coleman as the duo combined for 38 points, seven three-pointers and five steals. Doing it all over the court, Gatzounas finished Saturday night's game with a season-high 21 points on eight-of-12 field goal shooting, a four-of-six mark from three-point range, seven rebounds and two steals. Coleman added 17 points with three treys, three assists and three steals. 

Navy's comeback culminated when the home squad took its first lead of the game at the 4:50 mark of the fourth quarter when Coleman went two-for-two from the foul line to put the Mids up 49-48. After Alexis Santarelli knotted the game a 49-49 a minute later, Gatzounas called her own number with a dynamic drive to the lane for a layup to put the Mids ahead by two with 3:37 left in regulation. Navy's magic nearly ran out after this point in the contest as the Mids went scoreless for the next 3:35. Lafayette slowly put together a 5-0 run to take a 54-51 lead with under five seconds to play. After grabbing a missed free throw on defense and calling a timeout the stage was set for a wild end to regulation as Llewellyn took the in-bounds pass and swung it to the left wing for Gatzounas, who darted past her defender, gathered herself and hit a off-balanced three-pointer as she faded away with 0.7 seconds left to play to tie it 54-54 and force overtime.

In the extra period, the tight back-and-forth action continued as Lafayette scored the initial two points before Coleman fired back with a three-pointer from the deep corner at 3:10. The visitors responded by shutting down the Mids and slowly pulling away with the next six points to lead 62-57 with 31 seconds remaining in the period. After a Laurel Jaunich basket pulled Navy within three points at 17.1, the Mids' hopes of surviving the overtime period were helped exponentially as the Leopards came up empty at the foul line. On Navy's final possession, the team had two solid looks from three-point range, but unfortunately both rattled out as Lafayette held on for the 62-59 victory.

For the game, Lafayette outshot Navy, 37.5 percent (21-56) to 31.3 (21-67) from the field and 70.0 percent (14-20) to 50.0 (6-12) from the foul line. The Mids edged the Leopards in three-point shooting 36.7 percent (11-30) to 35.3 (6-17).

Comparing the Teams

Last Time Out: Navy vs. Loyola, Sunday, February 14
Playing its second game in as many days, the Navy women's basketball team completed its weekend sweep of the Loyola Greyhounds with a 50-46 win on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Hall. Down one at halftime, the Mids outscored the Greyhounds 16-6 in the third quarter to take a lead into the fourth that eventually expanded out to 14 before a furious rally by the visitors shrunk the margin to just two points with 32 seconds remaining. The gutsy Mids put away the Greyhounds and clinched the victory with two free throws down the stretch. The win puts Navy into a tie with American atop the Patriot League South division as both teams are 3-1.

The dynamic backcourt duo of Jennifer Coleman and Kolbi Green, who combined for 51 of the Mids' 69 points on Saturday against the Greyhounds, were at the forefront once again on Sunday as they notched 28 of Navy's 50 total points. Coleman registered her fourth straight double-double as she scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting with 14 rebounds, five assists and one steal in 37 minutes of action. Green sparked Navy's third quarter comeback with a trio of three-pointers on her way to 13 points in 35 minutes. She added a career-high eight rebounds along with three assists and a team-high three steals. Morganne Andrews gave Navy 20 minutes of key work off the bench with a career-high nine points and four rebounds.

For the game, Navy outshot Loyola, 33.9 percent (21-62) to 29.6 percent (16-54), though the visiting Greyhounds held slight advantages from three-point range and the foul line with a 26.3 percent (5-19) to 17.4 percent (4-23) margin from three and an 81.8 percent (9-11) to 66.7 percent (4-6) edge from the charity stripe.

For the second straight contest, Navy dominated the rebounding battle versus Loyola as the Mids grabbed a season-high 46 boards, 12 more than the Greyhounds. Navy also snared seven more offensive rebounds, 16-9. Coleman, Sophie Gatzounas and Green bolstered the Mids' rebounding corps with 31 combined boards; 14 for Coleman, nine for Gatzounas and eight for Green.