ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The final week of Patriot League regular season action begins for the Navy and American women's basketball programs with a Wednesday night tilt in Washington, D.C. Meeting for the first time since January 17, the Mids (5-6, 5-2 PL, 3-1 PL South) and Eagles (5-3, 5-3 PL, 5-1 PL South) will do battle in a contest that has great implications on the Patriot League South title. With a top-three seed in the Patriot League Tournament guaranteed to each divisional winner this season, Navy controls its destiny as a win over American will move them into first place with two games against Loyola remaining on the weekend, Saturday at home and Sunday in Baltimore. A victory on Wednesday night would give the Mids the season series over the Eagles, two games to one; they would then need to win at least one game versus the Greyhounds to clinch the South Division crown. The action at Bender Arena on Wednesday begins at 6 p.m. with a live broadcast streamed on ESPN+.

Navy versus American
The Mids and Eagles have met 61 times in a series that began on February 16, 1978  ... All-time, American leads Navy, 37-24 with a dominant 23-5 advantage in games played at AU's Bender Arena ... The Mids have struggled recently in D.C. dropping 10 straight road contests; their last win at Bender was February 20, 2013 (52-42) ... As of late, American has won 8 of the last 10 matchups dating back to January 5, 2018 and 14 of the last 17 games overall ... Since the Eagles joined the Patriot League in 2003-04, American is 24-17 against Navy.
    Last 5 Games:
    January 17, 2021 (H): Navy 70 - American 67
    January 16, 2021 (H): American 61 - Navy 52
    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

Looking Back at Navy-American...  January 17, 2021 in Annapolis
Navy collected its first win of the 2020-21 season on Sunday versus American University after taking the lead early in the second quarter and holding on for the next 29 minutes in the eventual 70-67 victory. The Mids received a career-best 25 points from junior Kolbi Green as the team gave first-year head coach Tim Taylor his first collegiate victory. Playing their second game in as many days, Navy turned up the pressure defensively and forced American into 24 turnovers, while sinking 18 free throws, one day after only forcing 13 turnovers and going 4-14 from the charity stripe against the Eagles.

The lethal junior combination of Green and Jennifer Coleman was all over the place on Sunday as they almost never left the court and affected the game both offensively and defensively. Playing in 40 of 40 minutes, Green scored 25 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter, as well as adding two steals on defense, while her counterpart Coleman was on the court for 39 minutes and tallied 17 points, six rebounds, seven assists and a team-high three steals.

In the Mids' 70-67 win, the hosts were outshot from the field 50 percent (24-48) to 38 percent (24-63). The Eagles also held a slight advantage in three-point shooting, 29 percent (4-14) to 25 percent (4-16). Navy had a strong showing at the foul line as the team converted 75 percent of their attempts (18-24) versus 68 percent for American (15-22).

One of the most telling statistical breakdowns from Sunday was the Mids forcing the Eagles into 24 turnovers and tallying 10 steals. 13 of those miscues occurred in the second half, including nine in the fourth quarter. Gatzounas and Coleman each recorded three steals in the contest.

Comparing the Teams

Last Time Out: Lafayette at Navy, Wednesday, February 17
Playing its third game in five days the Navy women's basketball program used a gutsy, all-around team effort to overcome the Lafayette Leopards midway through the fourth quarter on its way to a 55-53 victory on Wednesday, February 17. After a slow start left the Mids staring down a 14-7 deficit through the first quarter, a large rebuttal in the second helped the hosts overtake the Leopards before halftime, as the ultra -competitive final 20 minutes at Alumni Hall were played with neither team holding a lead of more than four points.

After opening the game 3-11 from the field in the first half, Jennifer Coleman persevered and ended the night as Navy's high scorer with 13 points and an additional eight rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocked shots in 35 minutes. Her efforts were aided significantly by Sam Schofield, who knocked down four three-pointers for a career-high 12 points in 16 minutes off the bench.

The competitive back-and-forth action continued into the fourth as each team made a pair of baskets, one layup and one three-pointer. With the score 43-42, Lafayette took its largest lead of the fourth quarter, three points, courtesy of a Reilly Campbell basket at 6:02. Coleman drew Navy even the next time down with her first three-pointer of the evening. The game saw the Leopards pull ahead by two and the Mids respond with a two of their own over the next three-plus minutes as the score advanced to 49-49. Green helped put Navy into the lead with a jumper at 2:16. Following a Natalie Kucowski layup, Sophie Gatzounas netted her first three points of the game on the Mids' next possession with an and-one. That three-point swing gave Navy all the separation that it would need to hold on as Lafayette was held to just one field goal over its final three possessions. A free throw by Kolbi Green concluded the score at 55-53.

For the game, Navy outshot Lafayette from the field, 36.2 percent (21-58) to 31.7 percent (20-63), and from three-point range, 33.3 percent (8-24) to 29.2 (7-24). The Leopards held a slight 75.0 percent (6-8) to 71.4 percent (5-7) advantage from the foul line.

Of note, Navy's defense shutdown Lafayette top-two scoring options, Kucowski and Drew Freeland, as the duo combined for just 10 points and eight field goal attempts.