ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball team will be looking to move up in the Patriot League standings this Saturday when the Mids make the short trip to Washington, D.C. to take on the American University Eagles. Separated by just one victory in the win column, the Mids (6-13, 3-6 PL) and Eagles (11-6, 4-3 PL) are set to go head-to-head at 2 p.m. at Bender Arena. The teams met three times in 2021 with American taking two of the three contests. The action on Saturday will be streamed live via ESPN+.

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Navy versus American
The Mids and Eagles have met 62 times in a series that began on February 16, 1978  ... All-time, American leads Navy, 38-24 with a dominant 24-5 advantage in games played at AU's Bender Arena ... The Mids have struggled recently in D.C. dropping 11 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 February 28, 2018 and 10 of the last 14 games overall ... Since the Eagles joined the Patriot League in 2001-02, American is 24-17 against Navy.
    Last 5 Games:
    February 24, 2021 (A): American 65 - Navy 59
    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

Looking Back at Navy-American...  February 24, 2021 in Washington, D.C.
With a chance to move into first place in the Patriot League South Division and close in on a top-three spot in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament, the Navy women's basketball team ran into an American University club that was clutch at the foul line down the stretch on Wednesday night at Bender Arena going 6-for-6 in the final 56 seconds to break a 59-59 tie and earn the eventual 65-69 victory. Trailing early, the Mids (5-7, 5-3 PL, 3-2 PL South) fought back from 12 down in the second quarter to sit just two points off the Eagles' (6-3, 6-3 PL, 6-1 PL South) lead at halftime and later from 10 points down in the third quarter to tie the game twice in the fourth quarter before ultimately seeing the Eagles break away in the last minute of play.
 
Sophie Gatzounas and Jennifer Coleman paced the Mids on Wednesday night with a combined 26 points, including a team-high 14 for Gatzounas on 4-6 shooting and a 6-6 mark from the foul line. Coleman went for 12 points, in addition to 13 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. Together they played 78 of a possible 80 minutes as both player saw 39 minutes of action.
 
Trailing 12-6 at the 4:53 mark for the first quarter, the Mids shut out the Eagles over the final portion of the quarter and registered four points, two each from Gatzounas and Llewellyn. Neither team scored over the final 3:15 to make it 12-10 at the end of the stanza. That cold streak came to an abrupt conclusion for American as Emily Fisher drove the lane and converted a layup first time down the court. This began a 10-0 run for the Eagles, who expanded their lead out to 22-10. A pair of free throws by Coleman at 5:25 ended the Mids' scoreless streak at eight minutes 40 seconds. American had an immediate rebuttal to those points with two of its own. That score of 24-12 stayed static for nearly two minutes until Kolbi Green sank her first basket of the game at 3:25. Next time down the court, Ciera Hertelendy found a wide open Kristina Donza for a three-pointer from the wing.  The Mids' comeback continued with a third straight basket, this time from Coleman. With the score at 24-19 at 2:11, American called a timeout to try and slow down Navy. After Jade Edwards helped the hosts push its lead back out to seven points, the Mids registered the final five points of the half.
 
After a fairly quiet first half, which saw the score 26-24 in favor of American, offensive fireworks came from throughout during the final 20 minutes. Hertelendy continued her touch from around the rim in the third quarter as she netted four of Navy's first six points, including a pair of free throws that knotted the score at 30-30 at 7:25. Similar to the first half, every punch thrown by the Mids saw a strong rebuttal by the Eagles as the hosts responded to this threat with a 14-4 run over the next 4:35 of action. With the score 44-34 at 2:50, each team scored seven points down the stretch. Both sides shot well in the third quarter as American went 10-19 (52.6%), while Navy was 7-16 (43.8%); together the two programs combined for 42 points.
 
The momentum swings that occurred throughout the first three quarters continued into the fourth quarter. Trailing by 10, 51-41, Coleman called her number on each of the Mids' first three possessions as she netted six points and helped Navy cut its deficit to 53-47 by the 8:34 mark. With American held scoreless, Green and Gatzounas took the scoring baton from Coleman and netted four points over the next 2:30 to draw the Mids within two, 53-51 by 6:04. The teams traded baskets for the ensuing two minutes before Donza earned Navy the 57-57 tie with a 2-2 showing at the foul line at 4:05. The game's offense dried up for the next three minutes as American's Taylor Brown made the only field goal during this span, while Gatzounas converted two free throws at 1:08. Seeking its first lead of the game Navy was unable to breakthrough over the final 68 seconds as American went 6-6 from the foul line, while Navy went 0-3 from the field with two turnovers to close the score at 65-59.
 
The host Eagles outshot the Mids in all three statistical categories; 45.3 percent (24-53) to 32.8 percent (20-61) from the field, 45.5 percent (5-11) to 16.7 (3-18) from three-point range and 100.0 percent (12-12) to 88.9 percent (16-18) from the foul line.
 
Comparing the Teams

(2021-22 Stats)	Navy	American
Record / League-Only	6-13 / 3-6 PL	11-6 / 4-3 PL
Home /Away/Neut. Record	3-9 / 3-4	7-1 / 3-5 / 1-0
Points Per Game	56.8 PPG	59.2 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	65.3 PPG	58.5 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	36.0 %	42.0 %
3-Point Percentage	28.7 %	25.8 %
Free Throw Percentage	66.3 %	68.2 %
Rebounds Per Game	36.6 RPG	31.6 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	11.0 / 14.9	13.2 / 17.2

Individual Leaders

(2021-22 Stats)	Navy	American
Points Per Game	Coleman, 23.3 ppg	J. Edwards, 13.5 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Coleman, 10.6 rpg	J. Edwards, 6.2 rpg
Assists Per Game	Coleman, 4.6 apg	E. Fisher, 4.2 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Coleman, 42.4 %	J. Edwards, 49.4 %
3-Point Percentage	Coleman, 44.2 %	M. Doring, 33.3 %
Free Throw Percentage	Coleman, 73.1 %	J. Edwards, 82.3 %

Last Time Out, January 26 vs. Bucknell
The Navy women's basketball team was unable to sustain a fast start and came up short versus Bucknell in a home Patriot League contest on Wednesday night. Hoping to clinch the season series against the Bison (14-5, 5-3 PL) after winning 57-55 earlier this month in Lewisburg, the Mids (6-13, 3-6 PL) opened the game shooting 6-for-6 and were up 15-9 through five minutes of action before Bucknell drew even and the teams played a closely contested game for the ensuing 35 minutes. Though they struggled with their shot for much of the second half, the Mids were within four points with less than 30 seconds to play in regulation before the Bison went 6-for-6 at the foul line down the stretch to lock down the 53-43 victory.
 
Jennifer Coleman led Navy's individual effort on Wednesday as she recorded her 14th double-double of the season with game-highs of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Additionally, she assisted on four baskets and grabbed two steals in 38 minutes of play. Kristina Donza was Navy's second-leading scorer as she netted nine points on three three-pointers.
  
It might've been cold outside on Wednesday night, but the action inside Alumni Hall started scorching hot as both teams were scoring at will over the first three minutes. Bucknell held an early 9-8 lead after shooting 4-of-6 from the field, while Navy was right there courtesy of a 3-for-3 start with three-pointers falling for Coleman and Donza. From that juncture at 6:59, the Mids ran off a 7-0 streak on more perfect shooting. In total, Navy was 6-for-6 from the field to start the game and jumped out to a 15-9 lead by 5:35. The hot start for both teams slowed as the scoreboard stayed stagnant for nearly two minutes before the Bison hit a three-pointer at 3:44. This trey was the beginning of a 7-0 run for the visitors, who went back ahead 16-15. Navy held Bucknell scoreless for the remainder and used a Coleman jumper at 1:53 to close the quarter with a 17-16 lead. After starting the quarter 6-for-6, the Mids' completed the period with a 7-for-17 overall mark in field goal shooting.
 
Separated by just one point on the scoreboard, the teams volleyed the lead four times in the opening five minutes of the second quarter. Bucknell scored the first three points of the stanza to go up 19-17 before a 4-0 response by Navy's senior duo of Ciera Hertelendy and Coleman swung the lead back in the favor of the hosts by the 5:57 mark. Hertelendy continued finding success on the offensive end as she put the Mids back in the lead on their next possession with a layup. Lindsay Llewellyn increased Navy's advantage out to three points at 4:25. Bucknell shaved one point off its deficit over the rest of the quarter as the Bison posted six points versus five for the Mids.
 
Coming out of the locker room after halftime up 30-28, Navy was held scoreless for the first 5:34 of the third quarter. While the Mids' shot wasn't falling, the hosts were defending well and only allowed seven points to their opposition. Down 35-30, Coleman ended this scoring drought when Mimi Schrader found her open for a three-pointer. Coleman made Navy's next basket a little over a minute later to once again pull her squad to within two points. The Bison slowly re-built their lead and netted six of the final eight points of the quarter to take a 43-37 lead into the break.
 
In a complete 180 from the first quarter that saw sharp-shooting from both teams, the offensive output in the fourth quarter came few and far between as Bucknell made just one basket in the first four-plus minutes of the final period, while Navy's first successful field goal was a Donza three-pointer at 6:28. With the score 45-40, Marly Walls increased the Bison advantage to seven points with a layup at 5:12. The Mids' defense held the Bison without another made field for the remainder of the contest, though their cold stretch of shooting continued and they were unable to edge closer until Coleman sank a corner three-pointer with 29 seconds left to play. Down four at 47-43, Navy was forced to foul Bucknell in hopes of garnering more possessions, though unfortunately, the Bison went 6-for-6 from the free throw line, while the Mids missed all five of their final field goal attempts.
 
In the 53-43 decision, Bucknell outshot Navy from the field, 33.3 percent (19-57) to 26.6 (17-64). The Mids held edges in three-point shooting, 30.0 percent (6-20) to 16.7 (3-18) and in free throw shooting, 100.0 percent (3-3) to 75.0 (12-16).