ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball team will welcome a pair of first-time opponents to The Yard with the 2022 edition of the Navy Classic. As part of a two-day pre-arranged tournament, the Mids (0-5) will go head-to-head with the Northern Illinois Huskies (4-1) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. before matching up with the Idaho Vandals (0-2) on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Alumni Hall. The non-Navy games as part of the Classic are a Richmond (4-1) and Idaho tilt on Saturday at 4 p.m. and a Richmond-NIU game on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

Both Navy games will have live stats provided online, as well as be broadcast on the ESPN+ platform. ESPN+ is a subscription-based streaming service that requires patrons to sign-up for monthly or yearly plans prior to tuning into the contest. An audio-only portion of the contests will also be available via WNAV: over the radio waves on 99.9 FM or 1430 AM, online at WNAV.com or through the Audacy platform.

**For the Navy Classic: All four games will have free admission.

Navy vs. NIU (Mid-American Conference) & Idaho (Big Sky Conference)
The Mids have never played either the Huskies or the Vandals in their 46 years as a varsity program ... Navy has 10 games of experience against teams from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) with a 4-6 record: Buffalo (1-2), Eastern Michigan (1-0), Kent State (0-1) and Ohio (2-3) ... The most recent Navy-MAC matchup was against Ohio on Nov. 16, 2009; the Mids won that contest in Athens, Ohio, 55-51 ... The Mids have only played four games all-time against teams from the Big Sky Conference: Sacramento State (2-0), Portland State (0-1), Weber State (0-1) ... Navy last played a team from the Big Sky on Dec. 5, 2014 when it travelled to Portland State and fell by a score of 56-50.

Navy in the Navy Classic
The Mids are 40-16 all-time in the Navy Classic ... Over the last two classics, Navy is 2-2 as the team went 0-2 in games against Liberty (Nov. 27) and George Mason (Nov. 28) in 2021 after going 2-0 in 2019 with victories over Kennesaw State (Nov. 30) and LaSalle (Dec. 1).

Comparing the Teams

(2022-23 Stats)	Navy	Northern Illinois	Idaho
Record / League-Only	0-5 / 0-0 PL	4-1 / 0-0 MAC	0-2 / 0-0 Big Sky
Home /Away Record	0-2 / 0-3	3-0 / 1-1	0-0 / 0-2
Points Per Game	55.8 PPG	72.0 PPG	67.0 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	75.4 PPG	68.8 PPG	86.0 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	39.7 %	42.8 %	40.2 %
3-Point Percentage	32.9 %	40.3 %	38.6 %
Free Throw Percentage	73.8 %	72.1 %	62.1 %
Rebounds Per Game	33.6 RPG	38.6 RPG	27.5 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	8.6 / 21.4	16.0 / 15.4	14.5 / 14.5

Individual Leaders

(2022-23 Stats)	Navy	Northern Illinois	Idaho
Points Per Game	Louridas/Watts, 15.2 ppg	A. Davis, 14.8 ppg	B. Bea, 22.0 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Samson, 5.0 rpg	A. Davis, 8.2 rpg	B. Bea, 8.5 rpg
Assists Per Game	Louridas, 1.8 apg	C. Koker, 5.2 apg	R. Smith, 6.5 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Samson, 54.2 %	A. Davis, 58.5 %	B. Bea, 48.5 %
3-Point Percentage	Louridas, 41.7 %	J. Poisson, 50.0 %	S. Brans, 57.1 %
Free Throw Percentage	Watts, 94.1 %	C. Koker, 72.7 %	B. Bea, 76.9 %

Last Time Out: Tuesday vs. Monmouth
The Navy women's basketball team dropped its final game before the Thanksgiving holiday to Monmouth by a score of 76-56 on Tuesday night at Alumni Hall. Mired in a lengthy first quarter slump, the Mids (0-5) fought valiantly to draw within six points at halftime before falling to a more experienced and sharpshooting Hawks (3-2) team.
 
Maren Louridas sparked Navy's offensive comeback during the first half as she hit six three-pointers in a run of eight attempts late in the first quarter and early in the second. For the game, she finished with a career-high 24 points to go along with four rebounds and five assists over 37 minutes of action. Sydne Watts provided secondary scoring assistance with 18 points.

Navy opened the game with a Kate Samson basket on its second possession to take an early 2-0 lead 56 seconds in. From that point in the period for the ensuing 5:27, Monmouth rattled off a 21-1 run, including 15 unanswered points at one stretch. Successful field goals on back-to-back possessions by Louridas and Gia Pissott helped the Mids stop the streak and make it 21-8 game at the 3:05 mark. That initial make by Louridas sparked the freshman down the stretch as she sank two more three-pointers to conclude the period at 24-14 in favor of Monmouth.
 
That late 6-0 run was a catalyst to more offense for Navy in the second quarter as it rode the hot hand of Louridas and the freshman guard hit three of her first four shots from long range over the opening 3:46 of the stanza. Louridas' sixth trey of the game drew Navy to within three points of Monmouth at 26-23. The difference in experience between the Mids and Hawks was illustrated over the next three-plus minutes as Monmouth calmly compiled an 8-2 run to build its lead back out to nine, 34-25 at 2:55. Navy shot just 1-of-7 during this slump with three turnovers. The freshmen duo of Kelli Giuliani and Samson rallied the Mids late with a field goal and free throw to make it a 34-28 game at the halftime intermission.

The second half began evenly as a short 4-0 run by the Hawks was responded to by a 5-0 individual run by Watts over the first 2:09 of play. With the score 38-33, Monmouth registered 12 of the next 14 points to break open the contest to a 50-35 margin at 3:05 of the third quarter. Monmouth extended its scoring run into the fourth quarter with consecutive three-pointers by Jen Louro and Antonia Panayides to help the visitors take a 21-point lead, 61-40 at 8:47. The Mids' high-scoring duo of Watts and Louridas attempted to re-fire the team's offense with a points on back-to-back possessions to make it a 61-44 game, but unfortunately they were unable to help Navy draw closer than 17 points the rest of the contest. 

For the game, Monmouth outshot Navy from the field, 54.7 percent (29-53) to 35.1 (20-57) and from three-point range, 47.8 percent (11-23) to 36.4 (8-22). The Mids held a slight advantage in free throw shooting, 80.0 percent (8-10) to 70.0 (7-10).
 
Parking / Shuttle
Fans are reminded that the general public does not have access to drive their vehicles on to the U.S. Naval Academy. Fans may park at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for a fee and take a shuttle that will run every 10 minutes starting one hour before the game and will continue running until one hour after the game is completed. Fans 18 and over need a government-issued photo ID. Enter Gate 5 off Taylor Ave. to park at the stadium.