ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The inaugural meeting between the Navy and Binghamton women's basketball teams lies ahead on Wednesday in Vestal, New York. The final set of non-conference games for the Mids (0-9) this regular season begins on Wednesday against the Bearcats (5-5) before concluding on Sunday at Georgetown. Coming off competitive close losses over the past three games, Navy will be looking to capture its first win of the season in the 5:30 p.m. road tilt at Dr. Bai Lee Court on the campus of Binghamton University.

The Navy-Binghamton game 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. 

Scouting the Competition
Binghamton
The Bearcats come into Wednesday's game with a 5-5 record with victories over Bloomsburg-DII (Nov. 7, 63-46), Army (Nov. 10, 76-61), Pitt-Johnstown-DIII (Nov. 16, 71-45), Canisius (Nov. 20, 75-72) and Fairfield (Dec. 3, 77-72) ... Most recently, Binghamton dropped a defense road battle at Siena, 54-50 on Dec. 5. The Bearcats led 42-37 through three quarters of play before the Saints came from behind by the 5:08 mark of the fourth (45-44) and held the visiting Bearcats to just three made baskets the rest of the way. Binghamton shot just 33.9 percent (21-62) from the field and 21.4 (3-14) from three-point range on Monday. The contest marked the third straight game that the Bearcats turned the ball over 20-plus times ... In the 2022-23 America East preseason poll, Binghamton was picked to finish fifth in the nine-team conference. Of note in that same announcement, Denai Bowman was voted to the Preseason All-AE Team.

Navy vs. Binghamton / America East
The Mids and Bearcats have never met on the hardwood in the 32 seasons that Navy has been DI and the 22 that Binghamton has also been at the highest level of NCAA college basketball ... All-time, the Mids have taken on competition from the America East conference 43 times and hold a 22-21 edge in the history of the series. UMBC is Navy's most common opponent with 27 matchups (14-13), while Albany is the program's most recent AE opponent. The Mids and Great Danes met in Annapolis earlier this season on November 16 and the defending AE champions earned a 64-50 decision over Navy ... On the opposite side of the ledger Binghamton University is 21-23 all-time against Patriot League foes, including a 76-61 victory over Army on November 10, 2022.
    Last Five America East Matchups:
    Nov. 16, 2022 (H): UAlbany 64 - Navy 50
    Nov. 20, 2021 (H): Navy 55 - Vermont 51
    Nov. 24, 2019 (A): Maine 46 - Navy 41
    Nov. 22, 2019 (A): Vermont 64 - Navy 56
    Jan. 3, 2012 (H): Navy 67 - NJIT 51

Comparing the Teams

Last Time Out: Saturday vs. Rider
Coming off of consecutive strong offensive outings, the Navy women's basketball team struggled to find the bottom of the net on Saturday and shot just 25.5 percent from the field in a 59-43 loss to Rider. Tied at 38-38 all with eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter, a six-plus minute scoreless streak by the Mids (0-9) allowed the visiting Broncs (3-4) to take the lead and pull away late in the contest at Alumni Hall.
 
Team captain Mimi Schrader paced Navy on Saturday with 14 points, three three-pointers and two steals in 34 minutes of action. Freshman Shannon Clarke joined her in double figures with 10 points off the bench. Fellow freshman reserve Gia Pissott added seven points and a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Down by four after one quarter of play, 13-9, Navy quickly tied up the contest at 13-13 with baskets by Schrader and Clarke on consecutive trips down the court to start the second period. A trading of field goals and later free throws advanced the score slowly to 16-16 by the 6:11 mark of the second quarter. Defense ruled the next three-plus minutes as neither team made a field goal, though the Broncs went five-for-five from the foul line to edge ahead 21-16 by 3:12. A 7-0 run by the Mids from 2:50 to 1:24 immediately shot the hosts back ahead. Schrader had the exclamation point of this stretch with a three-pointer from the corner. An explosive shot-for-shot conclusion to the first half saw Rider respond with a three-pointer of its own before Pissott sank her first collegiate trey with nine seconds to go. A half-court heave by the Broncs' Amanda Mobley at the buzzer helped Rider take a 27-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Trailing by one, Navy knotted the score 79 seconds into the third quarter courtesy of a Maren Louridas free throw. Unfortunately for the hosts that was their only point for the first 5:15 of the period. Navy's defense continued to keep Rider under control and only allowed six total points during that cold stretch. With the score 33-27, a jumper by Sydne Watts and an ensuing free throw by Clarke helped the Mids cut their deficit to three by 4:08. Watts' basket was the only make of the period for Navy, though Rider only recorded five more points in the final minutes of the third to grab a 38-32 lead through 30 minutes of play.
 
Cold in the third quarter, Schrader sparked the Mids early in the final stanza as she opened up with back-to-back three-pointers to once again draw Navy even at 38-38 by the 8:57 mark. Unfazed, Rider responded with a 10-0 run over the next 3:56. With the score 48-38, Schrader kept forcing the issue for the Mids and got her team back within eight at 4:28 when she picked off Toni Blanford's pass and went in for the breakaway layup. Giving it their all down the stretch, the Mids could not catch a break with the rims and scored just three points the rest of the game versus 11 for the Broncs to finalize the contest at 59-43.
 
For the game, Rider outshot Navy, 35.8 percent (19-53) to 25.5 (14-55) from the field, 28.0 percent (7-25) to 16.7 (4-24) from three-point range and 82.4 percent (14-17) to 50.0 (11-22) from the foul line.