ANNAPOLIS, Md. - All eyes will be on Christl Arena on the campus of the United States Military Academy on Saturday morning as CBS Sports Network televises the 80th meeting between Army and Navy. Separated in the all-time win column by just one game, 40-39 in favor of the Mids, Saturday's contest will be the first ot two regular season meetings between the service academy rivals as the 2023 Star will be on the line in Annapolis on February 11. Last year's two Army-Navy games were each decided by four points or less. Tip-off on Saturday is set for 11 a.m. with additional radio coverage of the contest available on WNAV.

Navy versus Army
The Mids and Black Knights have met 79 times in a series that began on January 18, 1981  ... All-time, Navy leads Army, 40-39 ... The Mids have a slight 19-18 edge over the Black Knights in games played at West Point ... Over the last six matchups at Christl Arena, each team has won three games, including a season split last year (COVID procedures in the Patriot League had teams playing weekend doubleheaders often times at the same location) ... The Star was not battled for in 2021 as a positive COVID test within Army's tier 1 cancelled the contest that was due to be played in Annapolis ... Over the last ten matchups, the overall series leans towards the Mids by a 6-4 margin with the Mids winning four straight decisions over the Black Knights during the 2017 and 2018 seasons; the teams have split the last four games, 2-2.
    Last 5 Games:
    Feb. 12, 2022 (A): Army 70 - Navy 66 **2022 Star Game
    Jan. 22, 2022 (H): Navy 61 - Army 60
    Jan. 24, 2021 (A): Army 63 - Navy 58
    Jan. 23, 2021 (A): Navy 63 - Army 49
    Feb. 22, 2020 (A): Army 62 - Navy 52

Most Recent Navy-Army Matchup: February 12, 2022 in West Point
Three weeks after an exhilarating one-point game in Annapolis that saw Navy come out on top, Army evened the season series on Saturday afternoon with an equally exhilarating 70-66 decision. Playing before a national television audience on CBS Sports Network, as well as a packed and boisterous Christl Arena on Army's campus, the Mids fought for 40 minutes and had a lead with two and a half minutes to go before the Black Knights closed on an 8-2 run to claim the 2022 Star for women's basketball.

Playing in her final Star game, Jennifer Coleman had a hand in all aspects of Navy's effort on Saturday as she finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, while never leaving the court. The junior duo of Lindsay Llewellyn and Mimi Schrader joined Coleman in double figures as Llewellyn recorded 13 points in 40 minutes of action with Schrader adding 10.

In an explosive first five minutes of action, Navy was hitting on all cylinders as the Mids opened 5-of-6 from the field to go up 12-11 by the 5:44 mark. Coleman was the early sparkplug with seven of her team's points.

Bolstered by a 9-3 run to end the first quarter ahead 20-15, Army added six early points over the initial 1:42 of the second period to go up 11, 26-15. The Mids broke into the scoring column at the 6:21 mark when Coleman found Morganne Andrews deep in the post for an easy layup. Ensuing three-pointers by Schrader and Llewellyn drew Navy within three, 26-23 by 4:23. Army quickly responded to this threat with a 5-0 run of its own to go back ahead by eight. From that juncture at 3:29, the Mids closed out the half with nine of the final 11 points to make it a 33-32 contest in Army's favor. Coleman led that charge with seven of Navy's points.

The ultra-tight and competitive action continued in the second half as there were three lead changes and two ties, at 36 and 38 over the first 3:09. Ciera Hertelendy gave Navy its first lead of the half after grabbing a physical offensive rebound and nailing the putback layup at 9:29. With the score tied 38-38 at 6:51, the teams went nearly silent for the next three-plus minutes as the host Black Knights made just one three-pointer, while the Mids responded with a single made goal. Following a pair of free throws that put Navy behind 43-40, Coleman drove the lane and hit a wide-open Llewellyn on the wing for a game-tying three-pointer at 3:22. That basket sparked the Mids down the stretch as the visitors burst open a six-point lead with an 11-5 run. Llewellyn and Coleman did the heavy lifting for Navy with nine combined points.

Ahead 54-48 after three quarters of play, the Mids added a quick Andrews layup on their first possession to go up by a team-high eight points. Invigorated by its loud fan base within Christl Arena, Army scored nine of the next 10 points between 8:23 and 4:59 to re-tie the game at 57-57. Navy found its scoring touch over the next two possessions as Coleman dribbled into and out of congestion and kicked out to Schrader in the near corner for a three-pointer and then a lengthy two-pointer. With the score 62-59 at 3:35, Army fought Navy to even scores of 62-62 and 64-64 over the next two minutes. The Black Knights took their final lead of the contest with 1:29 remaining as Kate Murray hit her third three-pointer of the quarter. Down 67-64, an exciting and athletic individual effort, a steal and fast break layup, by Darryl Langford helped net the Mids' final basket with 27 seconds left in regulation. A 3-of-4 showing at the foul line by Army in the closing 18 seconds made it a 70-66 final score.

For the game, Army outshot Navy from the field, 45.1 percent (23-51) to 43.9 (25-57) from the field and 48.1 percent (13-27) to 41.2 (7-17) from three-point range. The Mids held a slight 81.8 percent (9-11) to 73.3 (11-15) advantage in foul shooting.

Comparing the Teams

(2022-23 Stats)	Navy	Army
Record / League-Only	1-17 / 1-6 PL	5-12 / 3-4 PL
Home /Away Record	1-8 / 0-9	3-4 / 2-8
Points Per Game	52.0 PPG	59.1 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	70.3 PPG	66.0 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	35.8 %	36.9 %
3-Point Percentage	29.4 %	27.0 %
Free Throw Percentage	60.6 %	62.6 %
Rebounds Per Game	37.4 RPG	36.4 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	10.3 / 18.9	10.9 / 16.8

Individual Leaders

(2022-23 Stats)	Navy	Army
Points Per Game	Watts, 14.3 ppg	S. Hunter, 12.9 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Andrews, 5.1 rpg	S. Hunter, 11.5 rpg
Assists Per Game	Schrader, 2.6 apg	R. Ericson, 3.4 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Samson, 43.9 %	S. Hunter, 54.6 %
3-Point Percentage	Schrader, 36.1 %	R. Ericson, 35.6 %
Free Throw Percentage	Watts, 77.8 %	S. Hunter, 62.8 %

Last Time Out: Wednesday, January 18 at Boston University
The Navy women's basketball team ran into a well-balanced and highly accurate Boston University squad on Wednesday night in a Patriot League contest at BU's Case Gym. The Mids (1-17. 1-6 PL) were unable to answer the Terriers (12-6, 7-0 PL) who had all five starters net nine or more points, while shooting over 55 percent in each of the first three quarters. The top team in the Patriot League, Boston was victorious by a score of 84-41 over Navy.

Sydne Watts led the Mids offensively with a team-high 16 points over 33 minutes of action. Mimi Schrader backed-up Watts' effort with eight points, including a pair of three-pointers.

Watts opened the game with an individual 4-2 run over the initial 2:28 of action. An 8-0 rebuttal by BU helped the hosts dart ahead by a score of 10-4 by the 4:36 mark. After Lindsay Llewellyn put an end to the Terriers scoring streak with a jumper at 4:25, Boston re-engaged its potent offense and netted 11 of the next 13 points to break out to a 21-8 advantage with 70 seconds remaining in the first quarter. A long jumper from the corner by Llewellyn closed the scoring at 21-10.

Boston, the nation's best three-point shooting team caught fire in the second quarter on its way to 31 points on six-of-nine shooting from three-point range and six-of-10 from inside the arc. Navy tried to keep pace with BU during this stanza with 17 points of its own. The Terriers scored five of the first seven points before the three-point barrage began. Schrader tried to intervene in this run of long-range marksmenship with three-pointers at 7:11 and 2:15. Her second trey made it 44-24. Two more triples by BU, including a half-court buzzer beater sent the game to halftime at 52-27.

Navy continued fighting during the second half and played Boston evenly in the fourth quarter, holding the Terriers to just eight points on three-of-15 shooting and a one-of-11 mark from three-point range. Five different Mids scored baskets in the second half with Watts knocking down a pair of field goals in the third and another in the final stanza.

For the game, Boston outshot Navy 51.6 percent (33-64) to 32.8 (19-58) from the field, 37.5 percent (9-24) to 14.3 (2-14) from three-point range and 69.2 percent (9-13) to 50.0 (1-2) from the foul line.