ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball team will welcome a pair of first-time opponents to The Yard with the 2023 edition of the Navy Classic. As part of a two-day pre-arranged tournament at Alumni Hall, the Mids (2-2) will go head-to-head with the Quinnipiac Bobcats (1-2) on Saturday at 1 p.m. before matching up with the Abilene Christian Wildcats (2-1) on Sunday at the same time. The non-Navy contests as part of the four-game classic are a Towson (1-1) and ACU tilt on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and a Towson-Quinnipiac game on Sunday, also 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 Sunday contest will also be available via WNAV: over the radio waves on 99.9 FM or 1430 AM, online at WNAV.com or through the iHeart and Audacy platforms. 

Navy vs. Quinnipiac (MAAC) & Abilene Christian (WAC)
The Mids have never played either the Bobcats or the Wildcast in their 47 years as a varsity program ... Navy has 62 games of experience against teams from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) with a 28-34 record ... Quinnipiac is the only MAAC program that Navy has never played ... the Mids' most common MAAC opponent is Mount St. Mary's with 29 meetings (9-20 all-time) ... Navy has only played two games all-time against teams from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC): Seattle (Jan. 11, 2011; L, 62-50) and Grand Canyon (Nov. 29, 2014; W, 60-51).

Navy in the Navy Classic
The Mids are 40-18 all-time in the Navy Classic ... started in 1990 as the Navy Tip-Off, the Mids have regularly hosted teams in Annapolis and have held the Classic in its current form every year since 2009, with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic ... the last time Navy hosted a team from the MAAC was Siena in 2015 (W, 59-58, OT) and from the WAC was Grand Canyon in 2014 (W, 60-51) ... the Mids last win as part of a Navy Classic was Dec. 1, 2019 versus La Salle (61-47) as they've lost four straight classic contests: Liberty ('21), George Mason ('21), Northern Illinois ('22) and Idaho ('22).

Comparing the Teams

(2023-24 Stats)	Navy	Quinnipiac	Abilene
Record / League-Only	2-2, 0-0 PL	1-2, 0-0 MAAC	2-1, 0-0 WAC
Home / Away Record	2-1 / 0-1	1-1 / 0-1	2-1 / 0-0
Points Per Game	61.8 PPG	54.7 PPG	66.7 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	67.5 PPG	66.7 PPG	59.3 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	36.9 %	39.8 %	37.9 %
3-Point Percentage	22.8 %	23.6 %	28.6 %
Free Throw Percentage	59.7 %	54.8 %	60.6 %
Rebounds Per Game	41.8 RPG	28.0 RPG	39.0 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	10.8 / 20.8	12.3 / 13.7	11.0 / 16.0

Individual Leaders

(2023-24 Stats)	Navy	Quinnipiac	Abilene Christian
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 21.5 ppg	Jackie Grisdale, 13.7 ppg	Hull/Thornton, 11.3 PPG
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 8.3 rpg	Anna Foley, 6.7 rpg	Bella Earle, 6.3 RPG
Assists Per Game	Kyah Smith, 3.0 apg	A. Foley, 4.3 apg	Aspen Thornton, 2.3 APG
Field Goal Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 46.1 %	J. Grisdale, 48.4 %	Payton Hull, 45.5 %
3-Point Percentage	Maren Louridas, 33.3 %	J. Grisdale, 43.8 %	A. Thornton, 42.9 %
Free Throw Percentage	K. Smith, 72.7 %	A. Foley, 60.0 %	P. Hull, 69.2 %

Last Time Out -- Tuesday vs. Binghamton
Down by 12 points after one quarter of play, the Navy women's basketball team had a dominant response over the final 30 minutes and knocked off Binghamton by a score of 66-59 on Tuesday night. Trailing 33-27 at halftime, the Mids came out in the second half and rattled off a 22-9 third quarter to overtake the Bearcats and never looked back. As a team, Navy shot 55.2 percent from the field and turned Binghamton over 14 times in the final 20 minutes of action at Alumni Hall.

The freshmen backcourt of Zanai Barnett-Gay and Kyah Smith combined for 48 points on 20-of-31 shooting as both recorded career-high scoring performances with Barnett-Gay going for 29 and Smith going for 19. While not leading the Mids in scoring, Gia Pissott provided her team with 18 minutes of strong effort off the bench as she added four points, three rebounds and drew five fouls, while posting a +9 in the overall plus-minus rating.

The first quarter was all about Binghamton as the visitors jetted out to an 11-4 lead over the initial four minutes of the game and a 20-8 advantage through 10 minutes. The Mids were held back in the stanza by seven turnovers that resulted in nine points for the Bearcats.

Binghamton held that double-digit lead well into the second half of the second quarter as both teams registered eight points over the opening six minutes. With the score 28-16, Navy's talented guard duo of Barnett-Gay and Smith tallied seven straight points over a five-possession stretch to make it a 28-23 margin at 1:55. A slight rebuttal by the Bearcats going into the halftime intermission saw the first half go final at 33-27.

Building off their 19-point second quarter, the Mids came out in the third quarter and netted eight of the first 10 points to draw even at 35-35 by the 5:59 mark. Sydne Watts and Smith sparked Navy during this early streak with four points a piece. Though Binghamton temporarily interrupted Navy's fast start with a pair of free throws at 5:12, the Mids responded with 10 consecutive points, all from their freshmen class, eight from Barnett-Gay and two from Lizzie Holder.  Up 47-37 at 1:44, Navy wrapped up the period ahead on the scoreboard, 49-42. The Mids' dominant 22-9 third quarter was spearheaded by 10-17 shooting and nine forced turnovers that directly resulted in 11 points.

Baskets by Barnett-Gay and Smith in the first 1:13 of the fourth quarter built Navy's lead back into the double-digits, 53-42. A sign of their maturation, the Mids responded to each of the Bearcats' next two field goals with field goals of their own to keep the visitors at bay in the eight-to-10-point range. With the score 57-48 at 4:33, Navy stayed on the gas offensively and broke away for a 16-point lead courtesy of a 9-2 run over the next 2:28. Trailing 66-50, Binghamton cut its final deficit to seven with three three-pointers over the final 1:45 of the game.

In Navy's 66-59 win, the Mids outshot the Bearcats, 50.9 percent (27-53) to 42.3 (22-52) from the field, though Binghamton shot 40.0 percent (6-15) from three-point range, while Navy only attempted four triples and went 0-for-4 from distance. 

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.