ANNAPOLIS, Md. - An offseason full of hard work and added reps will be put on display Wednesday night when the Navy women's basketball team kicks off its 2023-24 campaign. One season after welcoming eight freshmen to its program, the Mids' rebuilding project should begin to pay dividends under fourth-year head coach Tim Taylor as four starters and 10 total letterwinners return in 2023-24. Additionally, five freshmen have joined the team and will be looking to make their debuts for Navy this year. A non-conference matchup against Susquehanna University at home on Wednesday leads off a 29-game regular season slate that consists of 11 out-of-league contests in November and December before the Patriot League comes into view in early January. Tip-off between the Mids and River Hawks is set for 7 p.m. at Alumni Hall on the campus of the United States Naval Academy.

The Navy-Susquehanna 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. 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 iHeart and Audacy platforms. 

Breaking Down the 2023-24 Mids
This season's edition of the Midshipmen will be looking to gain more experience and cohesion in the non-conference portion of its schedule before fighting to prove the voters in the Patriot League preseason poll wrong. Picked 10th in the league's polling of coaches and media, Taylor and his Navy squad are extremely young with 12 underclassmen and just three seniors. The 2022-23 campaign was filled with glimpses of an extremely bright future as Navy's Class of 2026 contributed 44.0 percent of the scoring, 48.0 percent of the rebounding, 45.5 percent of the assists and 44.4 of the minutes..

Senior Class
The Mids' Class of 2024 will be leaned upon to provide leadership, confidence and experience to the young squad this season. Morganne Andrews has the honor of representing the program as the 2023-24 team captain. She'll be joined by classmates Sydne Watts and Sam Schofield in guiding the team from the top. Andrews had a breakthrough campaign during 2022-23 as she played in all 30 games and started the final 24 as a junior. The West Virginia native hit her stride in Patriot League play as she grabbed 8.7 rebounds per game to rank eighth overall in the conference over 18 games. Included in that strong run of play were double-doubles against Holy Cross (10 pts/13 rebs) and Colgate (18 pts/11 rebs), as well as 17- and 19-rebound performances versus American ... Watts returns for her senior season after leading the Mids in scoring in 2022-23 with 12.7 points per game over 29 games and 24 starts. Her scoring average was 11th best in the Patriot League, while her 31.3 minutes per game of action ranked eighth. An explosive three-level scorer, Watts surpassed the 20-point plateau in four different games, including the ninth-highest scoring output in program history when she went for 33 points against Idaho as part of the 2022 Navy Classic. Dangerous from distance she knocked down three or more three-pointers six times as a junior ... Similar to her classmates Schofield took a step forward as a junior last season and played a key role in Navy's reserve rotation down the stretch in Patriot League play with six or more points in five of the team's final six games, led by a 14-point showing against Lafayette in the last regular season game and 11 in the Patriot League Tournament at American. The Ohio native was Navy's most accurate three-point shooter in 2022-23 as she sank 35.4 percent of her three-point shots (14-48).

Sophomore Class
The Class of 2026 was called upon early and often as three freshmen made their collegiate debuts in the 2022-23 season opener at William & Mary last November. During that contest, the Mids started off fast and scored 26 points in the opening stanza. The Mids would later start four plebes in three other games during non-conference play. This class' success was recognized by the Patriot League with seven total Rookie of the Week awards during 2022-23, including a stretch of five straight weeks to open the season and five individual awards for Maren Louridas; Kate Samson and Shannon Clarke garnered the other two weekly honors. A member of the Patriot League's All-Rookie Team last season, Louridas is one of two sophomores that are slated to return to the starting lineup in 2023-24. On the court for the tip-off of all 30 games as a plebe, Louridas ended the year with the highest scoring average among freshmen in the Patriot League with 11.6 points per game to go along with 1.9 three-pointers and 33.9 minute per game average that also were tops for freshmen in the conference. The New York native was a prolific scorer throughout the year as 20 times she reached double figures with five games of 20 or more points, including twice scoring 24 against Monmouth (with six three-pointers) and Loyola (with five treys). Additionally, Louridas rounded out her game with 4.6 rebounds per game and 65 total assists over 1,017 minutes of action ... Samson is the second sophomore that should be returning to take her place in Navy's starting lineup in the post for 2023-24. Samson showcased how dominant she can be down on the blocks at different parts of her freshman campaign as she opened the year with a double-double at William & Mary (11 pts/10 rebounds) and immediately followed it up with an 11-point, four-rebound outing at Air Force to go along with a pair of blocks in both contests. During a four-game stretch later in the non-conference season, she combined for 32 points, 30 rebounds and 10 blocks with a season-high five rejections against Maryland Eastern Shore and four more at Binghamton. The Richmond native ranked fourth overall in the Patriot League with 0.9 blocks and 13th overall with 4.6 rebounds per game ... Gia Pissott was the third member of the Class of 2026 to suit up in Navy's starting lineup during the 2022-23 season opener, in fact she was part of the starting five in each of the first six games as plebe. She started off fast as she went for four point and seven rebounds at William & Mary before upping her totals to eight points and 10 rebounds against UAlbany two games later. Active in the paint as a power forward, Pissott blocked a season-high three shots versus Army in the 2023 Star Game, while finishing her campaign with 89 rebounds over 23 games ... Morgan Demos ranked third among Navy's deep freshmen class in games played as she appeared in 26 games as a reserve forward. A physical presence in the post, Demos grabbed four or more rebounds in seven different contests with a season-high of five occurring four separate times. The Illinois native's offensive game grew as the season progress and netted eight points at Colgate in late February before coming back with six points and four rebounds at American in the Patriot League Tournament ... Another one of Navy's more active plebe contributors was Kelli Giuliani. who played in 23 games with a pair of starts versus Monmouth and Northern Illinois to her name. The Mids' recipient of 2022-23 Defensive Player of the Year, Giuliani was more often than not charged with defending the opponents' most active and athletic guard. She finished her debut campaign with six points and 10 assists over 116 minutes of combined action ... Injuries short-circuited the promising freshmen seasons of both Shannon Clarke and Toni Papahronis. Clarke broke through early in non-conference play as she earned a start at Mount St. Mary's before two weeks later garnering the Patriot League Rookie of the Week award after going for 11 points and 10 rebounds against Maryland Eastern Shore and later for 10 points and five caroms versus Rider. Over her 10 games, she averaged 4.2 points and 2.8 rebounds over 16.2 minutes per appearance. One of Navy's most highly-regarded freshmen, Papahronis gave Navy a fleeting glimpse of the future as she came off the bench at William & Mary and scored four points with one rebound and one assist over five minutes of action before going down with a season-ending injury.

Freshmen Class
The youth-movement of Navy women's basketball continues this season with five freshmen joining the program from across the nation. The Class of 2027 will be represented on the court this campaign by Zanai Barnett-Gay, Lizzie Holder, Violet McNece, Saran Moschella and Kyah Smith ... Barnett-Gay promises to be an exciting scoring guard after registering over 2,000 points during her high school career. Not just known for her scoring, the Glenn Dale, Maryland native was also honored as Riverside Baptist's Defensive Player of the Year as a senior ... Holder is the most experienced of the quintet as she is transferring to the Naval Academy after initially suiting up at the University of Colorado in a pair of games in 2022-23. An accomplished two-sport athlete with a deep familiar military background, Holder lettered in basketball and tennis at Stillwater Area High School before earning a spot with the Buffaloes. She is the fifth member of her immediate family to attend a service academy as both her parents and two older siblings graduated from West Point ... McNece brings a winning pedigree to Annapolis as she won back-to-back Missouri Class 6 State Championship and tallied 89 wins over three years of action at Incarnate Word Academy before completing her high school career at Marquette High School. She will be leaned upon to to provide Navy with long distance marksmenship to start her career ... Moschella comes to Navy with an athletic background as she lettered in basketball, soccer and lacrosse. On the hard court, she scored over 1,000 points and concluded her career with a spot on the 2022-23 New York State Class A Third Team ... The final member of Navy's freshmen class, Smith saw her standout career culminate in 2023 with a spot on the All-Virginia State Class 5 First Team after her L.C. Bird High School team earned a berth in the Virginia Class 5 State Championship Final.

Comparing the Teams

(2022-23 Stats)	Navy	Susquehanna
Record / League-Only	1-29, 1-17 PL	10-15, 5-9 Landmark (DIII)
Home /Away Record	1-14 / 0-15	5-7 / 4-6 / 1-2
Points Per Game	52.8 PPG	53.3 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	69.6 PPG	57.3 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	36.0 %	37.1 %
3-Point Percentage	28.4 %	25.5 %
Free Throw Percentage	60.8 %	63.7 %
Rebounds Per Game	36.4 RPG	39.5 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	10.8 / 17.6	13.2 / 20.0

Returning Leaders

(2022-23 Stats)	Navy	Susquehanna
Points Per Game	Sydne Watts, 12.7 ppg	Kaitlyn Lynch, 14.1 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Morganne Andrews, 6.6 rpg	Julia Roth, 9.8 rpg
Assists Per Game	Maren Louridas, 2.2 apg	Julia Pinckert, 4.5 apg
Field Goal Percentage	M. Andrews, 44.6 %	J. Roth, 50.0 %
3-Point Percentage	Sam Schofield, 35.4 %	J. Pinckert, 28.7 %
Free Throw Percentage	S. Watts, 77.4 %	K. Lynch, 80.0 %

Navy in Season Openers
Over the past 10 Opening Days, Navy is 4-6 with wins over Stevenson ('19), Catholic ('18), Marist ('17) and Towson ('13). The Mids have been on the road in seven of the last 10 season openers. Twice during this span Navy opened against a Division III opponent and came away with wins. Similar to the above-mentioned Catholic University, Susquehanna competes as part of the Landmark Conference.
    Last 10 Season Openers
    November 7, 2022 (A): William & Mary 79 - Navy 64
    November 9, 2021 (H): Georgetown 73 - Navy 62
    November 29, 2020 (A): George Mason 72 - Navy 68    
    November 5, 2019 (H): Navy 70 - Stevenson 36
    November 7, 2018 (H): Navy 81 - Catholic 36
    November 10, 2017 (A): Navy 77 - Marist 70
    November 11, 2016 (A): Wake Forest 75 - Navy 65
    November 13, 2015 (A): Hofstra 65 - Navy 63
    November 14, 2014 (A): North Carolina A&T 52 - Navy 47
    November 8, 2013 (A): Navy 56 - Towson 55