ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball team will return to action this Tuesday evening with a non-conference bout versus Goucher College. The second-ever varsity matchup between the two nearby institutions comes as the Mids will be looking to knock the rust off after 10 days away from the court to focus on final exams at the Naval Academy. Navy (3-6) most recently played Dartmouth on December 8 and fell late on the road to the Big Green, while Goucher (0-10) will be competing in Tuesday's contest with its eye's on win number one of 2023-24. Tip-off between the Mids and Gophers is set for 6 p.m. at Alumni Hall.

The Navy-Goucher 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. 

Navy vs. Goucher / Landmark Conference
The Mids and Gophers have met just twice before with the initial matchup coming during Navy's inaugural season of women's basketball in 1977. In that meeting on February 13, 1977, Navy defeated Goucher, 52-27. During the 1976-77 season, Navy officially competed at the junior varsity level as women had just started gaining admittance to the Naval Academy that fall. The program's inaugural varsity collegiate contest occurred against Johns Hopkins on December 7, 1977 ... The Mids and Gophers went head-to-head in a countable varsity game on Dec. 7, 2016 in a tilt that Navy won 93-40 ... Navy has picked up three games against members of the NCAA Division III Landmark Conference over the past decade, most recently November 8 of this season versus Susquehanna; a 78-37 victory for the Mids.
    Most Recent Matchups versus Landmark Conference Foes ...
    Nov. 8, 2023 (H): Navy 78 - Susquehanna 37
    Nov. 7, 2018 (H): Navy 81 - Catholic 36
    Dec. 7, 2016 (H): Navy 93 - Goucher 40
    Feb. 15, 1990 (H): Navy 90 - Catholic 62
    Dec. 2, 1989 (A): Navy 73 - Catholic 53

Comparing the Teams

(2023-24 Stats)	Navy	Goucher
Record / League-Only	3-6, 0-0 PL	0-10, 0-4 Landmark
Home / Away / Neut. Record	3-3 / 0-3	0-5 / 0-5
Points Per Game	61.8 PPG	54.8 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	70.4 PPG	85.5 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	38.3 %	29.8 %
3-Point Percentage	27.3 %	25.7 %
Free Throw Percentage	58.2 %	57.1 %
Rebounds Per Game	37.9 RPG	38.5 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	12.4 / 18.2	9.5 / 19.9

Individual Leaders

(2023-24 Stats)	Navy	Goucher
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 20.0 ppg	Merci Turner, 13.2 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 6.7 rpg	M. Turner, 7.6 rpg
Assists Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 3.7 apg	Maiya Villanueva, 3.2 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 45.8 %	M. Turner, 36.2 %
3-Point Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 34.3 %	Julia Cavoli, 39.6 %
Free Throw Percentage	Kyah Smith, 64.7 %	M. Turner, 67.4 %

Last Time Out -- Friday, Dec. 8 at Dartmouth
The Navy women's basketball team nearly picked up its first road win of the season on Friday as it led Dartmouth by six through three quarters before a dominant response by the Big Green (3-4) over the final 10 minutes resulted in a 65-52 loss for the Mids (3-6) at Leede Arena.

Zanai Barnett-Gay led all scorers on Friday with 19 points on 8-19 shooting to go along with co-team-highs of three assists and three steals. Sydne Watts gave Navy two scorers in double figures as she finished with 11 points, including a pair of three-pointers. In her first start of the season, team captain Morganne Andrews posted a well-rounded statline of eight points, nine rebounds and three steals.
 
Navy started out the contest on the road crisply as the Mids jumped out to 10-2 lead over the first 4:07 of play. Using all of its weapons, Navy received baskets from four different players during this initial run with Barnett-Gay leading the way with a pair of field goals. Dartmouth fought back from this early challenge and scored the next five points to draw within three. A floating jumper in the lane by Kyah Smith put an end to that streak as she put the Mids back up by five, 12-7 at 2:24. Both teams were fairly even over the final two minutes of play in the first quarter and the teams retired to the bench with Navy ahead, 16-10.

As the Mids struggled with their shot early on, the host Big Green opened the second quarter scoring nine of the first 12 points to tie the game, 19-19 at 2:42. With her team o-fer from three-point range to start the contest, Barnett-Gay found success from beyond the arc on the ensuing possession and Navy quickly went back up by three, 22-19. Similar to the final minutes of the first period, the teams mirrored each other down the stretch to push Navy back up three to end the half, 27-24.

The Mids extended their lead out to seven with three of the first four baskets of the third quarter. Barnett-Gay bolstered this early run with two layups built from steals by Andrews at 6:30 and 5:22, respectively. With the score 33-26, Dartmouth responded with an 11-6 run to pull within two by the 1:28 mark. Navy's talented freshmen backcourt shined over the final 88 seconds as Smith knocked down a pull-up jumper before Barnett-Gay grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast to beat the buzzer and make it a 43-37 game through three quarters of play.

Trailing by six, Dartmouth kicked off the fourth quarter with a 4-5 showing from the field, including back-to-back three-pointers by Nina Minicozzi to take its first lead of the game, 47-43 at 6:24. A pair of free throws by Barnett-Gay got Navy into the scoring column and pulled the visitors back to within two. Those free throws were only augmented by a Watts free throw at 3:53 as the Mids were held without a field goal until 2:11 when Maren Louridas sank a three-pointer. With the Big Green leading 56-49, they sewed up the victory with a 7-8 effort at the foul line late to walk away with a 65-52 decision. As a team, Navy shot just 14.3 percent (2-14) from the field in the fourth quarter and 50.0 percent (3-6) from the foul line, while Dartmouth countered by hitting 57.1 percent (8-14) of its shots and 76.9 percent (10-13) of its attempts from the charity stripe.

For the game, the Big Green outshot the Mids in all three categories: 40.7 percent (24-59) to 34.9 (22-63) from the field, 31.3 percent (5-16) to 18.2 (4-22) from three-point range and 70.6 percent (12-17) to 40.0 (4-10) from the foul line.

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.