ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Three weeks after going head-to-head in a physical service academy showdown at West Point, the women's basketball teams from Army and Navy will suit up again on Saturday morning in front of a national tv audience in the second game of the 2023 Army-Navy series. This Saturday's matchup will have added stakes as the Star for women's basketball will be up for grabs. The Mids (1-22, 1-11 Patriot League) will be looking to avenge their earlier 75-61 loss to the Black Knights (9-13, 7-5 PL). Tip-off at Alumni Hall is scheduled for 11 a.m. and will be covered live via the CBS Sports Network.

Saturday's women's contest is game one of a service academy basketball doubleheader as the Army-Navy men's game is slated to tip-off at 1:30 p.m. The two matchups are the 15th and 16th Star Games of the 2022-23 Star Series presented by USAA. Navy currently leads the year-long competition, 8-6.

Navy versus Army
The Mids and Black Knights have met 80 times in a series that began on January 18, 1981  ... All-time, Navy and Army are tied, 40-40 ... The series is tied in every possible way with it being 18-18 in Annapolis, 19-19 in West Point and 3-3 at neutral sites ... Navy has held the home court advantage recently with four wins in the last five contests at Alumni Hall ... The Senior Class of 2023 has split the series evenly with both sides earning one win a year over 2020, 2021 and 2022 ... In Star Games, Army has won the last three: 2019, 2020 and 2022 (The Star was not up for grabs 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 Black Knights by a 6-4 margin.
    Last 5 Games:
    Jan. 21, 2023 (A): Army 75 - Navy 61
    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

Most Recent Navy/Army Matchup: Jan. 21, 2023 at West Point ...
The Navy women's basketball team came up short against an experienced Army squad on Saturday in the first leg of the teams' 2023 series. Playing at a jam-packed and loud Christl Arena on the campus of the United States Military Academy, the Mids rallied and drew within one point mid-way through the third quarter before the Black Knights pulled away over the final 15 minutes to secure the 75-61 victory.

Playing in her first Army-Navy game, freshman Maren Louridas filled up the box score with team-highs of 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists over 36 minutes of action. In her fourth game of the season after returning from injury, Lindsay Llewellyn recorded 15 points, two rebounds and two assists in 28 minutes off the bench.

The contest started heavily in Army's favor as the hosts ran out to a 9-0 lead over the first 2:05 of play. A small 6-2 rebuttal by Navy from 7:41 to 5:35 helped the Mids cut their deficit to five at 11-6. The momentum immediately swung back to Army as the Black Knights scored seven unanswered points as part of a larger 11-6 close to the quarter. Trailing by 10, 22-12 through one quarter of action, Llewellyn immediately drew Navy back to within single digits with a corner three-pointer on the Mids' first possession of the second period. Neither team scored for the next three-plus minutes before Army's Reece Ericson sank a mid-range jumper at 6:07 to put the Black Knights back up nine. A quick exchange of baskets within 11 seconds of each other by Gia Pissott and Ericson advanced the score to 26-17 at 4:58. Pissott was active again on the offensive glass and scoring column as a little over a minute later she grabbed the o-board and quickly bounced back up for a layup. Offense continued to be at a premium over the final three minutes as each team made just one field goal. Turnovers were the main story of the 15-point stanza as Navy forced Army into seven turnovers, while the Mids lost the ball four times.

Down 28-21 coming out of halftime, Navy immediately went down by nine as Army converted on its first time down the court. Scoreless in the first half and her team trailing by nine, Louridas ran off an individual scoring 11-3 stretch to make it 33-32 score by 6:54. The plebe scored from all three parts of the court as she made one three-pointer, two driving layups and four free throws. The one-point margin stayed as such for the next two minutes as Ericson and Llewellyn traded baskets. In a play that Coach Taylor remarked as a game-changer, Army's Sabria Hunter fought off a Navy defender and grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up for a layup and an 'and-one.' A three-pointer by Sam McNaughton two possessions later put Army back up by six before Navy's team captain Mimi Schrader fired back with a three-pointer of her own next time down. With the score 40-37 and 3:49 left in the quarter, the Black Knights caught fire and hit five of their final six shots to close the period up 52-41.

Navy continued to scrap and fight and opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back makes by Llewellyn and Sydne Watts to make it 54-45, 55 seconds in. A 3:29 scoreless streak by Navy impeded the Mids' ability to get closer, while also allowing the Black Knights to slowly build up a 16-point lead, 61-45 by 5:56. Three straight points, a jumper and a free throw by Morganne Andrews helped get Navy's offense back in gear momentarily and draw within 13. After the Black Knights surged ahead further, a valiant 11-4 close to the game by the Mids finished the scoring at 75-61. Louridas recorded seven points for Navy during this final stretch.

For the game, Army outshot Navy from the floor, 45.8 percent (27-59) to 39.0 (23-59) and from the foul line, 72.0 percent (18-25) to 66.7 (10-15). Three-point shooting wasn't much of a factor in Saturday's contest as the Mids held a marginal 31.3 percent (5-16) to 21.4 (3-14) edge.

Comparing the Teams

(2022-23 Stats)	Navy	Army
Record / League-Only	1-22 / 1-11 PL	9-13 / 7-5 PL
Home /Away Record	1-10 / 0-12	5-5 / 4-8
Points Per Game	52.3 PPG	61.4 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	70.0 PPG	65.4 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	35.6 %	38.4 %
3-Point Percentage	29.0 %	26.7 %
Free Throw Percentage	60.4 %	65.7 %
Rebounds Per Game	37.7 RPG	36.0 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	10.3 / 18.6	10.6 / 16.0

Individual Leaders

(2022-23 Stats)	Navy	Army
Points Per Game	Watts, 13.3 ppg	S. Hunter, 14.5 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Andrews, 6.1 rpg	S. Hunter, 12.2 rpg
Assists Per Game	Schrader, 2.6 apg	R. Ericson, 3.2 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Samson, 44.7 %	S. Hunter, 57.5 %
3-Point Percentage	Schrader, 31.5 %	R. Ericson, 30.9 %
Free Throw Percentage	Watts, 76.0 %	R. Ericson, 92.1 %

Last Time Out: Wednesday, February 8 at Bucknell
The Navy women's basketball team had an up-and-down performance on Wednesday night in its road contest at Bucknell. Combining to score 39 points over the second and fourth quarters, a slow four-point first quarter left the Mids (1-22, 1-11 PL) in a deep deficit that would leave them chasing the Bison (10-13, 6-6 PL) even with its efficient even-numbered quarters. On the overall strength of 51.0 percent shooting and a 22-point advantage in points in the paint, Bucknell was victorious 70-49 over Navy at Sojka Pavilion.

Individually, Sydne Watts led the Mids with a team-high 15 points and nine rebounds over 28 minutes of action. Lindsay Llewellyn and Maren Louridas nearly joined Watts in double figures as they both finished with nine points, respectively. Morganne Andrews had a well-rounded line with eight points and five rebounds.

The game opened with a predominantly Bucknell feel to it as the host Bison jumped out to an 11-2 lead by the midway point of the first quarter. Bucknell rounded out that initial run with a 15-2 edge before Watts entered her name in the box score with a pull-up jumper at 3:41. Two more baskets by the Bison closed out the period at 19-4.

Down, but not out, the Mids came out in the second quarter and immediately made it interesting with successful three-pointers on each of their first two possessions, the first by Louridas and the second by Llewellyn. With the score 19-10, Navy continued its comeback and drew within six at 21-15 at the 6:02 courtesy of two more Louridas field goals and a single free throw by Watts. Bucknell didn't allow the visitors to get any closer as it quickly responded with a 10-2 run over the next three minutes. The final three minutes of action saw plenty of offensive fireworks as both teams added eight points to their respective totals. Watts single-handedly did all of the heavy lifting for the Mids with two three-pointers and third mid-range jumper.

Coming off of a 21-point second quarter, Navy was unable to re-kindle that deft scoring touch in the third quarter as Bucknell netted the first eight points of the stanza to break out to a 47-25 lead by 7:09. After a Watts basket at 6:50 and a Collins rebuttal at 6:27 for the Bison, strong defense was the key to the period as both sides recorded just one made field goal to go along with two free throws over the remainder of the quarter to make it a 53-31 game through 30 minutes of action.

Similar to the second quarter, the three-point shot sparked Navy early as Llewellyn found Sam Schofield on the wing for a trey nine seconds into the fourth period. That basket invigorated the Mids as they scored nine of the next 13 points on four-of-five shooting to cut their deficit to 14. Llewellyn was a leading catalyst during that run with two field goals. With the score 57-43 at 5:14, Bucknell was able to re-engage its offense down the stretch and closed out the game on a 13-6 run to secure the 70-49 win.

For the game, Bucknell outshot Navy, 51.0 percent (26-51) to 29.7 (19-64) from the field and 80.0 percent (16-20) to 75.0 (6-8) from the foul line. The Mids held the edge in three-point shooting, 35.7 percent (5-14) to 14.3 (2-14).

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 90 minutes 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.