ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball will be looking to secure its season sweep over Loyola this Sunday with a road matchup in Baltimore. The Mids (1-24, 1-13 PL) knocked off the Greyhounds (8-17, 3-11 PL) on January 14 by a score of 63-43 to put them in position for the potential sweep. The action at Loyola's Reitz Arena is scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip on Sunday.
The Navy-Loyola 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 Audacy platform.
Navy versus Loyola
The Mids and Greyhounds have met 38 times in a series that began on January 28, 1979 ... All-time, Navy leads Loyola, 25-13 with a 16-4 advantage in games played in Annapolis and an even 9-9 mark in contests on Loyola's home campus ... A two-game season sweep in 2021 by Navy helped end a four-game slide in the series; the two teams split the 2022 series ... Since the Greyhounds joined the Patriot League in 2013-14, the Mids are 13-9 overall with a 1-2 mark in Patriot League postseason contests ... Over the last ten matchups, Navy and Loyola have each garnered five wins with the Mids going 2-3 at Reitz Arena.
Last 5 Games:
January 14, 2023 (H): Navy 63 - Loyola 43
February 23, 2022 (A): Loyola 56 - Navy 42
February 5, 2022 (H): Navy 61 - Loyola 54
February 14, 2021 (H): Navy 50 - Loyola 46
February 13, 2021 (A): Navy 69 - Loyola 60
Looking Back at Navy-Loyola ... January 14, 2023 in Annapolis
An energized Navy women's basketball team turned in its most complete performance of the 2022-23 season in front of its alumni and rolled to a 63-43 victory over Loyola on Saturday afternoon. Hosting a large gathering of former players in conjunction with Jade Geif's jersey retirement, the Mids (1-16, 1-5 PL) shot a crisp 45 percent from the field, while holding the Greyhounds (7-10, 2-4 PL) to just 27 percent. The loud fan base at Alumni Hall was treated to four complete quarters by Navy, in which it outscored Loyola in every frame, including a 10-point differential in the second quarter.
The Mids received contributions from throughout their roster on Saturday as seven of the 10 players that saw time scored points, while two others added assists or rebounds in effective time off the bench. Maren Louridas started out fast for Navy with eight points in the first quarter before eventually matching her career-high with 24 points on 9-17 shooting and a 5-10 mark from three-point range. Sydne Watts joined her in double figures with 16 points and a pair of three-pointers. Taking on the reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year and preseason All-PL honoree Lex Therien, a talented post player for Loyola, Morganne Andrews and Gia Pissott were relentless all game as Andrews scored four points to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds, while Pissott went for seven points and five boards.
Evenly-matched through one quarter of play and Navy up by one point, Loyola used a Cristina Garcia jumper to take its final lead of the game, 15-14 at 8:02. In a play that illustrated how much this contest meant to the Mids, Andrews scrambled to grab a long rebound and quickly tossed a pass out to a wide-open Louridas for a deep three-pointer at 7:06. Up 17-15, the Mids rattled off nine more unanswered points to break out to an 11-point lead 26-15. A jumper by Andrews at the end of the shot clock and Louridas' fourth trey of the half highlighted this lengthy run for Navy. Each team added five points down the stretch to send the game into halftime at 31-20.
After a brief halftime ceremony to watch and celebrate Jade Geif as her number 21 was raised to the rafters of Alumni Hall, the Mids scored five of the first seven points to open the third quarter to go ahead by 14, 36-22 when Andrews turned in another hustle play of an offensive rebound and pushed a pass out to the perimeter where Louridas knocked down her fifth three-pointer of the game at 6:06. A tough run of unforced errors by Navy over the next four minutes allowed Loyola to creep back into the game and cut its deficit to nine points. The Mids' team captain Mimi Schrader put an emphatic end to that run with a pull-up three-pointer at 2:09. The energy immediately swung back in Navy's favor and the Mids scored on each of their final two possessions to go up 43-29 through three quarters of play.
Struggling to put together a complete 40-minute game during the first half of its season, Navy used its depth and talent to make sure that its large lead over Loyola would hold up in the fourth quarter on Saturday. Back-to-back baskets to start the fourth period by Louridas and Andrews expanded the Mids' lead out to a then- game-high 18 points. After the Greyhounds clawed their way back to within 12, 50-38 by the 3:36 mark, Watts put the Mids' offense on her back with five straight points. Ahead 55-38 with 2:29 left, Navy sealed its first victory of 2022-23 with a perfect 8-8 showing at the foul line to finalize the game at 63-43.
For the game, Navy outshot Loyola from the field, 44.9 percent (22-49) to 27.1 (13-48) and from three-point range, 38.1 percent (8-21) to 22.2 (2-9). Both teams were solid at the foul line as the Greyhounds edged the Mids, 75.0 percent (15-20) to 73.3 (11-15).
Comparing the Teams
| (2022-23 Stats) |
Navy |
Loyola |
| Record / League-Only |
1-24 / 1-13 PL |
8-17 / 3-11 PL |
| Home / Away Record |
1-12 / 0-12 |
4-9 / 4-8 |
| Points Per Game |
52.2 PPG |
54.9 PPG |
| Points Allowed Per Game |
69.9 PPG |
62.6 PPG |
| Field Goal Percentage |
35.7 % |
38.0 % |
| 3-Point Percentage |
29.2 % |
28.8 % |
| Free Throw Percentage |
60.4 % |
69.1 % |
| Rebounds Per Game |
37.6 RPG |
34.0 RPG |
| Assists/Turnovers Per Game |
10.4 / 18.6 |
11.1 / 17.4 |
Individual Leaders
| (2022-23 Stats) |
Navy |
Loyola |
| Points Per Game |
Watts, 12.9 ppg |
L. Therien, 15.1 ppg |
| Rebounds Per Game |
Andrews, 6.1 rpg |
L. Therien, 10.6 rpg |
| Assists Per Game |
Schrader, 2.6 apg |
T. Dixon, 2.3 apg |
| Field Goal Percentage |
Samson, 44.3 % |
L. Therien, 49.0 % |
| 3-Point Percentage |
Schrader, 31.1 % |
K. Ratigan, 34.2 % |
| Free Throw Percentage |
Watts, 76.5 % |
T. Dixon, 84.9 % |
Last Time Out: Wednesday, January 15 vs. Lehigh
Coming off an emotional game on Saturday against its archrival Army and faced with a matchup against the Patriot League's highest-scoring team, Lehigh, the Navy women's basketball team had its hands full on Wednesday night. The Mids didn't let any of that initially affect them as they jumped out to a 12-10 lead through one quarter of play before the explosive Mountain Hawks overtook them in the second period and rolled in the second half with a 40-15 scoring advantage on their way to an eventual 72-38 victory at Alumni Hall in Annapolis.
Lindsay Llewellyn bolstered Navy's offensive effort with a team-high 15 points, including all 11 of her squad's points in the second quarter. Morganne Andrews was active throughout the contest with seven points, a team-high 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals. Off the bench, Sam Schofield hit a pair of three-pointers in the second half for the Mids.
Navy opened the action on Wednesday night fast with a quick 6-2 lead over the initial 2:45 of play. During the next two minutes, Lehigh dug out of its early hole and pulled even 6-6 by the 5:18 mark of the quarter. A trading of baskets by Andrews and the Mountain Hawks' Lily Fandre advanced the score up to 8-8 a minute later. Consecutive field goals by Llewellyn and Kate Samson helped Navy re-take its four-point lead by 1:22. With the score 12-8, a late bucket by Lehigh's Mackenzie Kramer closed the quarter at 12-10.
That field goal in the closing seconds by Kramer sparked her game as the junior opened up the second period with five more unanswered points to help the Mountain Hawks push out to a 15-12 lead. From that point at 7:38, Lehigh never looked back. Overall, they scored 10 of the first 12 points of the second quarter to open up a 20-14 advantage by 5:23. A three-pointer by Llewellyn at 4:29 stopped that burst and drew Navy back within three points. An immediate 8-1 rebuttal by Lehigh gave the visitors a 10-point edge before Llewellyn continued her individual effort with a layup and three-pointer on back-to-back possessions at 1:49 and 1:32. With the score 28-23, Lehigh scored the final four points of the half to take a nine-point lead into the locker room.
Coming out of the halftime intermission with the score 32-23 in favor of Lehigh, that nine-point margin stayed over the opening four minutes of the third quarter with both teams sinking three baskets. Maren Louridas was the catalyst for Navy's early success with a pair of those makes. Ahead 39-30 at 6:19, the Mountain Hawks then ran off 12 unanswered points over the next 5:10 to break out to a 51-30 advantage. Schofield ended the Mids' scoring drought with a step-back three-pointer with 53 seconds left in the period.
Early in the fourth quarter, Schofield's number was called again when Mimi Schrader drove through the lane and whipped an over-the-shoulder pass to Schofield, who caught and fired away from the left wing for her second three-pointer in as many quarters at 7:22. With the score 55-36, Lehigh controlled the remainder of the game and closed out the contest on a 17-2 run to win by a final score of 72-38.
For the contest, Lehigh outshot Navy, 42.9 percent (24-56) to 27.1 (16-59) from the field, 47.4 percent (9-19) to 21.1 (4-19) from three-point range and 88.2 percent (15-17) to 33.3 (2-6) from the foul line.
