ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball team will be in action on Wednesday when it welcomes local foe American in its second-to-last home game of the 2022-23 season. The contest between the Mids (1-25, 1-14 PL) and Eagles (6-20, 5-10 PL) will be a rematch of a Jan. 28 meeting that went the way of American by a score of 62-55 in Washington, D.C. In that earlier matchup, Navy led 44-40 through three quarters, but fell victim to a late charge from the hosts as American scored 22 points in the final stanza. Wednesday night's game in Annapolis is set of a 7 p.m. tip-off at Alumni Hall.

The Navy-American 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. 

Navy versus American
The Mids and Eagles have met 65 times in a series that began on February 16, 1978  ... All-time, American leads Navy, 41-24 on the strength of its dominant 25-5 mark over 30 meetings at Bender Arena; that trend is reversed as the Mids hold an 18-13 edge in games at Alumni Hall ... Navy's last three wins in this series dating back to 2017 have all come at home (March 1, 2017, Feb. 28, 2018, and Jan. 17, 2021) ... Since the Eagles joined the Patriot League in 2001-02, American is 27-17 against Navy ... In the last 10 American-Navy game, the Eagles are 9-1 overall with the Mids claiming their only victory during that span on January 17, 2021 in Annapolis ... Each of the last seven meetings have been decided by 10 or less points.
    Last 5 Games:
    Jan. 28, 2023 (A): American 62 - Navy 55
    Feb. 16, 2022 (H): American 54 - Navy 43 
    Jan. 29, 2022 (A): American 69 - Navy 60
    February 24, 2021 (A): American 65 - Navy 59
    January 17, 2021 (H): Navy 70 - American 67

Most Recent Navy - American Matchup ~ January, 28, 2023 in Washington, D.C.
For the second straight game, the Navy women's basketball started strong and held a 10-point halftime lead, though a hard-charging American squad came from behind to claim a 62-55 victory on Saturday afternoon. The Mids shot over 45 percent and had just eight turnovers in the first half to jump out to their double-digit advantage before the Eagles' defense buckled down and allowed just nine baskets and forced 14 turnovers over the final 20 minutes to seize the win on their home court at Bender Arena.

Morganne Andrews was everywhere for Navy on Saturday as the junior grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds, while scoring a season-high eight points. Additionally, Andrews was credited with a game-high four steals and a block over 39 minutes of action. Fellow upperclassman Lindsay Llewellyn was the Mids' high scorer against the Eagles as she netted 14 points off the bench. Shooting an efficient 5-of-6, Kate Samson reached double-digits for the first time in six games, as she went for 10 points to go along with five rebounds and a block.

The action on Saturday opened evenly as both teams quickly tallied eight points by the 6:41 mark. Navy's marksmenship was excellent as it hit four of its first five shots, including a pair of field goals by Andrews. From that point, American slowly crept out to a 12-8 lead over the next two minutes. Back-to-back baskets, a Llewellyn jumper and a Sydne Watts three-pointer jolted the Mids back into the lead by a score of 13-12. After two made foul shots by the Eagles, the Mids scored the final nine points of the quarter to take a 22-14 lead into the break. Three-pointers by Llewellyn at 2:42 and Maren Louridas at 1:55 sparked Navy's late run. While the Mids' offense was hot, their defense was equally as proficient as they forced the Eagles into five turnovers and turned that into eight points in the opening frame.

A jumper by Andrews on Navy's first possession of the second quarter gave the visitors a double-digit lead of 10. The Mids held distance of eight-to-12 points between themselves and the Eagles for the entirety of the stanza. Samson scored half of Navy's points in its 12-point effort with a perfect 3-for-3 showing from the field. The Mids defended the Eagles intensely in the second quarter and allowed just three made baskets on 12 attempts to go along with three free throws. An offensive rebound and quick lay off from Andrews to Gia Pissott with 30 seconds remaining closed the half at 34-24 in favor of Navy.

For the first half, Navy shot 45.5 percent (15-33) from the field and had 10 assists on 15 baskets, while only turning the ball over eight times. On the opposite side of the ledger, American shot 32.0 percent (8-25) and had nine turnovers. Additionally, Navy had a 16-4 advantage in points in the paint and an 8-1 edge in second-chance points on the strength of its five offensive rebounds.

Down 10 coming out of the locker room in the third quarter, the host Eagles scored 12 of the first 16 points of the half to draw to within two, 38-36 by the 4:07 mark. A 2-for-2 effort at the foul line by American's Emily Johns two minutes later knotted the game at 38-all. Bending, but not breaking Navy found its shooting touch from long range in the closing 75 seconds of the third quarter with three-point buckets by Louridas and Llewellyn to re-insert the Mids into the driver's seat 44-40 through three quarters of play.

American used the momentum that it built up most of the third quarter and darted out into the lead with seven straight points to start the fourth. Up 47-44, the Eagles never gave back their lead even as the Mids pulled within one point on a jumper by Watts at 5:37 and a Samson layup at 5:03. Navy's final push was a 4-0 run courtesy of back-to-back baskets by Andrews and Louridas to tighten a 53-48 score into a 53-52 contest with 2:43 remaining. Eight consecutive points by American over the next two-plus minutes broke the game open to a nine-point margin before a late three-pointer by Louridas drew Navy back to within six. A single free throw by the Eagles' Laura Nogues closed the scoring at 62-55 in favor of the home squad.

In a flip of the first half stats, American turned 14 Navy turnovers into 14 points, while using five offensive rebounds to garner a 7-5 edge in second-chance points. The Eagles also took advantage of 18 free throw attempts in the second 20 minutes versus just two chances for the Mids.

For the game, Navy outshot American, 38.7 percent (24-62) to 37.7 (20-53) from the field, while the Eagles finished with advantages in three-point shooting, 37.5 percent (6-16) to 28.6 (6-21), and free throw shooting, 66.7 percent (16-24) to 25.0 (1-4).

Comparing the Teams

(2022-23 Stats)	Navy	American
Record / League-Only	1-25 / 1-14 PL	6-20 / 5-10 PL
Home / Away / Neut. Record	1-12 / 0-13	3-9 / 3-9 / 0-2
Points Per Game	52.1 PPG	57.3 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	70.1 PPG	67.7 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	35.7 %	39.3 %
3-Point Percentage	29.0 %	26.2 %
Free Throw Percentage	60.2 %	73.1 %
Rebounds Per Game	36.8 RPG	32.1 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	10.5 / 18.4	13.1 / 19.7

Individual Leaders

(2022-23 Stats)	Navy	American
Points Per Game	Watts, 13.0 ppg	E. Johns, 12.8 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Andrews, 6.0 rpg	I. Bales, 6.3 rpg
Assists Per Game	Schrader, 2.6 apg	I. Bales, 3.1 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Samson, 44.1 %	L. Stack, 46.2 %
3-Point Percentage	Llewellyn, 30.8 %	M. Lavin, 36.2 %
Free Throw Percentage	Watts, 76.5 %	M. Lavin, 79.5 %

Last Time Out: Sunday, February 19 at Loyola
The Navy women's basketball team fell victim to a hot-shooting Loyola squad that started off fast and never slowed down as it shot nearly 60 percent on Sunday afternoon in a Patriot League tilt. Starting off the game hitting 12 of their first 14 shots, the Greyhounds broke out to a nine-point lead through one quarter of play and never looked back on their way to a 74-50 victory over the Mids at Reitz Arena.
 
The duo of Sydne Watts and Maren Louridas led Navy on Sunday with 27 combined points. Watts shot 50 percent (6-12 FG, 3-6 3 PT) to finish with 15 points, while Louridas added 12 of her own.

The action at Reitz Arena began evenly as back-to-back baskets by Louridas at 6:00 and 5:14 knotted the game at 7-7. From that juncture, Loyola closed out the first quarter on a 12-3 run to hold a 19-10 lead after 10 minutes. The hosts extended that run out with the first seven points of the second quarter in a matter of 1:55 to go up 26-10. The Greyhounds were bolstered over these opening 12 minutes of the game by an 86 percent shooting percentage (12-14). After Taylor called a timeout, the Mids responded with a 10-3 run to pull back within nine points, 29-20. Watts initially sparked the run with back-to-back baskets, 26 seconds apart before Lindsay Llewellyn knocked down a pair of field goals to round out the run. Loyola recovered over the final 65 seconds of play in the period and scored six of the last nine points to take a 35-23 lead into the locker room.
 
That late momentum carried over into the second half as the Greyhounds recorded the first six points of the third quarter. With the score 41-23, Watts single-handedly drew Navy back into the game with an 11-2 run from 7:34 to 5:50. Four-for-four from the field, Watts knocked down three consecutive three-pointers with a pull-up jumper as the exclamation point. Challenged by the Mids at 43-34, the Greyhounds immediately answered back with a 12-0 run over the next three-plus minutes. Loyola's lead bounced between 18 and 21 the final two minutes as it ended ahead 59-39 after three quarters of play.

Strong free throw shooting aided the Greyhounds in the fourth quarter as the hosts never let their lead fall below 20 on the back of a perfect nine-of-nine showing from the foul line. Navy went with a freshmen-heavy lineup down the stretch and saw its plebes net all 11 points in the final stanza with Louridas knocking home a pair of jumpers to lead the way. Kate Samson, Bianca Coleman and Kelli Giuliani all found their way into the box score in the fourth with baskets.
  
For the game, Loyola outshot Navy, 59.1 percent (26-44) to 37.5 (21-56) from the field, 30.0 percent (3-10) to 23.8 (5-21) from three-point range and 90.5 percent (19-21) to 50.0 (3-6) 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.