ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Showing glimpses of success against a trio of Patriot League favorites to start conference play over the past 10 days, the Navy women's basketball team will take aim for win number one in league action on Saturday when it hosts Lafayette College. Two of the more evenly-matched teams over the past three seasons, the Mids (4-10, 0-3 PL) and Leopards (6-8, 1-2 PL) have had four of their five meetings decided by 10 or less points during this stretch, including a two-point win by Navy at home in 2021. The Mids will be looking to repeat that outcome on Saturday when the two teams face off in Alumni Hall beginning at 1 p.m.

Navy versus Lafayette
The Mids and Leopards have met 81 times in a series that began on Feb. 16, 1980  ... All-time, Navy leads Lafayette, 53-28 with a 33-10 advantage in games played in Annapolis ... Most recently over the last five meetings at Alumni Hall, the series is much closer with just a 3-2 edge for the Leopards ... Navy's most recent win at home was a 55-53 victory on Feb. 17, 2021 ... Over the last ten overall matchups, Lafayette has secured seven wins, including a current four-game streak.
    Last Five Games:
    March 1, 2023 (H): Lafayette 74 - Navy 64
    Jan. 11, 2023 (A): Lafayette 69 - Navy 57
    Feb. 9, 2022 (A): Lafayette 58 - Navy 51
    Jan. 8, 2022 (H): Lafayette 54 - Navy 44
    Feb. 17, 2021 (H): Navy 55 - Lafayette 53

Most Recent Navy-Lafayette Matchup - March 1, 2023 in Annapolis
Navy ran into a hard-charging Lafayette squad that came from behind with a 30-point fourth quarter to walk away with a 74-64 victory on Wednesday night. Close throughout the first three quarters and tied 50-50 with seven minutes left in regulation, the Mids fell victim to a hot Leopard squad that made six of their final eight shots and 12 of 16 free throws to earn the comeback win at Alumni Hall in the regular season finale for both teams.
 
Navy received a well-balanced offensive effort on Wednesday night as four Mids finished with double figures led by Kate Samson's double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Sam Schofield was a catalyst for Navy off the bench with a career-high 14 points on the strength of four three-pointers over 24 minutes of action. Maren Louridas and Lindsay Llewellyn each added 11 points to Navy's final tally.

Ahead 19-17 after 10 minutes of action, the Mids immediately opened the second quarter with great efficiency with baskets on each of its initial two possessions. Following a called timeout from Lafayette's bench, the Leopards recorded four points in a matter of 21 seconds as they caused back-to-back turnovers and caught the Mids' defense in flux. With the score, 23-21 at 6:58, Lafayette re-took the lead within three minutes on the strength of consecutive three-pointers from Sauda Ntaconayigize and Abby Antognoli. After a quick trading of baskets and the lead, the Leopards ended the half up 31-30.
 
Similar to the previous quarter, the Mids kicked off the third period with points on four their first five possessions as part of an 8-0 run to go up, 38-31 by the 8:04 mark. While the Mids had the Leopards on the ropes, the visitors continued to scrap and cut their deficit to just two points over the next 4:33 courtesy of a 6-1 run. Holding just a 39-37 edge, Navy was able to re-assert itself on the scoreboard in the final half of the stanza and rebuilt a six-point lead with eight seconds left in the period as Bianca Coleman followed up a Schofield three-pointer with a perfect 2-2 showing at the foul line. Two late free throws by Lafayette with one second remaining made it a 48-44 score through 30 minutes of action.
 
Those late free throws gave the Leopards a glimmer of hope that they quickly capitalized on in the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run over the first 2:43. Down 50-48, Llewellyn drew the Mids even for the third time in the contest with a driving layup to the hoop at 7:04. Unfazed, Lafayette turned in a 10-0 rebuttal to this tied predicament to grab the first double-digit lead by either team on the day, 60-50 by 3:36. Sydne Watts had a speedy response for Navy as Louridas drove the lane and turned to the top of the arc, whipping a sharp pass to the wide-open Watts from three-point range just 14 seconds later. The Mids went down swinging as Louridas tried to spur her team on with seven points in the final two minutes, in addition to a fourth made three-pointer by Schofield, but it wouldn't be enough as they were never be able to get closer than seven points the rest of the game as the Leopards made 10 of their final 14 foul shots.
 
As part of its 74-64 victory, Lafayette outshot Navy 40.7 percent (24-59) to 35.5 (22-62) from the field, 33.3 percent (8-24) to 28.0 (7-25) from three-point range and 78.3 percent (18-23) to 65.0 (13-20) from the foul line.

Comparing the Teams

(2023-24 Stats)	Navy	Lafayette
Record / League-Only	4-10, 0-3 PL	6-8 / 1-2 PL
Home / Away / Neut. Record	4-4 / 0-6	1-4 / 5-4
Points Per Game	62.7 PPG	55.6 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	69.6 PPG	63.0 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	38.4 %	40.9 %
3-Point Percentage	26.0 %	33.7 %
Free Throw Percentage	62.4 %	63.6 %
Rebounds Per Game	36.6 RPG	31.9 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	12.6 / 16.4	12.4 / 16.9

Individual Leaders

(2023-24 Stats)	Navy	Lafayette
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 18.8 ppg	Abby Antognoli, 13.4 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 5.5 rpg	Kayla Drummond, 5.9 rpg
Assists Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 3.4 apg	A. Antognoli, 3.6 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 43.9 %	Halee Smith, 43.6 %
3-Point Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 33.3 %	H. Smith, 45.2 %
Free Throw Percentage	Kyah Smith, 73.1 %	Mikayla Andrews, 76.6 %

Last Time Out -- Wednesday vs. Holy Cross
Navy fell to the reigning Patriot League champions, the Holy Cross Crusaders on Wednesday in the first home conference game of the 2023-24 schedule for the Mids. The Crusaders (9-5, 3-0 PL) kept its run of undefeated Patriot League play going with a 52.1 percent (25-48) shooting effort at Alumni Hall, while the Mids (4-10, 0-3 PL) were held back by a cold shooting night of their own as they converted just 33.3 percent (19-57) of their shots.

Battling through foul trouble on Wednesday night, Zanai Barnett-Gay came away with a team-high 15 points and four steals, while her freshman backcourt mate Kyah Smith added 11 points off the bench. In action for the first time since Dec. 3 following an injury, Gia Pissott sparked the Mids with five points and a team-high five rebounds over 13 minutes of play.

Holy Cross led wire-to-wire over Navy as they bolted out to five-point lead over the opening 4:32 of play. With the score 9-4, both teams added five points to their total over the next three-plus minutes with Pissott netting all five for the Mids. After Janelle Allen extended Holy Cross' lead to seven at 2:04, Kate Samson responded for Navy with a layup on the Mids' final possession of the quarter to make it 16-11.

Navy came out in the second quarter on a mission and raced out with an 8-5 run to cut its deficit to just two, 21-19 by the 7:07 mark. Smith recorded four of the Mids' points, while the other four came from free throws. From that juncture, the visitors out-scored Navy 15-4 over the remaining seven-plus minutes of the half to break the game open to a 36-23 margin by the half. The Crusaders were particularly accurate in the second quarter knocking down 63.6 percent (7-11) of their shots from the field, including all three three-point attempts and three of four free throws.

Trailing by 13, Navy came out on its first possession of the second half and drew within 10 as Barnett-Gay found Maren Louridas for a straightaway three-pointer 10 seconds into the period. After the teams traded baskets over the next 90 seconds to make it 38-28, Holy Cross buckled down defensively, while catching fire offensively with four straight made baskets and five of seven to increase its lead out to 19, 49-30 at 4:55. The Mids fought to shrink its deficit down to 15 with two points each from Toni Papahronis and Barnett-Gay before the Crusaders closed out the quarter with five unanswered points.

Down 54-34 after three quarters, Navy continued battling in the final period of play and clawed its way back within 14 (59-45) by 5:51 and 10 (62-52) by 2:06. The initial 11-5 run was capped by an offensive rebound and putback by Lizzie Holder, while the second 7-3 run featured all seven points coming from Smith. The Mids' valiant effort was unable to break into single digits as the Crusaders made seven of their final 10 foul shots over the last 88 seconds to conclude the contest with a 69-54 score.

For the game, Holy Cross outshot Navy, 52.1 percent (25-48) to 33.3 (19-57) from the field, 53.8 percent (7-13) to 14.3 (2-14) from three-point range and 70.6 (12-17) to 70.0 (14-20) 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.