ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball team will conclude its brief two-game homestand on Wednesday night with a showdown versus Bucknell. A matchup of two of the younger team's in the Patriot League will see the Mids (5-12, 1-5 PL) trot out a roster with 12 underclassmen go up against a Bison (5-12, 2-4 PL) team that has started five underclassmen in the majority of early Patriot League play in 2024. Navy will be looking to break a two-game losing streak on Wednesday night, while Bucknell will be aiming to extend its current two-game winning streak. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Alumni Hall.

Navy versus Bucknell
The Mids and Bison have met 75 times in a series that began on December 5, 1981 ... The series is dotted with multiple lengthy streaks of wins and losses; overall Bucknell leads Navy 45-30 ... Over 34 games played in Annapolis, the series leans towards Bucknell, 19-15 as the Bison have run off a streak of eight straight victories in Alumni Hall dating back to 2015 ... The Mids last held home court advantage on Feb. 12, 2014 with a 70-61 decision ... During the 42 years of competition between the squads, Navy has run off streaks of nine wins (2009-2013) and five games twice (1981-1992 / 1997-1999), while Bucknell won 13 straight (1999-2004), nine straight (2005-2009) and most recently seven straight (2015-2018)  ... Over the last ten matchups, Bucknell is 8-2 versus Navy.
    Last Five Games
    Feb. 8, 2023 (A): Bucknell 70 - Navy 49
    Jan. 25, 2023 (H): Bucknell 67 - Navy 49
    March 10, 2022 (A): Bucknell 64 - Navy 44 **Patriot League Semifinals
    Jan. 26, 2022 (H): Bucknell 53 - Navy 43
    Jan. 5, 2022 (A): Navy 57 - Bucknell 55

Most Recent Navy-Bucknell Matchup ... February 8, 2023 in Lewisburg
Navy 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 Cecilia 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).

Comparing the Teams

(2023-24 Stats)	Navy	Bucknell
Record / League-Only	5-12, 1-5 PL	5-12, 2-4 PL
Home / Away / Neut. Record	5-5 / 0-7	5-3 / 0-9
Points Per Game	61.8 PPG	52.6 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	68.8 PPG	63.6 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	37.7 %	37.2 %
3-Point Percentage	26.2 %	31.5 %
Free Throw Percentage	64.7 %	71.7 %
Rebounds Per Game	36.6 RPG	31.4 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	12.1 / 15.9	10.2 / 17.6

Individual Leaders

(2023-24 Stats)	Navy	Bucknell
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 18.0 ppg	Emma Theodorssen, 12.8 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 5.6 rpg	E. Theodorssen, 5.5 rpg
Assists Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 3.1 apg	E. Theodorssen, 1.8 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Sydne Watts, 42.4 %	Grace Sullivan, 45.9 %
3-Point Percentage	S. Watts, 33.3 %	Ashley O'Connor, 41.2 %
Free Throw Percentage	Kyah Smith, 73.3 %	E. Theodorssen, 78.6 %

Last Time Out -- Saturday vs. Army
Taking on its service academy rival for the first time in 2024, the Navy women's basketball team fell to Army by a score of 66-51 on Saturday. Trailing by just four points at halftime, the Mids (5-12, 1-5 PL) were unable to quell a 12-0 run by the Black Knights (6-10, 3-3 PL) to start the second half as the visitors ended up breaking out to a 20-point advantage by the end of the third quarter on their way to the double-digit victory at Alumni Hall.

Navy had three of its players reach double figures with Sydne Watts posting a team-high 13 points on 5-12 shooting and three three-pointers. Freshmen Zanai Barnett-Gay and Kyah Smith each added 12 points. Barnett-Gay filled out her statline with six rebounds, five steals and two assists over 36 minutes of action.

Watts got Navy onto the scoreboard first on Saturday with a pull-up jumper 1:42 into the contest. In a story that would play out throughout the game, Army responded with a 7-0 run over the next 4:26 to go up 7-2. The momentum pendulum swung back to Navy over the next three-plus minutes as the Mids rattled off eight unanswered points to go ahead 10-7 with 52 seconds remaining in the first quarter. A late bucket by the Black Knights made it a 10-9 game at the quarter break.

The second period began with Army netting the first three points to re-take the lead 12-10 before Navy fired back with eight quick points over a run of four possessions. Watts and Smith led this streak with back-to-back three-pointers at 8:25 and 7:51. A drive and dump-off by Smith to Morganne Andrews deep in the post resulted in the Mids' third basket during this run at 7:00. Similar to the first quarter the pendulum of momentum kept swinging and it was the Black Knights' turn for a long run as the visitors turned an 18-12 deficit into a 21-18 advantage with nine straight points. Trailing by three at 1:55, Smith sank her third field goal of the first half to draw Navy back within one point. Three unanswered points over the final 90 seconds gave Army a 24-20 lead going into the locker room at halftime.

Separated by just four points to start the second half, Army opened the third quarter on a mission and scored on their first five possessions to bolt out to a 16-point advantage by the 7:19 mark. Three-pointers by Lauren Lithgow and Reese Ericson sparked the Black Knights at the time. Back-to-back layups by Violet McNece and Barnett-Gay shaved four points of the Mids' deficit and made it 36-24 at 6:44. That short retort by Navy wasn't extended as Army countered with a 16 of the next 22 points to build up a 52-30 lead with just over a minute remaining in the quarter. Four points by Barnett-Gay in last 50 seconds helped the Mids make it a 54-34 game through three quarters of play. Army's 30-point quarter was built around a 57.9 percent (11-19) shooting performance, including three three-pointers and five more free throws.

The Black Knights held a 20-point advantage through most of the fourth quarter before an individual 8-0 run by Watts between 2:56 and 1:11 drew the Mids with 13, 64-51. A late basket by Army's Trinity Hardy concluded the scoring at 66-51.

For the game, Army out-shot Navy, 42.6 percent (23-54) to 30.6 (19-62) from the field, 36.4 percent (4-11) to 26.3 (5-19) from three-point range and 72.7 percent (16-22) to 66.7 (8-12) 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.