ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Coming off a challenging three-game road trip, the Navy women's basketball team will be back in action within the friendly confines of Alumni Hall on Wednesday. Collecting all four of their wins so far this season at home, the Mids (4-9, 0-2 PL) will be looking to knock off the Holy Cross Crusaders (8-5, 2-0 PL) in a mid-week tilt in Annapolis and grab league win number one of 2024. The contest will be another difficult test for the young Midshipmen team as the Crusaders will be the third opponent in three games that was picked in the top-three of the Patriot League preseason poll as they've already faced off with Boston Univ. (#2) and Colgate (#3) so far. Wednesday's game will have a special early 5:30 p.m. tip-off.

The Navy-Holy Cross 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 iHeart and Audacy platforms. 

Navy versus Holy Cross
The Mids and Crusaders have met 72 times in a series that began on January 18, 1992 … All-time, Holy Cross leads Navy, 49-23 with a 22-13 advantage in games played in Annapolis … The two teams had never met prior to the Mids joining the Patriot League in 1991-92 … The series has had multiple lengthy streaks in its history with Holy Cross winning the first eight games, followed by streaks of seven, 10 and 11 consecutive wins by the Crusaders; overall they won 36 of the first 40 games in the series (1992-2008); beginning with the 2009-10 season, Navy swung momentum in its direction with sweeps of the 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2107 and 2018 season series … Over the last 10 contests, the series edge goes to Holy Cross, 7-4 with three of the last five meetings being decided by 10 or less points
    Last Five Games:
    Feb. 4, 2023 (H): Holy Cross 71 - Navy 52
    Jan. 2, 2023 (A): Holy Cross 53 - Navy 40
    March 7, 2022 (A): Navy 50 – Holy Cross 49  *Patriot League Quarterfinals
    Feb. 19, 2022 (A): Holy Cross 60 – Navy 55
    Dec. 29, 2021 (H): Holy Cross 63 – Navy 53

Most Recent Navy/Holy Cross Matchup ... February 4, 2023 in Annapolis
Celebrating its senior class prior to the game, the Navy women's basketball team fell victim to numerous unforced errors versus Holy Cross and a long drought in the third quarter that turned a 33-30 score into a 51-34 game through three quarters. At the conclusion of Saturday's contest at Alumni Hall, the Crusasders were victorious over the Mids by a score of 71-52.

Individually, a trio of Navy players reached double-figures on Saturday as Morganne Andrews, Maren Louridas and Sydne Watts all finished with 10 points. Andrews earned her first career double-double as she added 13 rebounds to go along with two assists and two steals. Louridas had a well-rounded line score as she had an additional nine rebounds, six assists and a block. Coming off the bench in deference of Lindsay Llewellyn on her Senior Day, Watts went 5-11 from the field with four rebounds and a steal over 32 minutes. Llewellyn nearly made it four Mids in double-figures as she netted nine points with a game-high three steals.

Ahead 17-9 after one quarter of play, the visitors broke out to a double-digit lead with 10-point margins of 19-9 and 21-11 in the first two minutes of the second quarter. Down but not out, the Mids immediately fired back with a 6-0 run. Holy Cross didn't allow Navy to extend its momentum further as Bronagh Power-Cassidy knocked down a three-pointer at 6:03. That trey kick-started a 10-4 run to close the stanza at a 31-21 advantage for the Crusaders.
 
The glimpses that the Mids showed at times during the first half came through to begin the third quarter as they scored nine of the first 11 points to draw within three points, 33-30 by the 5:58 mark. Navy's well-balanced attack saw four different players registered field goals with Louridas' 'and-one' conversion capping the run. Similar to the second quarter, Holy Cross used the deep ball to short-circuit the host's push, as Addisyn Cross and Power-Cassidy went back-to-back with three-pointers. Trailing 39-30, Andrews and Watts were on the receiving end of Louridas assists to return it back to a two-possession game. From that point of the quarter at 3:34, Navy was held scoreless as Holy Cross posted the last 12 points to go up 51-34 after 30 minutes of action.
 
The fourth quarter was back-and-forth as the Mids were unable to get closer than 15 during the initial five minutes of the period. With the score 61-42 at 5:54, an 8-2 run by Navy over the next 90 seconds made it a 63-50 contest. Unfortunately, Navy wouldn't be able to edge closer as Holy Cross registered eight of the final 10 points to earn the 71-52 victory.
 
For the game, Holy Cross outshot Navy 41.8 percent (23-55) to 36.9 (24-65) from field. Neither side had much success from three-point range with the Mids finishing with a 27.3 percent (3-11) to 18.8 (3-16) edge. In a leading storyline from the contest, Holy Cross outshot Navy from the foul line, 88.0 percent (22-25) to 20.0 (1-5).
  
Navy's ball-handling proved troublesome versus Holy Cross as the Mids were charged with 19 turnovers, that directly resulted in 17 points for the Crusaders.

Comparing the Teams

(2023-24 Stats)	Navy	Holy Cross
Record / League-Only	4-9, 0-2 PL	8-5, 2-0 PL
Home / Away / Neut. Record	4-3 / 0-6	7-0 / 1-5
Points Per Game	63.4 PPG	60.3 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	69.7 PPG	51.2 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	38.7 %	37.9 %
3-Point Percentage	26.5 %	27.8 %
Free Throw Percentage	61.6 %	72.7 %
Rebounds Per Game	37.2 RPG	44.5 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	12.9 / 16.5	15.8 / 13.4

Individual Leaders

(2023-24 Stats)	Navy	Holy Cross
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 19.2 ppg	Bronagh Power-Cassidy, 14.7 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 5.8 rpg	Simone Foreman, 8.8 rpg
Assists Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 3.5 apg	Kaitlyn Flanagan, 4.4 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 44.7 %	Lindsay Berger, 43.4 %
3-Point Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 34.9 %	K. Flanagan, 33.3 %
Free Throw Percentage	Kyah Smith, 70.8 %	L. Berger, 87.9 %

Last Time Out -- Saturday at Colgate
Navy ran into a hot-shooting Colgate team on Saturday afternoon in the finale of its three-game road trip and fell by a final score of 73-56. After both teams grinded out a 12-10 first quarter of play at Cotterell Court, in which neither side's shots were falling particularly well, the Raiders (9-4, 2-0 PL) found that next gear over the next 30 minutes and shot 64.9 percent (24-37) from the field to build out a double-digit lead over the Mids (4-9, 0-2 PL).

Sydne Watts led Navy with 19 points on a 9-13 shooting effort to go along with six rebounds. Kyah Smith provided the Mids with 17 points and four assists in 37 minutes off the bench. Zanai Barnett-Gay continued her run of double-digit scoring performances to begin her collegiate career as she battled through foul trouble to net 12 points in 25 minutes of action.

With the temperature outside Cotterell Court hovering near the freezing mark, the action inside started cold as both teams hit just five shots a piece in the opening quarter as part of a 12-10 score through 10 minutes of play. The two-point margin held up over the first two-plus minutes of the second quarter as the score slowly advanced up to 16-14 Colgate. A 6-0 run by the Raiders built up their advantage to 22-14 by the 5:59 mark. Watts short-circuited that run with her third make in as many attempts the next time down the court. The senior made it 4-4 with another field goal at 4:50. With the score 24-18 following Watts' make, Colgate registered the final four points of the half to take a 10-point lead, 28-18 into the locker room. An important factor in Navy's second quarter struggles was Barnett-Gay, its leading scorer, picked up three fouls in less than three minutes and was subbed out at the 7:18 mark.

Locked in and focused on cutting into Colgate's advantage, Navy came out to start the second half with back-to-back baskets by Watts and Smith and within 74 seconds it was a two-possession game, 28-22. In a play that Taylor noted as a turning-point in his postgame comments, the Raiders came down the court after Smith's field goal and earned an offensive rebound that eventually resulted in a three-point dagger by Golembiewski. From that juncture at 8:19, Colgate broke out to a 15-point lead in a matter of two minutes. Trailing 37-22, Lizzie Holder re-ignited the Mids' offense with an offensive rebound of her own and immediate putback. Watts scored for Navy on the ensuing possession and the visitors were down 13, 40-27 with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter. A 13-4 response by Colgate over the second half of the period, that included three triples, broke open the game to a 53-31 margin. The Mids shot 40 percent (6-15) from the field in the stanza, but ran into a Raider team that was flawless from three-point range in the stanza going 6-6 from distance.

Navy continued to fight in the fourth quarter and tightened up a 61-39 score at 7:07 with nine unanswered points over the next two minutes. Smith sparked the Mids during this run with five individual points. Navy kept the pressure on Colgate over the final five minutes of the game as it ended up scoring 25 points in the period on the strength of 47.4 percent (9-19) shooting and seven free throw conversions.

In the 73-56 win for Colgate, the Raiders outshot the Mids from the field, 56.9 percent (29-51) to 36.4 (24-66) and from three-point range, 90.0 (9-10) to 0.0 (0-10). Navy held a slight edge in free throw shooting, 66.7 percent (8-12) to 60.0 (6-10).

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.