ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The most competitive and high-powered field of teams to ever sign-up for the annual Navy Classic awaits the fans in Annapolis this weekend. Looking to challenge its program, the Navy women's basketball team will welcome No. 10 Maryland, George Mason and Toledo for four games at Alumni Hall over Saturday and Sunday. The predetermined matchups will consist of the Mids (6-0) taking on the Rockets (3-1) on Saturday with a 1 p.m. tip-off before the Terrapins (6-0) and Patriots (6-0) go head-to-head in a regional showdown of undefeated teams at 3:30 p.m. The Mids and Patriots will conclude their action on Sunday at 1 p.m. before the Terps and Rockets meet on the hardwood at 3:30 p.m.

This weekend, Navy will be aiming to extend its longest undefeated start to a season since 2017-18 when the team began 9-0 on its way to a 25-8 campaign.

All four games 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 in the Navy Classic
The Mids are 41-19 all-time in the Navy Classic ... started in 1990 as the Navy Tip-Off, the Mids have regularly hosted teams in Annapolis and have held the Classic in its current form every year since 2009, with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic ... the last time Navy hosted a team from MAC at the Classic was in 2022 when it fell to Northern Illinois (87-50), likewise, the last A-10 matchup for Navy at the Classic was a year earlier in 2021, when it hosted George Mason (L, 69-64) ... At the 2024 Navy Classic, the Mids went 1-1 with a win over Quinnipiac (75-62) on Saturday before dropping Sunday's game to Abilene Christian (87-62).

Navy vs. Toledo/Mid-American Conference
The Mids have never played the Rockets in their 48 years as a varsity program ... Navy has 11 games of experience against teams from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) with a 4-7 all-time record: Buffalo (1-2), Eastern Michigan (1-0), Kent State (0-1), Northern Illinois (0-1) and Ohio (2-3) ... The most recent Navy-MAC matchup was against Northern Illinois on Nov. 26, 2022 as part of the 2022 Navy Classic; the Mids fell to the Huskies, 87-50 ... Prior to that game, the second-most recent contest was against Ohio University on Nov. 16, 2009; the Mids won that contest in Athens, Ohio, 55-51 

Navy vs. George Mason
The Mids and Patriots have met 16 times on the hardwood in a series that started on Dec. 9, 1977 ... All-time, the series is knotted at 8-8 ... Navy and George Mason have been more active recently with three contests since 2019 ... Prior to 2019's matchup on Dec. 19, which the Patriots won by a score of 67-58 the teams had met just two times in the past 30 years (Nov. 25, 2014 & Dec. 20, 2016) ... The Mids hold a 6-3 edge in games played in Annapolis with victories in 1977, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1988 and 2014; that 2014 matchup on Nov. 25 marked Navy's last win in the series (84-79)... Navy has an all-time record of 27-40 against teams from the Atlantic 10 conference and has played 13 of the 15 associated schools; they've faced off with George Mason (16), Fordham (13) and George Washington (12) the most times.
    Last Five Matchups:
    Nov. 28, 2021 (H): George Mason 69 - Navy 64
    Nov. 29, 2020 (A): George Mason 72 - Navy 68
    Dec. 19, 2019 (H): George Mason 67 - Navy 58
    Dec. 20, 2016 (A): George Mason 68 - Navy 64 (OT)
    Nov. 25, 2014 (H): Navy 84 - George Mason 79

Most Recent Navy-George Mason Matchup ~ November 28, 2021
The Navy women's basketball team wrapped up a weekend of high-level competition at the 2021 Navy Classic with a five-point loss to George Mason on Sunday afternoon. One day after playing a Liberty squad that has played in each of the last three Atlantic Sun championship finals, the Mids went up against a Patriot squad that is off to a strong start in 2021-22 under the direction of its new head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis. The fans at Navy's Alumni Hall were treated to 40 extremely tight minutes of action that saw all four quarters decided by three points or less and a final score of 69-64.
 
Jennifer Coleman was at the center of most of the action on Sunday as the senior guard had a hand in 16 of Navy's 21 made baskets as she scored 30 points on 9-21 shooting, while assisting on seven more Midshipmen makes. Her scoring output was a career-high, while her assist total tied a career-high. Additionally, Coleman grabbed 12 rebounds over 40 minutes of action. Ciera Hertelendy aided her fellow senior with a career-high 12 points along with eight rebounds.
  
As a team, George Mason shot 5-9 from three-point range, while it was just 1-7 from two-point range in the period on its way to a 19-16 lead through one quarter of play. Trailing by three, the Mids fought back to tie the game three times over the first 6:35 of play. Coleman was a part of all three situations as she made a jumper at 7:11 before hitting Hertelendy deep for a close-in layup at 4:45 and lastly, forcing a turnover, grabbing the ball and racing down the court for the steal and score at 3:25. George Mason slowly built out a two-point lead going into the halftime intermission with eight points over the last three minutes versus six for Navy.
 
Coming out of the locker room down 33-31, the Mids immediately knotted the game on its first possession. Less than minute later, the Coleman-to-Hertelendy connection struck again for the Mids as Coleman drove the lane and found a wide-open Hertelendy for the easy layup to tie the game again, this time at 35-35. On the ensuing possession, Navy took its final lead of the contest when Coleman grabbed a rebound and went down the court before pulling up for a jumper at 7:57. With the score 37-36, George Mason scored the next five points to take the four-point lead. A pair of three-point plays, the first, a 3-3 showing at the foul line by Mimi Schrader and the second, a give-and-go three-point shot and score by Coleman helped the Mids even the score at 43-43 at 2:26. The close back-and-forth action continued over the final two-plus minutes of the period as George Mason finished the quarter up 48-46. The Patriots' final seven points of the third all came courtesy of free throws.
 
Leading by two points, the visitors scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to push ahead by seven, 53-46 at 8:28. In a scene that would play out more than Navy would like, George Mason continued to hold its lead with successful trips to the foul line. From the 7:50 point of the quarter with the score 54-50, the Patriots converted 11 more free throws, and only made two field goals. Trailing by as many as nine points, at the 6:20 and 4:47 marks, the Mids kept their nose on the grind stone looking to eek out another come-from-behind victory. Navy nearly reached that goal as the Mids scored nine unanswered points between 4:22 and 0:49 to tie the game at 63-63. Lindsay Llewellyn was at the center of this comeback as she hit a three-pointer in transition before later grabbing an offensive rebound and fighting for the physical putback layup with 49 seconds left in regulation. With the game knotted at 63-63, George Mason scored on each of its final three possessions and pulled away for the 69-64 victory.
 
For the game, Navy outshot George Mason, 38.2 (21-55) percent to 27.9 (17-61) from the field and 35.3 (6-17) percent to 30.0 percent (6-20) from three-point range. The Patriots netted over 40 percent of their scoring on Sunday from the foul line as the team shot 29-37 (78.4 percent) from the free throw line, while the Mids were 16-23 for a 69.6 percent mark.

Comparing the Teams

(2024-25 Stats)	Navy	Toledo	George Mason
Record / League-Only	6-0 / 0-0 PL	3-1 / 0-0 MAC	6-0 / 0-0 A10
Home / Away / Neut. Record	2-0 / 3-0 / 1-0	3-0 / 0-1	4-0 / 2-0
Points Per Game	77.3 PPG	70.8 PPG	79.5 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	55.0 PPG	76.8 PPG	53.3 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	42.7 %	40.8 %	45.9 %
3-Point Percentage	37.6 %	28.4 %	39.6 %
Free Throw Percentage	66.1 %	72.1 %	67.9 %
Rebounds Per Game	43.5 RPG	35.8 RPG	40.5 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	17.0 / 15.8	12.8 / 16.5	15.5 / 13.7

Individual Leaders

(2024-25 Stats)	Navy	Toledo	George Mason
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 16.8 ppg	Kendall Carruthers, 14.3 ppg	Kennedy Harris, 15.4 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 6.8 rpg	Hannah Noveroske, 5.8 rpg	Nalani Kaysia, 9.0 rpg
Assists Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 3.5 apg	Cadence Dykstra, 3.3 apg	K. Harris, 4.2 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Kate Samson, 51.0 %	H. Noveroske, 55.2 %	K. Harris, 48.3 %
3-Point Percentage	Mary Gibbons, 55.6 %	K. Carruthers, 55.6 %	Jada Brown, 43.8 %
Free Throw Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 76.2 %	Sammi Mikonowicz, 80.0 %	K. Harris, 76.2 %

Last Time Out -- Saturday, Nov. 23 at Longwood
Navy started out strong on both ends of the court at Longwood and never looked back as it improved to 6-0 this season with a 75-61 victory on Saturday afternoon. The Mids (6-0) scored 18 points in the first quarter and shut down the Lancers (4-3) with suffocating defense that forced six turnovers and blocked five shots to jump out to an 11-point lead through 10 minutes of play. The host Longwood squad never got closer than seven points the rest of the game at the Joan Perry Brock Center as Navy held a comfortable double-digit advantage for the entire second half to seal its fourth win away from Annapolis over the first six games of the season.

Zanai Barnett-Gay and Kate Samson spearheaded Navy's individual efforts on Saturday as Barnett-Gay tallied a double-double with 22 points and a career-best 13 rebounds, to go along with four assists and two steals, while Samson scored a career-high 18 points and tied her career-best with six block shots in a Central Virginia homecoming for the Mids' starting center. Navy's freshman class played a large role in the visitors' success as Mary Gibbons went for 11 points and five rebounds off the bench and Julianna Almeida reached double figures for the first time in her young career with 10 points and an additional nine rebounds.

The game started evenly as both teams netted four points over the first two-plus minutes. A three-pointer by Almeida at 7:02 gave Navy its first and ultimately final lead of the game. After the Lancers pulled within two, 9-7 at 5:25, the Mids shut them out for the rest of the quarter. Navy's defense held them to 0-11 shooting with three blocked shots, as well as forced three turnovers during this span. Over that same run, the Mids were able to increase their lead out to 18-7. For the quarter, Longwood shot just 2-16 from the field and had five shots blocked by Samson.

Trailing by 11 after one quarter of play, the host Lancers fought back in the second quarter and posted the first four points of the period to draw with seven, 18-11 by the 8:49 mark. After a layup by Samson at 7:48, the Mids' lead fluctuated between eight and 12 for the rest of the period. Five points by Gibbons and four from Samson helped Navy keep pace with Longwood during the quarter. With the score 33-25 and less than a minute left, Barnett-Gay sent the Mids into the locker room up 11 with a three-pointer on their final possession.

Coming out of half up 36-25, Navy opened the second half with a purpose as it netted the first five points. With the score, 41-27, five straight points from Barnett-Gay gave the Mids its biggest lead of the game, 19. A jumper by Kyah Smith at 1:44 increased Navy's advantage back up to 18, 51-33. Four unanswered points down the stretch by Longwood closed the quarter at 51-37.

Another 5-0 personal run, this time by Samson between 8:02 and 7:36 re-increased the Mids' lead back to a game-best 19 points, 58-39. The final six-plus minutes saw Barnett-Gay score seven points, including a play of the day highlight when she crossed up her defender, putting her on the court before stepping back for a three-pointer at 1:52; that trey gave her 22 points for the second straight game. Four points in quick succession by Nia Henley in the final minute helped Navy close out the 75-61 victory.

For the game, Navy out-shot Longwood, 43.5 percent (30-69) to 42.4 (25-59) from the field and 41.2 percent (7-17) to 9.1 (1-11) from three-point range. The Lancers were more efficient at the foul line, 71.4 percent (10-14) to 53.3 (8-15).

The Mids had a significant advantage in rebounding on Saturday afternoon as they out-rebounded the Lancers, 45-33.

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.