ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball team will be looking to recapture the successful brand of play that saw it win three of four games during a stretch of play at the end of January and into early February with its first matchup of 2024 versus American University on Wednesday evening. Having already played eight of their league opponents at least one time, and some twice, already this Patriot League campaign, the Mids (8-14, 4-7 PL) will be making the short trip to Washington, D.C. to take on an Eagles (9-13, 7-4 PL) squad, that knocked off first-place Holy Cross this past Saturday. The action at Bender Arena is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off on American's campus.
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 67 times in a series that began on February 16, 1978 ... All-time, American leads Navy, 43-24 on the strength of its dominant 27-5 mark over 32 meetings at Bender Arena; that trend is reversed as the Mids hold an 18-14 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 28-17 against Navy ... In the last 10 American-Navy games, the Eagles are 9-1 overall with the Mids claiming their only victory during that span on January 17, 2021 in Annapolis ... Seven of the last nine meetings have been decided by 10 or less points.
Last 5 Games:
March 4, 2023 (A): American 78 - Navy 71 **Patriot League Tournament First Round
Feb. 22, 2023 (H): American 61 - Navy 49
Jan. 28, 2023 (A): American 62 - Navy 55
Feb. 16, 2022 (H): American 54 - Navy 43
Jan. 29, 2022 (A): American 69 - Navy 60
Most Recent Navy - American Matchup ~ March 4, 2023 in Washington, D.C.
The Navy women's basketball team saw its 2022-23 season come to an end in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament with a 78-71 loss versus American. Leading at the half by three over the Eagles (9-21), the Mids (1-29) fell victim to a slow third quarter before falling short with a valiant fourth period comeback that saw them score 24 points.
Navy's second-best scoring output of the season was fronted by four Mids in double-figures on Saturday.
Lindsay Llewellyn rounded out her collegiate career with a game-high 19 points.
Sydne Watts and
Sam Schofield provided Navy with strong production off the bench with point totals of 17 and 11, respectively.
Maren Louridas completed her standout freshman campaign with 10 points. Together this high-scoring quartet combined for 10 three-pointers with Watts and Schofield both leading the way with a trio of three-pointers.
The game opened evenly as the score was knotted 7-7 at the five-minute mark. Llewellyn sparked Navy early with five of her squad's points, including a straight away three-pointer at 6:06 when Louridas drove the lane and whipped a kick-out to the senior sharp-shooter. Llewellyn was on the end of another drive and kick-out a little over two minutes later to jolt the Mids back into the lead, 10-9 at 3:49. That trey jump started an eventual 10-0 run that pushed Navy up, 17-9 by the 2:18 mark. Watts was instrumental in the run with five points. American was able to claw its way back into the contest down the stretch with seven of the final 11 points of the quarter.
Ahead 21-16 through one quarter of play, Navy gave up quick back-to-back baskets to see its lead fade to just one point before coming back with a Watts three-pointer and Schofield layup to rebuild its advantage to six points, 26-20 by the 6:34 mark. Over the ensuing five minutes, the teams traded field goals as the score advanced to 32-27 in favor of the Mids. A 5-0 run by Eagles drew them even, 32-32 with just 39 seconds left. In its final possession of the half, slick ball movement resulted in another three-pointer as Schofield worked the ball around the arc to a waiting Watts for her third trey of the half.
Coming out of the locker room with the score 35-32 in favor of Navy, American opened the half with seven unanswered points to go up 39-35 at 7:29. Bending, but not breaking, Navy immediately answered back with a Schofield three-pointer to draw within one. By the 4:04 juncture of the period, the Mids had tied the Eagles, 43-43. Once again, Schofield was the catalyst as she swished her second trey of the period. The offensive action picked up over the final four minutes as American caught fire and went 6-6 to break out to a 56-47 lead through 30 minutes of action.
The Eagles' success continued into the fourth quarter and built up a 14-point edge, 66-52 by the 5:00 mark. Over the next two minutes, the Mids rattled off eight consecutive points with Llewellyn netting the final four. With the score 66-60, American tallied the next four points to bubble its lead to 10 with 87 seconds left in regulation. The senior duo of
Mimi Schrader and Llewellyn bolstered Navy's comeback attempt as Schrader picked Sadie Stetson's pocket and threw a lead pass up to Llewellyn for a breakaway layup at 1:04. Llewellyn's shot continued falling as just 17 seconds later she converted a jumper and 'and-one' to make it 72-65. The Mids kept swinging and had Louridas and Schofield bang home three-pointers on two of the last three possessions to make it a 78-71 final score.
For the game, American outshot Navy, 53.4 percent (31-58) to 43.5 (27-62) from the field, though the Mids held advantages in three-point shooting, 33.3 percent (10-30) to 26.7 (4-15) and from the foul line, 87.5 percent (7-8) to 80.0 (12-15).
Comparing the Teams
| (2023-24 Stats) |
Navy |
American |
| Record / League-Only |
8-14, 4-7 PL |
9-13 / 7-4 PL |
| Home / Away / Neut. Record |
8-5 / 0-9 |
5-7 / 4-6 |
| Points Per Game |
61.6 PPG |
61.0 PPG |
| Points Allowed Per Game |
66.4 PPG |
65.0 PPG |
| Field Goal Percentage |
38.3 % |
40.0 % |
| 3-Point Percentage |
26.4 % |
25.7 % |
| Free Throw Percentage |
65.9 % |
68.9 % |
| Rebounds Per Game |
36.4 RPG |
33.5 RPG |
| Assists/Turnovers Per Game |
12.2 / 15.2 |
14.0 / 16.7 |
Individual Leaders
| (2023-24 Stats) |
Navy |
American |
| Points Per Game |
Zanai Barnett-Gay, 18.0 ppg |
Emily Johns, 11.7 ppg |
| Rebounds Per Game |
Z. Barnett-Gay, 6.4 rpg |
Ivy Bales, 5.1 rpg |
| Assists Per Game |
Kyah Smith, 3.3 apg |
I. Bales, 3.2 apg |
| Field Goal Percentage |
Kate Samson, 47.5 % |
E. Johns, 48.3 % |
| 3-Point Percentage |
Sydne Watts, 33.3 % |
Bailey Garbee, 31.7 % |
| Free Throw Percentage |
Z. Barnett-Gay, 72.3 % |
Anna LeMaster, 83.0 % |
Last Time Out -- Saturday at Army
Facing off with its service academy rival, Army, with the 2024 Star on the line, the Navy women's basketball was unable to overcome an early double-digit deficit on Saturday and fell by a final score of 70-58. Coming in with wins in three of their last four games, the Mids (8-14, 4-7 PL) couldn't quell a sharpshooting Black Knight (10-11, 7-4 PL) team that sank multiple three-pointers in the first, third and fourth quarters, while forcing the visitors into 20 turnovers before a loud and boisterous crowd at Christl Arena on the campus of the United States Military Academy. The contest was part of the 2023-24 Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA.
Individually, Kate Samson dominated the action on both ends of the court as she tied a career-high with 16 points to go along with nine rebounds, while blocking a career-high six shots. The freshmen backcourt of Zanai Barnett-Gay and Kyah Smith combined for 33 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in their first career Star Game. Barnett-Gay led the Mids with 20 points with six rebounds, three assists and a steal. Her fellow plebe Smith finished with 13 points, five rebounds and a career-high seven assists.
Army started out fast with a 7-0 run over the opening 2:01 of play and extended its lead to eight, 10-2 a little over 90 seconds later. From that juncture at 6:22, a 6-0 run, including four points by Maren Louridas shaved Navy's deficit to just two, 10-8 by 5:22. The game of runs continued as the Black Knights responded with eight unanswered over the next 2:33. With the score 18-8 at 2:49, Army scored six of the next seven points to extend its lead out to 15 before consecutive baskets by Toni Papahronis and Barnett-Gay pulled Navy within 11 by the end of the quarter. Five turnovers and three made three-pointers by the Black Knights held the Mids back in the initial period of play.
Trailing 24-13 after one, the teams opened the second quarter evenly with six points each over the first 5:13 of action. Similar to the first quarter, large swings of momentum ruled the final four-plus minutes as Army tallied eight straight points to break open a game-high 19-point lead, 38-19 before Navy countered with six consecutive points of its own to conclude the half down, 38-25. Samson bolstered the Mids' late run with a pair of deft shots to give her six points in the period and nine for the half. Seven more turnovers suppressed Navy's effectiveness in the quarter as it shot 46.2 percent (6-13) from the field.
In a near-mirror image of the second quarter, the first five minutes of the third quarter played out almost evenly as short runs by both sides advanced the score to 44-32 by the under-five media timeout at 4:58. Down by 12, Navy twice tightened its deficit to eight points in the ensuing two minutes, first at 44-36 following a Samson layup and again at 46-38 on a pull-up jumper by Smith. In a two-plus minute run of play that changed the game, Army had a loud response to this challenge with three straight three-pointers by Reese Ericson to burst out to a 17-point lead. A late layup by Samson made it 55-40 through three quarters.
Down, but not out, the Mids rallied to start off the fourth quarter as they scored on three of their first four possessions, while shutting out the Black Knights. With the score 55-47, the three-ball once again spelled doom for the visiting Navy team as a 6-0 run on the back of Trinity Hardy and Reese Ericson treys gave Army a double-digit lead that they wouldn't relinquish for the remainder of the contest. Twice the Mids came within 10 points at 61-51 and 62-52 and eventually finished down 12 when Smith sank her first three-pointer of the game with 22 seconds left.
For the game, Navy outshot Army from the field, 44.2 percent (23-52) to 41.9 (26-62) and from the foul line, 61.5 percent (8-13) to 56.3 (9-16). The Black Knights held a significant edge in three-point shooting, 42.9 percent (9-21) to 33.3 (4-12).
