Aug. 26, 2008

Men's Schedule | Women's Schedule | Order Tickets

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Naval Academy Athletic Association (NAAA) has announced that season tickets for men's and women's basketball are on sale now, in preparation for the upcoming seasons. The men's team will play 14 games at Alumni Hall this season, while the women's team will play a 12-game home schedule.

The Navy teams will play a pair of doubleheaders this season; Nov. 25 when the women play host to Dayton followed by the men's game against UMES and Feb. 21 when both squads play host to Army in their respective Star Games.

Navy basketball season tickets are just $200 for Admiral's Row members (must be an Admiral's Row member of Blue and Gold), $130 for a reserved seat and $65 for students (high school and below). Season tickets include all 26 men's and women's home games to be played at Alumni Hall. Season ticket holders will receive exclusive benefits including a season-long pass to park on "The Yard" for all home games and access to email updates regarding game information. Fans will also have the option to purchase to tickets to watch the men's team battle ACC power Virginia Tech in the prestigious BB&T Classic in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 7.

Navy's 14-game home men's schedule will tip off on Nov. 16, when the Mids host Howard for a Sunday afternoon battle at 1:00 pm. Five of Navy's first seven games of the season will be in Alumni Hall as, in addition to the Howard contest, St. Francis (Nov. 18), Maryland-Eastern Shore (Nov. 25), Radford (Nov. 29) and Texas-San Antonio (Dec. 2) all make visits to Annapolis. Following almost a month on the road, Navy returns to host Longwood (Dec. 30) and Wofford (Jan. 2), before opening Patriot League play with Bucknell on Jan. 10, in a rematch of last year's epic Patriot League Quarterfinal matchup. The second half of the league schedule will be highlighted by a visit from the Black Knights of Army on Feb. 21, as Navy will look for its seventh straight Star Game win in front of a nationally-televised CBS Sports audience.

Head coach Billy Lange will return nine of the the top 10 leading scorers from last year's team that went 16-14 overall and 9-5 in the Patriot League, good for second place in the league standings. Both Kaleo Kina and Chris Harris averaged over 14.0 points per game last year while helping Navy lead the league in scoring, averaging almost 77.0 points per game. The duo will be aided by the return of Romeo Garcia and Mark Veazey, who also started most of last year year, and newcomers O.J. Avworo and Jordan Sugars.

The 12-game slate of home contests for the women's team begins Nov. 14 when the Midshipmen play host to Ohio. The non-conference segment of the home season for the Mids then continues with contests against Dayton (Nov. 25), Saint Francis (Pa.) (Nov. 28), Delaware State (Nov. 30) and Radford (Dec. 22). Navy opens the home portion of its Patriot League season Jan. 14 against Lehigh, with the campaign highlighted by the Feb. 21 Star Game against Army.

New head coach Stefanie Pemper will have all five starters and eight of the team's nine letter winners from a year ago on the squad this season. Among the returning players are team captain Kalen Kropa (Sr., Reidsville, N.C.), a two-year starter who is one of five players in Navy history to dish out 100 or more assists in multiple seasons, and Cassie Consedine (So., Bartlesville, Okla.), who was tabbed as the 2008 Patriot League Rookie of the Year.

To order season tickets, fans can call the Navy ticket office at 1-800-US4-NAVY or visit the Navy athletics website at www.navysports.com, and fill out the online form.

# GO NAVY #