ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Riding high after knocking off the University of Florida on Sunday, the Navy women's basketball team will look to carry on that momentum with a home matchup versus Rider on Wednesday. Coming in with a flawless 3-0 mark in early season action, the Mids will be looking to complete a home-and-home series sweep of the Broncs (1-3) that began last year with a 74-52 win by Navy on Rider's home court on November 4. The Mids will aim to start fast and finish strong against the Broncs on Wednesday as they've led their first three opponents for 106 of a possible 120 minutes so far in 2025-26. Tip-off between Navy and Rider is set for 7 p.m. at Alumni Hall.

Wednesday's Navy-Rider 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 1430 AM, online at WNAV.com or through the iHeart and Audacy platforms.  

Scouting the Competition
Rider
The Broncs began a new era with first-year head coach Jackie Hartzell on November 6 with a 65-58 victory over Lafayette ... She takes over a club that went 7-22 overall with a 5-15 mark in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action in 2024-25 ... In the MAAC's preseason coaches poll, Rider was picked 13 of 13 teams ... The Broncs lost four starters (Gabby Turco - 13.9 ppg, Camryn Collins - 8.9 ppg, Winner Bartholomew - 8.3 ppg and Marionna Cos-Morales-6.6) with only Aliya McIver back as a member of this year's starting five. 

Navy vs. Rider/MAAC
The Mids and Broncs have met eight times in women's basketball action in a series that begin on Nov. 18, 2007 ... That matchup at Alumni Hall in Annapolis ended with a 10-point victory for Navy, 68-58 ... All-time, Navy is 7-1 versus Rider with three of the games being decided by 10 points or less ... Over four Navy-Rider matchups on the Mids' home court, Navy is 3-1 with victories in 2007, 2013 and 2017 ... The most recent Navy-Rider contest at Alumni Hall went the way of the Broncs, 59-43 on Dec. 3, 2022; that victory was Rider's first and only win of the series ... All-time versus Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opponents, Navy is 31-34 in 65 previous meetings. Mount St. Mary's (9-20) is Navy's most common foe playing 29 times ... Navy will take on three MAAC opponents this season with additional home matchups versus Manhattan on Nov. 29 and Iona on Dec. 7.
    All-time Matchups:
    Nov. 4, 2024 (A): Navy 74 - Rider 52
    Dec. 3, 2022 (H): Rider 59 - Navy 43
    Dec. 12, 2021 (A): Navy 73 - Rider 59
    Dec. 2, 2018 (A): Navy 66 - Rider 60
    Nov. 12, 2017 (H): Navy 63 - Rider 44
    Nov. 30, 2013 (H): Navy 75 - Rider 64 (Navy Classic Tournament)
    Dec. 19, 2008 (A): Navy 71 - Rider 64
    Nov. 18, 2007 (H): Navy 68 - Rider 58

Most Recent Navy-Rider Matchup -- Nov. 4, 2024 in Lawrenceville, N.J.
After ending its 2023-24 season with momentum and a ton of potential ready to be activated, the Navy women's basketball team came out on Monday and set a high bar for all future games this year as the Mids rolled to a 22-point victory on the road over Rider University by a score of 74-52. Starting out fast with a 10-point lead through one quarter of play, the Mids (1-0) kept their foot on the offensive gas pedal all night, while also showcasing a stifling brand of defense that forced the Broncs (0-1) into 23 turnovers on their home court at Alumni Gymnasium.

Contributions came from throughout their roster as Mary Gibbons provided instant offense off the bench with a team-high 18 points and six assists in her collegiate debut. Kate Samson paced the team on both ends of the court with 16 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. The reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year, Zanai Barnett-Gay continued to influence Navy with her all-around effort of 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals over 31 minutes of action.

The action started out evenly on Monday night as the game was knotted 4-4 four minutes in. Samson netted Navy's first basket of the season with a jumper at 8:32. From that mark at 6:17 when the Broncs drew even with the Mids at 4-4, the visitors rattled off a 12-2 run to close out the quarter. Eight forced turnovers during this stretch by Navy's defense kept Rider contained on the scoreboard, while Lizzie Holder came off the bench with four straight points over the first two possessions that she was in the game to spark the offense. Opportunity was the name of the quarter as Navy took twice as many shots as Rider, 20 versus 10; the advantage was courtesy of 10 total turnovers for the stanza.

Up 16-6 after one quarter, Gibbons loudly entered her name in the box score as on the first possession of the second period she caught a Julianna Almeida pass in the corner and knocked down a contested three-pointer that she would convert into a four-point play after getting fouled on her follow-through. With the score 20-6, Rider ended its five-plus minute scoring drought to pull within 12 at 7:43. After that basket, Navy scored the next four times down the court and expanded its lead out to 20, 28-8. Maren Louridas put the exclamation mark on this run with a layup off a Barnett-Gay steal. A 6-0 run by the Broncs pulled them within 14 at 3:53 before the Mids rallied down the stretch with nine of the final 13 points of the stanza. Navy received points from Gibbons, Samson, Barnett-Gay and Almeida during this span to send the visitors into the locker room up 37-18.

The Mids continued to assert themselves over the Broncs in the third quarter as their lead rose to as much as 22 at 7:52 following an Almeida three-pointer and as close as 16 at 1:21. Another three-pointer by Gibbons made sure Rider wouldn't get any closer for the period as she had an immediate rebuttal at 1:08.

Ahead 54-35 after 30 minutes of action, Navy sealed their first win of 2024-25 with the same relentless attitude on offense and defense that sparked them to that substantial advantage in the first place throughout the fourth quarter. While leaning more on its bench in the final stanza, 16 of the Mids' 20 points came from reserves, including three-pointers by Gibbons, Toni Papahronis, Saran Moschella and Kelli Giuliani; four of Navy's six made baskets in the fourth quarter were from downtown. Due to that marksmanship and six more caused turnovers, the Mids were able to extend their final margin of victory to 22 points, 74-52.

For the game, Navy out-shot Rider 40.0 percent (28-70) to 32.1 (17-53) from the field and 33.3 percent (8-24) to 21.4 (3-14) from three-point range. The Broncs held a slight 83.3 percent (15-18) to 66.7 (10-15) edge in free throw shooting.

The Mids dominated the battle on the glass with a significant 14-rebound advantage, 47 to 33 over the Broncs. Barnett-Gay, Louridas and Samson all tied for the game-high with seven caroms.

Comparing the Teams

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Rider
Record / League-Only	3-0 / 0-0 PL	1-3 / 0-0 MAAC
Home / Away Record	2-0 / 1-0	1-0 / 0-3
Points Per Game	70.3 PPG	57.3 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	60.3 PPG	77.0PPG
Field Goal Percentage	43.9 %	38.7 %
3-Point Percentage	30.7 %	33.0 %
Free Throw Percentage	68.8 %	61.1 %
Rebounds Per Game	45.3 RPG	30.3 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	15.0 / 20.7	13.8 / 16.8

Individual Leaders

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Rider
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 21.0 ppg	Kristina Ekofo, 13.8 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 10.3 rpg	Aliya McIver, 5.0 rpg
Assists Per Game	Julianna Almeida, 4.3 apg	A. McIver, 2.5 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 47.4 %	Emmy Roach, 60.0 %
3-Point Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 42.9 %	Alena Cofield, 43.8 %
Free Throw Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 84.0 %	Deb Okechukwu, 66.7 %

Last Time Out -- Sunday, November 16 versus Florida in Annapolis
Faced with the daunting task of trying to contain an undefeated Florida team that was averaging 94.3 points per game, while rolling over opponents by 42 a contest, the Navy women's basketball team was locked in for 40 minutes and entered its name in the program record book with a convincing 69-54 victory at Alumni Hall on Sunday. The Mids (3-0) showcased a well-balanced attack and a style of play that executed on both ends of the court as four players finished with eight or more points, while holding the Gators (4-1) to just 28.8 percent shooting from the field and 19.2 percent from three-point range.

The victory on Sunday was the program's first over an SEC foe since Dec. 20, 1998 when it defeated Ole Miss at home as part of that season's Navy Classic. All-time, this was the Mids' fourth-ever win over a team from a Power 4 conference as they earlier knocked off the Baylor Bears, 81-17 on Jan. 1, 1993, Ole Miss in 1998 and Clemson on Nov. 9, 2019.

Zanai Barnett-Gay led all players with 22 points to go along with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Zoe Mesuch provided the Mids' with explosive first half scoring with 5-6 shooting from three-point range for 15 points. Julianna Almeida filled up the box score with 12 points, seven rebounds and a career-high eight assists. Matched up against taller opposition, Morgan Demos dominated the glass with a game-high 12 rebounds, while netting eight points and posting a +29 plus-minus statistic.

The action on Sunday opened with a brief Florida lead as Me'Arah O'Neal knocked home a three-pointer for the Gators on their first possession of the game. After finding their footing offensively, Barnett-Gay got the Mids on the scoreboard at 7:21 with a driving layup off a Demos pass. From that juncture, the three-ball sparked Navy to an eventual 13-0 run. The next three times down the court, Navy was clutch from long range as Barnett-Gay made the team's first three-pointer before Mesuch entered her name in the scoring column with consecutive treys at 6:25 and 5:53. Almeida rounded out the 13-0 run with a second-chance layup after Barnett-Gay hustled for an offensive rebound and found her backcourt mate for the easy basket. With the score 13-3, Florida turned the tide its favor with 13 straight points of its own to re-take the lead 16-13 by the 1:18 mark. Mesuch sank her third three-pointer of the stanza to end the Mids' scoring lull and draw her squad even at 16-16. The teams exchanged made baskets over the final 52 seconds of the quarter to leave the score 18-18 through 10 minutes of play.

Mesuch's hot start carried over into the second quarter when Christina Liggio found her on the wing for another three-pointer, her fourth of the game. The Mids' sharpshooting from distance continued further into the quarter as Almeida stretched Navy's lead to six, 28-22, with a three of her own. The back-and-forth battle kept going during the second as Florida fired back with seven unanswered points over a two-minute run to jump back into the lead 29-28 at the 4:20 mark. Demos powered the Mids in the final minutes of the second quarter with four points, three rebounds and an assist, while Saran Moschella nailed her team's eighth three-pointer of the half with a long-range snipe with 46 seconds to go. Their individual success sent Navy to the locker room at half time up eight, 39-31. Overall, in the first half, Navy shot 8-14 from three-point range.

Leading by eight after the intermission, the Mids came out in the second half with even more aggression in their attack as they opened the third quarter with the first six points to go up 45-31 and force the Gators to call a timeout at 6:22. A slight 4-0 rebuttal by Florida drew the SEC squad back to within 10 before the fearless Navy squad rattled off eight straight points to bubble its lead up to a game-high of 18 and eventually 16 at the quarter break. Back-to-back triples coming off the hands of Barnett-Gay led off the streak before Demos capped it with a layup. Defensively, the Mids handcuffed the Gators to the tune of just 13.3 percent shooting on 2-of-15 from the field during the third.

Up 53-37 with just 10 minutes to go before entering its name in the program record books, Navy barely flinched when Florida threw its final punches the Mids' way. During the initial five minutes of the fourth quarter, Navy went up by as much as 18 again before Florida cut its deficit back to 14 at 60-46 when the under-five media timeout came at 4:58. The Gators' last ditch at making a comeback saw the visitors draw within nine, 62-53 with 2:55 remaining in the game before Barnett-Gay took control and scored five of the Mids' final seven points to ice the 69-54 victory.

17 of Barnett-Gay's 22 points on Sunday came in the second half as she tight-roped around foul trouble after she was tagged with three in the first half. She shot 4-6 from the field, 2-2 from three-point range and 7-8 from the foul line, while playing 19:12 of a possible 20 minutes in the second half.
 
For the game, Navy out-shot Florida, 47.1 percent (24-51) to 28.8 (19-66) from the field and 45.5 percent (10-22) to 19.2 (5-26) from three-point range. The teams posted identical 57.9 marks (11-19) from the foul line.

The substantially smaller Midshipmen lineup out-rebounded the Gators by 10, 47-37. Demos led all players with 12 caroms, a total that tied her single-game career-high. Barnett-Gay had a strong effort on the glass as well with eight rebounds. Almeida and Kate Samson tied with seven rebounds each.

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. Enter Gate 5 off Taylor Ave. to park at the stadium. Fans 18 and over need a government-issued photo ID. 
**Starting May 7, 2025, in accordance with The Real ID Act of 2005, visitors entering through the Pedestrian Gate 1 Visitor Control Center or accessing the USNA through the fan shuttle bus for a game should be prepared to present a REAL ID-compliant driver's license, U.S. Passport, enhanced state-issued ID, or another acceptable form of identification, to access federal facilities.  Foreign passports are NOT permitted for general access.