ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A prime early-season test awaits the Navy women's basketball team on Sunday as the Mids will travel to Richmond for a showdown between two squads with NCAA Tournament aspirations. Picked first in the Patriot League preseason poll, the Mids (4-0) will go head-to-head with a Spider (4-1) team that tasted victory in the 2025 NCAA Tournament when they rolled to a 74-49 victory over Georgia Tech this past March. Both teams are deep and talented, while having star-level talent at the top of each roster as preseason National Player of the Year candidates, Zanai Barnett-Gay and Maggie Doogan highlight the individuals to watch from Navy and Richmond, respectively. Tip-off at Richmond's Robins Center is set for 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

Sunday's Navy-Richmond 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
Richmond
One of the most highly-regarded mid-major programs in the NCAA DI, the Spiders come into Sunday's contest with a 4-1 record with dominant victories over R/V Columbia, Temple, William & Mary and Mount St. Mary's, all of which were by double digits and three by 15 or more points; their only loss came on Nov. 7 on the road at No. 4 Texas, 85-56 ... Richmond was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the Atlantic 10 Conference after collecting the program's first NCAA Tournament victory in March ... Four Spiders were recognized on the A-10 preseason teams led by Sr. F Maggie Doogan, the reigning A-10 Player of the Year. She's joined on the All-A-10 Preseason First Team by Sr. G Rachel Ullstrom, who played with USA Basketball's 3x3 National team over the summer. Additionally Jr. G Ally Sweeney (2nd Team) and Gr. F Tierra Simon (3rd Team) were noted in the preseason polling ... Doogan and Ullstrom were named to the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year similar to Navy's Zanai Barnett-Gay ... Doogan ranks 8th nationally in scoring (24.4 ppg) and 15th in rebounding (11.0 rpg) ... As a team, Richmond is second nationally with 10.8 made three pointers per game ... The Spiders are currently seventh in the receiving votes section of this week's AP Top-25 Poll.

Navy vs. Richmond / Atlantic 10
The Mids and Spiders have met nine times on the hardwood in a series that dates back to Feb. 13, 1982 ... All-time, Richmond holds an 6-3 advantage in the series with Navy ... Most recently, the Spiders defeated the Mids, 65-49 in Richmond on Dec. 2, 2020 during the cobbled together COVID-19 season ... The Mids' last win came during the 2017 non-conference when they earned a 76-56 victory over the Spiders on Dec. 6, 2017 in Richmond ... The series was quite active in the early years of Navy's program with five matchups in five years between 1982 and 1986; the teams have only met four times in the 39 years since: Nov. 11, 2011, Jan. 4, 2013, Dec. 6, 2017 & Dec. 2, 2020 ... The Spiders hold a 4-2 advantage in games played in Richmond with victories in 1984, 1986, 2013 and 2020  ... Richmond has a familiar face guiding its team as Aaron Roussell, the former head coach at Bucknell, is in his seventh season with the Spiders; he was 12-6 all-time versus the Mids while leading the Bison; he's currently 126-65 in his seven seasons at Richmond ... Navy has an all-time record of 27-40 against teams from the Atlantic 10 conference and has played 12 of the 14 associated schools; they've faced off with George Mason (17), Fordham (13) and George Washington (12) the most times.
    Last Five Navy-Richmond Matchups:
    Dec. 2, 2020 (A): Richmond 65 - Navy 49
    Dec. 6, 2017 (A): Navy 76 - Richmond 56
    Jan. 4, 2013 (A): Richmond 65 - Navy 59
    Nov. 11, 2011 (H): Richmond 56 - Navy 39
    Feb. 5, 1986 (A): Richmond 75 - Navy 61

Most Recent Navy-Richmond Matchup -- Dec. 2, 2020 in Richmond, Va.
In the second game of the 2020-21 season the Navy women's basketball team ran into a fast-starting Richmond Spider squad that scored 22 points in the first quarter on Wednesday at the Robins Center. Turnover issues throughout the non-conference game plagued the Mids' (0-2) multiple comeback attempts as the visitors eventually fell by a score of 65-49 in favor of the Spiders (1-1).
 
Coming off a career-best 26-point performance at George Mason on Sunday, Sophie Gatzounas once again fronted Navy's offensive production as she netted a game-high 20 points on 7-11 field goal shooting. She also added a team-high nine rebounds in 39 minutes of action. 
  
The game began with the Spiders shooting lights out from long range with four three-pointers in the first 3:40 of play to go up 16-6. Over the next two-plus minutes, the Mids scored seven unanswered points to make it 16-13 when Ciera Hertelendy went in for an uncontested layup at 3:33. The keen long distance marksmanship by Richmond continued over the final three minutes as the Spiders knocked down two more treys to re-extend their lead out to 22-17 by the end of the first period. For the opening period, Richmond shot 6-11 from three-point range.
 
The second quarter opened nearly even as the Mids netted six points versus five for the host Spiders. After that point in play at 4:48 where the Mids cut their deficit to four points, 27-23, the Spiders rattled off a 7-2 run to go up 34-25 at 1:52. Each team made a free throw down the stretch to send the game to halftime with the score 35-26. Navy's ability to stay even closer to Richmond in the first half was held back by its struggle with ball control as the Mids were charged with 17 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Similar to the second stanza, the teams were evenly matched to begin the third quarter as each scored nine points through the first five minutes as the game advanced to 44-35 by the 5:01 mark. Sydne Watts was at the center of Navy's offensive success in this stretch as she made layups on back-to-back possessions. Both defenses buckled down over the second half of the frame as Richmond made just two field goals over the final 4:05, while Navy countered with one, a Gatzounas layup with five seconds remaining.
 
Coming out for the fourth quarter down 49-38, the Mids fought to keep their deficit in single digits as baskets by Kristina Donza and Gatzounas each flipped the score from 11 down to nine at 8:44 and 7:22, respectively. The Spiders made sure that the game would never get closer than that nine-point margin as they broke away over the next 4:04 with 14 of the next 17 points to advance the scoreboard from 51-42 to 65-45. The Mids held the Spiders scoreless over the final 3:18 and were able to shave four points off the score to send the game final at 65-49.
 
For the contest, Richmond outshot Navy, 41.1 percent (23-56) to 36.2 (17-47) from the field, as well as at the line with a 75.0 percent (9-12) to 60.0 (12-20) advantage. Both teams were nearly equal from three-point range as the Mids shot 30.3 percent (10-33) versus 30.0 percent (3-10) for the Mids.
 
In the rebounding battle, Navy edged Richmond, 35-33. Gatzounas led the Mids with nine boards with Morganne Andrews aiding the cause with six rebounds.
 
Defensively, Navy forced Richmond into 21 turnovers and were credited with nine steals. On the opposite side of the ledger, Richmond turned Navy over 30 times on 10 steals.

Comparing the Teams

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Richmond
Record / League-Only	4-0 / 0-0 PL	4-1 / 0-0 A-10
Home / Away Record	3-0 / 1-0	2-0 / 2-1
Points Per Game	69.5 PPG	74.4 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	59.3 PPG	63.2 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	43.0 %	45.8 %
3-Point Percentage	28.2 %	39.4 %
Free Throw Percentage	67.9 %	81.4 %
Rebounds Per Game	44.0 RPG	38.8 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	15.5 / 18.8	17.0 / 16.0

Individual Leaders

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Richmond
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 21.5 ppg	Maggie Doogan, 24.4 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 10.3 rpg	M. Doogan, 11.0 rpg
Assists Per Game	Julianna Almeida, 4.3 apg	M. Doogan, 6.4 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 50.0 %	M. Doogan, 54.4 %
3-Point Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 42.1 %	Ally Sweeney, 52.9 %
Free Throw Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 80.0 %	M. Doogan, 95.8 %

Last Time Out -- Wednesday, November 19 versus Rider in Annapolis
Coming off a program-altering win over the University of Florida on Sunday, the Navy women's basketball team was faced with weathering the almost certain adrenaline downswing in its ensuing game. On Wednesday evening, the Mids (4-0) overcame a stagnant first quarter of action that saw them trailing the Rider Broncs (1-4) by three before turning up their efficiency with a dominant 39-16 run of play over the second and third quarters to blow open the game and cruise to an eventual 67-56 victory at Alumni Hall.

Zanai Barnett-Gay was the lynch pin of Navy's domineering middle portion of the contest with 18 of her game-high 23 points coming in the second and third quarters. She added to her scoring output with team-highs of 10 rebounds, five assists, three steals and a +17 plus/minus mark. Kate Samson was also strong in victory for the Mids with 11 points on an efficient 5-7 shooting to go along with five rebounds. Zoe Mesuch increased her streak of double-digit scoring to four games with 10 points on Wednesday night.

The action at Alumni Hall opened with a slight Rider feel to it as the visitors edged out to an 11-6 lead five minutes into the game. Trailing by five, Navy had a 7-0 rebuttal over a stretch from 4:11 to 2:27 that rode their talented freshmen class throughout it. It began with a pair of Mesuch free throws before Quinn Boettinger got a steal and hit Christina Liggio for the fast break layup. The Boettinger-Liggio connection paid dividends for the Mids again to round out the streak when Boettinger passed out of the post and found a wide-open Liggio for a three-pointer from the wing. With the score 13-11 in favor of Navy, Rider closed out the quarter with five straight points to take a 16-13 advantage into the quarter break. The Mids were held back by five turnovers in the opening period.

The freshmen continued to keep Navy afloat in the second quarter as Mesuch drew her squad even at 16-16 with a three-pointer at the 6:33 mark. Rider slowly crept ahead over the next two minutes and was up 19-16. The Broncs would later hold leads of 21-20 and 23-22 before Barnett-Gay and Samson netted seven unanswered points for the Mids over the final 64 seconds of the quarter to make it a 29-23 game going into the locker room at halftime. Navy had six more turnovers in the second stanza to hold back its total effectiveness.

After slowly putting some separation between themselves and the Broncs late in the second quarter, the Mids went up nine within the first 1:51 of the third quarter as Julianna Almeida led off with a corner three-pointer before Barnett-Gay sank a jump shot at 8:09. A slight comeback by Rider tightened the contest to five, 34-29 at 6:27, before Navy closed the quarter on an 18-3 run to go up 52-32. Barnett-Gay registered 11 of those 18 points with a Nia Henley steal and pass to Mary Gibbons with 30 seconds to go in the quarter putting the punctuation on the streak. As a team, Navy shot 9-16 from the field and forced Rider into seven turnovers and only allowed three made field goals.

The Mids continued to hold a 20-point advantage into the early portion of the fourth quarter as they led 57-37 at the 8:17 juncture. A game Rider team continued to fight and rattled off 17 of the next 23 points to pull within nine, 63-54 by the 3:04 mark. That was as close as the Broncs would get as Gibbons nailed a corner three at 2:25 to build the Mids' lead back into double digits. Rider's comeback was bolstered by 10-19 shooting with four three-pointers in the fourth quarter.
 
For the game, Navy out-shot Rider, 40.6 percent (26-64) to 37.1 (23-62) from the field, though the visiting Broncs held a slight advantage in three-point shooting 24.1 percent (7-29) to 21.4 (6-28).

The rebounding battle was tied on Wednesday night as both squads came away with 40 rebounds, including 12 on the offensive side of the action by Navy. Barnett-Gay tied Rider's Deb Okechukwu for the game-high with 10 caroms.

The Mids had a positive assist-to-turnover margin with 17 helpers versus a season-low 13 miscues. Barnett-Gay (five) and Almeida (four) combined for nine assists to pace Navy.