ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Winners of eight straight games, the Navy women's basketball team will head to the Nation's Capital on Saturday for a 1 p.m. clash versus American University. The Mids (15-6, 10-1 PL) will be looking for a season sweep of the Eagles (6-16, 4-7 PL) after winning their first matchup on January 14 by a score of 86-68. An 18-0 start to that contest built Navy a lead that it wouldn't relinquish for the final three-plus quarters. The Mids head into Saturday's game at the Eagles' Bender Arena in search of their third consecutive win at a location that they've never won more than two in a row all-time dating back to 1978. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.

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 72 times in a series that began on February 16, 1978  ... All-time, American leads Navy, 43-29 on the strength of its dominant 27-7 mark over 34 meetings at Bender Arena; that trend is reversed as the Mids hold a 21-14 edge in games at Alumni Hall ... Navy broke an 11-year/14-game losing streak at Bender Arena on Feb. 14, 2024 with a 69-55 victory ... 2024's season sweep was the first for the Mids since 2013 and they mirrored that outcome again in 2025  ... Since the Eagles joined the Patriot League in 2001-02, American is 28-22 against Navy ... In the last 10 American-Navy games, the rivalry is tied 5-5 as Navy is currently on a five-game winning streak over American
    Last 5 Games:
    Jan. 14, 2026 (H): Navy 86 - American 68
    Feb. 26, 2025 (H): Navy 88 - American 60
    Jan. 2, 2025 (A): Navy 66 - American 59
    March 2, 2024 (H): Navy 73 - American 57
    Feb. 14, 2024 (A): Navy 69 - American 55

Most Recent Navy-American Matchup ... January 14, 2026 in Annapolis
The Navy women's basketball team continued its run of scorching hot basketball with an 86-68 win over American on Wednesday night. After averaging 87 points in back-to-back victories over Bucknell and Lafayette last week, the Mids started out Wednesday's contest with an 18-0 run to build up a double-digit advantage that would never be touched by the Eagles over the entirety of the game at Alumni Hall.

Navy's offense clicked throughout with 22 or more points in three of the four quarters with 19 in the third period as the outlier. Once again pace and precision marked the Mids' success as they assisted on 22 made baskets, scored 25 points off of turnovers and knocked down 10 three-pointers to ease to the win.

Individually, four different Mids recorded double-digit scoring outputs with Zanai Barnett-Gay leading the way with 24 points to go along with additional team-highs of eight rebounds, six assists and five steals over 34 minutes of action. The reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Week, Zoe Mesuch provided strong support with 17 points on three three-pointers and four assists. Julianna Almeida and Christina Liggio tied for third on the team with 13-point outputs.

Navy dominated the action from the opening tip as the hosts came out and shot a scalding 5-of-6 from the field over the first three minutes and forced American to burn a time out with the score 11-0. Mesuch was the early spark plug with five of the Mids' points. Navy continued to build on its initial run with seven more unanswered points following that timeout. Another three-pointer by Mesuch and a fast break layup from Boettinger put the final exclamation point on the 18-0 run. Defensively, Navy held American scoreless for nearly eight minutes with an 0-for-10 mark from the field and five turnovers. The Eagles finally broke onto the scoreboard at the 2:02 mark courtesy of a Molly Driscoll layup. Baskets by Maren Louridas and Liggio closed out the frame with Navy up 22-6.

Navy kept its foot on the gas as it forced American into two more turnovers over the first three minutes, while adding to its lead with points on four straight possessions. Liggio led off the quarter with a three-pointer from the wing at 9:13 before Almeida drove the lane for an athletic layup at 8:28 and Louridas fought for an offensive rebound and putback at 7:39. With the score 30-8 after an Almeida free throw, the Mids continued to put distance between themselves and the Eagles with nine of the game's next 14 points to go up 39-13 by the 4:28 juncture of the stanza. That 26-point lead was the largest of the evening, as American was able to shave three points off its deficit before retiring to the locker room with the score, 44-21.

The third quarter opened with a shift in momentum as the Eagles registered back-to-back three-pointers with 90 seconds to draw within 17 before Barnett-Gay grabbed the reigns of the Mids' offense and countered back with consecutive baskets to re-extend her squad's lead over 20 points again. Liggio then took the torch for Barnett-Gay with five points of her own in quick succession to make it a 22-point game, 53-31 by the 5:01 mark. Twice American cut Navy's lead to 19, but Barnett-Gay had a different plan with eight individual points over the final 3:30 of the quarter to make it a 63-42 game through 30 minutes of action.

In total, Barnett-Gay scored 12 of the Mids' 19 points in the frame on 4-6 shooting from the floor with a pair of three-pointers and two free throws.

With the result nearly sewed up, Navy's lead in the fourth quarter reached as high as 23, 74-51, at 6:58 before American rattled off 10 straight points to tighten the contest up to 13, 74-61 with 3:50 left to play. Three-pointers by Mesuch, Barnett-Gay and Liggio down the stretch sealed the victory as Navy pressed on and walked away with the 86-68 decision.

For the game, Navy out-shot American, 47.1 percent (32-68) to 42.1 (24-57) from the field, though the Eagles held advantages in three-point shooting, 50.0 percent (11-22) to 30.3 (10-33) and at the foul line, 90.0 (9-10) to 70.6 (12-17).

Defensively, the Mids swarmed the Eagles to the tune of 17 turnovers and were credited with 12 steals. Barnett-Gay was constantly interrupting the action with a game-high five steals. Manning the paint, Boettinger blocked a career-high four shots on the evening.

Comparing the Teams

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	American
Record / League-Only	15-6 / 10-1 PL	6-16 / 4-7 PL
Home / Away / Neutral Record	9-3 / 6-3	4-6 / 2-10
Points Per Game	70.1 PPG	55.6 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	61.3 PPG	64.4 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	41.5 %	35.8 %
3-Point Percentage	30.4 %	27.2 %
Free Throw Percentage	68.5 %	74.8 %
Rebounds Per Game	40.4 RPG	33.8 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	15.7 / 14.0	11.8 / 14.7

Individual Leaders

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	American
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 17.1 ppg	Molly Driscoll, 13.0 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 8.7 rpg	Charlotte Tuhy, 10.9 rpg
Assists Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay 4.3 apg	Lexi Salazar, 2.7 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Kate Samson, 52.1 %	C. Tuhy, 40.9 %
3-Point Percentage	Mary Gibbons, 34.8 %	M. Driscoll, 32.5 %
Free Throw Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 80.7 %	M. Driscoll, 84.3 %

Last Time Out -- Wednesday, February 4 versus Lafayette in Annapolis
Just over three weeks after rolling to a record-setting 97-58 win over Lafayette on the road on January 10, the Navy women's basketball team completed its season sweep of the Leopards on Wednesday as the Mids (15-6, 10-1 PL) cruised to a 62-46 victory at Alumni Hall. The outcome was rarely in question as the hosts broke out to a 34-13 lead at the half after smothering the Leopards (8-14, 4-7 PL) to just two points in the second quarter. In total, Navy led for nearly 37 minutes on Wednesday and saw all 15 of its players in action.

Zanai Barnett-Gay was her normal dominant self versus Lafayette as she filled the box score with 20 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three steals in 32 minutes of playing time. She has now recorded double-doubles in three of the last four games that she's gone head-to-head with the Leopards. Coming off the bench, Christina Liggio was a game-high +21 as she helped Navy out-score Lafayette 34-13 in the 16 minutes she was on the court. Statistically, she scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds.

The contest opened as evenly as could be on Wednesday night as each team scored seven points before the under-five media timeout at 4:56. The tight basket-for-basket action continued for the next four minutes as the score increased to 12-11 in the Mids' favor by the 1:51 mark. From that juncture, Navy closed out the quarter on a 7-0 run with two-point field goals by Quinn Boettinger and Barnett-Gay sandwiching a three-pointer by Zoe Mesuch. Mesuch was the early spark plug for the Mids with nine of her team's 19 points in the first quarter.

With the score 19-11 through one quarter of play, Lafayette came out in the second period and registered the first field goal for either team at 8:20. That proved to be a turning point as dissatisfied with his team's play (three turnovers and a missed three-point attempt), Coach Taylor called a timeout to re-group his squad. Coming out of that break, the entire complexion of the game changed as the Mids locked down the Leopards defensively for the rest of the quarter with nine straight missed shots and four forced turnovers. With Lafayette stuck on 13 points (two for the quarter) for the next 8:20, Navy was able to build up a 21-point halftime lead with 15 unanswered points. A pair of freshmen from off the bench kickstarted this streak as Grace Minihane scored within 10 seconds of subbing in at 6:15 before Liggio drew an 'and-one' situation at 4:42. Liggio's basket made it 26-13 before Barnett-Gay concluded the quarter with six of the Mids' final eight points to take a 34-13 lead into the locker room.

In the 15-2 quarter, Navy held Lafayette to a 1-13 shooting mark from the field with the Leopards failing to hit any of their seven attempts from three-point range. Barnett-Gay (+13), Liggio (+12) and Minihane (+10) all played pivotal roles in the Mids' success in the quarter.

Up 21 at the intermission, Navy increased its advantage to 33 points mid-way through the third quarter courtesy of a 17-2 run between 8:13 and 4:05. After the Leopards pulled within 18, 36-18 at 8:21, Barnett-Gay ignited the Mids' lengthy scoring run with four straight free throws on consecutive possessions. Navy's senior post duo of Morgan Demos and Kate Samson were next up with back-to-back baskets before the three-ball came into play with successive treys from Liggio and Mary Gibbons at 5:44 and 5:12 before Liggio capped the streak with her second triple of the quarter a little over a minute later at 4:05. With the score 53-20, the Mids kept a 30-plus point lead into the final seconds of the third period before Jordan Mays registered her first basket of the game with 36 seconds to go to make it a 56-27 score through three quarters.

Navy had its best quarter of shooting from all three disciplines with a 41.2 percent (7-17) mark from the field, a 42.9 percent (3-7) effort from three-point range and a 83.3 percent (5-6) showing from the foul line.

With the outcome all but wrapped up with a 29-point lead and 10 minutes to play, Navy had 14 of its 15 players see action in the fourth quarter in various positions and lineups. As cold as the Leopards were in the second quarter, the Mids were just as cold in the fourth as they opened the period 0-12 from the field before Minihane drove through the lane for a layup with 50 seconds remaining. Four converted foul shots helped boost Navy's offensive output as Lafayette shaved 13 points off its deficit in the final frame with a 19-6 scoring advantage to tighten the final score to 62-46.

For the game, Navy out-shot Lafayette, 33.8 percent (22-65) to 24.6 (15-61) from the field and 20.8 percent (5-24) to 12.5 (3-24) from three-point range. Both teams made 13 free throws on Wednesday night with the Leopards converting 72.2 percent (13-18) of their opportunities versus 61.9 (13-21) for the Mids.

Navy was dominant on the glass as it grabbed 52 rebounds, a total that tied the team's season-high. The Mids finished with 15 offensive caroms. Overall, Navy out-rebounded Lafayette by nine, 52-43. Barnett-Gay tied Lafayette's Maddison Krug with a game-high 13 rebounds.