WASHINGTON – American women's basketball revs up for its first game of the week, challenging Navy in Alumni Hall on Wednesday evening. The Eagles are on the hunt to get back in the win column and improve their league record, tipping off against the Midshipmen at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
           
Follow Along

• Date/Time: Wednesday, Jan. 14; 7 p.m.
• Site: Annapolis, Md. (Alumni Hall)
• TV: ESPN+

Series History

• There is a long and storied history between the two programs, and the Eagles have the 43-28 lead in the series that dates back to 1978. In Annapolis though, the Midshipmen have an 18-14 lead over the Eagles.
• Since 2018, the Eagles have a 14-6 record against the Mids. There were two winning streaks that consisted of seven games between 2018-21, and a six game win streak between 2021-23. Currently though, the Eagles are on a four-game losing streak, having lost both contests in 2024 and in 2025.
• In January 2025, Navy took a seven-point 66-59 win over American before soaring past the Eagles, 88-60 in late February in Alumni Hall. In that game in February, Mary Gibbons dropped 23 points on 7-for-8 shooting to lead the Mids, while Molly Driscoll shot 10-15 for 22 points to lead American. 

Tipping Off

• After two Patriot League victories in a row for the Eagles over Boston University and then Colgate, the Eagles fell to Holy Cross, 65-48, on the road on Saturday. In the Hart Center, AU struggled to keep pace with the high-powered offense of Holy Cross, shooting 29.3 percent as a team on the outing to HC's 39.4 percent, and after taking a 9-8 lead at the 3:37 mark in the first period, slipped behind and never caught back up.
• On the home court, the Crusaders took immaculate care of the basketball against the Eagles, with only six turnovers in the entire contest; American had 15.
• Down low, American was outscored 20 to 46 in points in the paint, struggling once again to find an offensive groove, and HC capitalized on its pickpocketing, outscoring AU 12-5 in points from turnovers. AU also had issues scoring off the bench, only 13 points coming from reserves.
• Madisyn Moore-Nicholson was tied with Charlotte Tuhy as top scorer for American against HC, the sophomore and freshman duo the only Eagles in double-digits during the matchup. Both players finished with 11 points, six of which came from the charity stripe.
• Tuhy, who was slow to get started offensively was still an asset on both ends of the floor for the Eagles as the game wore on. The 6'1 freshman finished with a double-double–her seventh of the season–and led all players on the court with 16 rebounds in addition to her 11 points. Tuhy had a massive impact over the week for the Eagles, particularly in their overtime win over Colgate midweek when she recorded 22 rebounds and 17 points. Tuhy is now second-all time at AU for rebounds in a single game.
• Tuhy is also second in the Patriot League in rebounding, averaging 10.4 rebounds per game behind Army's Kya Smith who averages 10.6 rpg. Tuhy averages a double-double with her points per game average sitting at 10.3. She currently sits at 20th in the NCAA in rebounding.
• Molly Driscoll was a key component for AU on Saturday, scoring nine points and playing 31 minutes on the floor; she also led the team with two steals in the game. The sophomore guard leads American in scoring this season, with an average of 12.9 ppg, good enough for 10th in the league in the statistic. She's also scored 24 three pointers this year and is eighth in the PL in the stat.
• Moore-Nicholson is AU's second-leading scorer this season with an average of 11.4 ppg. She has seen 20+ point games in two of the previous five contests, and across the run of eight most recent games, the sophomore guard has managed to score 10+ points per game in each.

Scouting the Midshipmen

• Coming into the game on Wednesday, the Mids are on a roll, up 3-1 in PL play. Most recently, Navy was on the road against Bucknell and won 77-51 before tackling Lafayette in Easton and sailing to a 97-58 win over the Leopards. While Lafayette had two players who recorded 10+ points, Navy had two players who recorded 20+ points in the game: Zanai Barnett-Gay (26 pts) and Zoe Mesuch (22 pts).
• After shooting 40.9 percent, but still scoring 24 points in the first quarter, the Mids found that next gear and shot a scalding 65.9 percent over the final 30 minutes of action to turn a seven-point lead into a dominant 39-point margin of victory over the Leopards. Navy's effort on Saturday at the Kirby saw the team break two records and post two more top-10 single-game all-time marks.
• The Mids' 97 total points were the most-ever against an NCAA DI opponent and their 39-point margin of victory was the highest-ever versus Lafayette in 87 meetings. Other new editions to the program's single-game record book were 26 assists tying the seventh-most all-time in a contest, while their 38 made fields tied for tenth all-time.
• Barnett-Gay closed in on a triple-double for the second-straight game as she recorded 26 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in 33 minutes of action. On Wednesday at Bucknell, she finished with 10 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists in Navy's blowout win over the Bison.
• Mesuch went 7-of-14 from the field with a 6-of-16 mark from three-point range, while also assisting on a career-high eight baskets.
• Freshman Quinn Boettinger gave Navy three players in double figures as she registered 10 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes of playing time.
• On the season, Barnett-Gay is averaging 17.3 ppg, which sets the junior at third in the league; she sits at sixth in field goal percentage, shooting 43.5 percent, and fourth in free throw percentage, going 80.6 percent from the line. She is also leading the league in assists, averaging 4.2 per game while teammate Julianna Alemeida averages 3.2 and sits at fifth in the league in the stat.
• Navy's Mary Gibbons sits at ninth in the PL in three-point shooting percentage, with 26 made threes on the season at a 38.3 percent marker. Mesuch is second int eh league in three pointers scored per game, averaging 2.6 from distance per game. 

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