WASHINGTON –– American women's basketball is back in action for its second game this week as it takes on first-place Navy Saturday from Carmichael Arena. The Eagles and Midshipmen will tipoff at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN+, and following the game there will be a National Girls and Women in Sports Day Clinic.
           
Follow Along

• Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 7; 1 p.m.
• Site: Washington, D.C. (Bender Arena)
• TV: ESPN+

Series History

• The history between the two programs has the Eagles leading the Mids 43-29 in a series that dates back to 1978. In Bender Arena, that lead is 27-7.
• Since 2018, the Eagles have a 14-7 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 five-game losing streak, having lost both contests in 2024, 2025, and the first matchup in Annapolis this year.
• In that game, Charlotte Tuhy led for American on both ends of the court with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Molly Driscoll was the only other Eagle to score in double digits with 13.
• Zanai Barnett-Gay, Zoe Mesuch, and Christina Liggio topped the Mids in scoring with 24, 17, and 13 points respectively; Barnett-Gay also led the Mids squad in rebounding with eight boards.
• American shot 50 percent from three, sinking 11 total long-range jumpers against the Mids. Overall, the Eagles and the Mids both shot over 40 percent from the floor, AU walking out with 42.1 percent on 58 attempts and USNA having shot 47.1 percent on 68 attempts.
• Navy outscored American 25-15 in points off turnovers and had a 25-17 points off the bench advantage. There was also a 38-18 points in the paint advantage for the Midshipmen. 

Tipping Off

• The Eagles dropped a 58-45 contest to Bucknell on Wednesday on the road, going 1-1 on their back-to-back road games. AU, who was keeping close throughout the game, was unable to mount an offensive effort in the fourth that could combat the Bison's surge ahead and saw the home team shooting 58 percent in the final frame.
• Points in the paint and bench points were once again a problem for American; AU scored just 18 points down low to Bucknell's 30. And the Eagles only picked up eleven points from their bench.
• The Bison claimed 18 points off turnovers, and while AU had 13 turnovers and Bucknell had 18, American only scored eight points off those Bucknell turnovers.
• Madisyn Moore-Nicholson finished the first half with 10 points, leading all players on the court, and went on to finish with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting. The sophomore has now led American six times in scoring this season, including three times in league play.
• Moore-Nicholson has had 14 double digit scoring games, eight in the Patriot League, and has seen three 20+ point games this season. The sophomore averages 10.8 ppg, third on the team in scoring and one of three Eagles averaging in double digit scoring position. She's also fifth in the league in free throw percentage (.786).
• Molly Driscoll and Charlotte Tuhy helped out offensively with ten and nine points each; Tuhy also picked up nine rebounds which led all players on the court.
• Tuhy, with her 240 rebounds on the season, is now fourth all-time at AU for most rebounds in a single season, she leads the Patriot League with her 10.9 rpg average and is 11th in the nation in rebounding. Averaging a double-double, the freshman also holds an average of 11.1 ppg. She is 15th in the league in scoring and holds a 40.9 percent scoring average from the floor.
• Driscoll leads the Eagles in scoring this season, averaging 13.0 ppg; this notches her at 10th in the league in scoring. She's fifth in the league in made three pointers (39) and averages .325 from distance. Overall, she is shooting 37.5 percent.
• As a team, the Eagles are eighth in the PL in scoring offense, averaging 55.6, and in team defense, allowing opponents an average of 64.4 ppg for a margin deficit of -8.7 ppg. Navy's in an 8.8 scoring surplus, which is second only to Army in the PL.
• American has struggled all season long with bench scoring, having only outscored opponents from the bench in eight games this year, and only notching two wins from those eight. Most recently, the Eagles' outscored Bucknell's bench while only scoring 11 bench points to Bucknell's nine.
• The Eagles are ninth in the league in field goal percentage (.358) while Navy is in fourth (.415). The AU squad is fifth in made threes on the season (141), but eighth in 3-point field goal percentage (.272) and fifth in the league in limiting opponents in three pointers, allowing adversarial teams to shoot only .283 percent from distance.

Scouting the Mids

• Navy will walk into Bender on an eight-game win streak as three weeks after rolling to a record-setting 97-58 win over Lafayette on the road on January, the Midshipmen completed its season sweep of the Leopards on Wednesday as the Mids cruised to a 62-46 victory at Alumni Hall.
• The Mids lead the Patriot League with a 10-1 record and hold the longest win-streak in the league.
• The outcome against Lafayette was rarely in question as the hosts broke out to a 34-13 lead at the half after smothering the Leopards 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, who leads the league in scoring (17.1 ppg) was her normal dominant self against Lafayette as she filled the box score with 20 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three steals. 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.
• Navy, as a team, is first in the league in scoring offense, averaging 70.1 ppg and is sixth in defense, allowing opponents just 61.3 ppg. They're shooting 41.5 percent from the floor as a team and holding opponents to an average of 38.0.
• Third in the league in three pointers made, Navy has sunk 157 treys and is averaging 30.4 percent from beyond the arc.
• The Mids lead the league in combined team rebounding, collecting an average of 40.4 boards per game, and is first in offensive rebounds (13.2) and second in defensive rebounding (27.1). They limit opponents to a collective 37.0 rebounds per game.
• Two Mids, besides Barnett-Gay, are averaging in double-digit scoring: freshman Zoe Mesuch (12.9 ppg) and sophomore Julianna Almeida (10.3 ppg). Barnett-Gay's 43.2 percent field goal percentage is fourth in the league in efficiency and she's shooting 80.7 percent from the charity stripe. Mesuch, who's second in the with 55 three pointers made has a long-range average of 34.6 percent.
• Barnett-Gay also leads the Mids in rebounding (8.7 rpg) and Almeida and Kate Samson follow it up with 4.7 rpg each.
• Mesuch the reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Week, has been accredited the title a league-leading four times for her performances on the season. 

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