Navy Midshipmen Rising Star Earns Patriot League Rookie of Week Award

The Navy Midshipmen women’s basketball team has a freshman that earned a spot as the Patriot League’s rookie of the week.

Nov 28, 2020; Annapolis, Maryland, USA; A general view of the Navy Midshipmen logo on a water tower near the stadium is seen before the game between the Navy Midshipmen and the Memphis Tigers at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. / Scott Taetsch-Imagn Images

Julianna Almeida has been growing as a player all season, and the Navy Midshipmen freshman women’s basketball player reaped the reward on Monday.

The Patriot League named her the rookie of the week, her first weekly award of the season and the second Navy player to claim that honor. Mary Gibbons was named the rookie of the week during the season’s second week.

Navy (14-4, 6-2 in Patriot) is having an exceptional season, even as the Midshipmen went 1-1 last week. They have already matched last season’s win total and with their next win they will reach 15 victories for the first time winning 25 games in the 2017-18 season.

Almeida, a guard from Saddle River Day School in North Arlington, N.J., averaged 15.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 three-pointers per game during a 1-1 week for Navy.

The Midshipmen beat Boston University but fell to Army West Point, with the latter loss putting them in a third-place tie in Patriot League action with the Black Knights. Navy started the Patriot League season on a four-game winning streak but has lost two of its last four games.

Against the Terriers, she scored 15 points, a career-high, on 6-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, while adding seven rebounds and two assists in 34 minutes.

Against Army, she matched her career-high with 15 points, grabbed five rebounds, recorded one block and had one steal over 35 minutes of play.

For the week, she shot 12-of-22 (54.5 percent) from the field and 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) from 3-point range.

Navy’s Zanai Barnett-Gay was named a honorable mention for the week. The Midshipmen star led Navy with a 26-point, 10-rebound double-double in a win over Boston University, followed by 15 points against Army. She averaged 20.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 three-pointers per game for the week.

She has been named a Patriot League Player of the Week three times.

Bucknell sophomore forward Ashley Sofilkanich was named the player of the week after she averaged 33 points in her two games as she steered the Bison back into contention in the Patriot League.

Navy is back in action on Wednesday when it hosts Lehigh at 6 p.m. eastern at Alumni Hall. Then, the Midshipmen hit the road to face Bucknell at 3 p.m. on Saturday.