BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Patriot League announced its Player and Rookie of the Week award recipients on Monday and Zanai Barnett-Gay of the Navy women's basketball program was recognized as the conference's best freshman for her individual effort against Mount St. Mary's last Wednesday.

The freshman from Glenn Dale, Maryland led Navy with her second double-double in three games as the Mids went to overtime versus the Mountaineers on Wednesday before falling in extra time. Continuing the fast start to her collegiate career, she shot 13-26 for a game-high 28 points to go along with 10 rebounds, three assists and a game-high three steals over 43 minutes of action. Through three games so far this 2023-24 season, Barnett-Gay is averaging 19.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 2.3 assists, while shooting 40.0 percent from the field over 35.7 minutes per contest.

This is the first weekly conference award of Barnett-Gay's young career. As a program this is the eighth Patriot League Rookie of the Week honor that a Navy player has won since the beginning of the 2022-23 season. Maren Louridas (5), Kate Samson (1) and Shannon Clarke (1) all took home top-freshman accolades during their debut campaigns last year.

Barnett-Gay and the Midshipmen will be back in action this week with a trio of home games at Alumni Hall. First up is a rematch from last season against Binghamton on Tuesday night starting at 6 p.m. Following a brief break for Thanksgiving, Navy will host its annual Navy Classic on the weekend and welcome Quinnipiac (Sat., 1 PM), Abilene Christian (Sun, 1 PM) and Towson (3:30 PM-both days in neutral site action).