WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. – The Navy women's basketball team extended its undefeated streak to start the 2024-25 season to 5-0 with a back-and-forth 45-minute battle versus Radford on Sunday afternoon. Taking on the Highlanders (1-4) in a neutral site contest at Colonial Hall on the grounds of the historic Greenbrier Resort in southeast West Virginia, the Mids (5-0) overcame a roller coaster afternoon of action to walk away with a 78-73 overtime victory.

Navy's fourth different leading scorer in five wins, Kyah Smith (So., Richmond, Va.) was a constant presence for the Mids as she netted five or more points in four of five periods on Sunday on her way to a career-best 26. The sophomore guard was especially dangerous from three-point range as she shot 5-of-7 from distance during her 37 minutes off the bench. Her classmate Zanai Barnett-Gay (Glenn Dale, Md.) had to tight-rope her way around foul trouble for the majority of the game, but persevered to the tune of 22 points and five assists over 31 minutes. Barnett-Gay entered her name in Navy's record book with a 16-of-17 showing at the foul line; 16 makes are the fourth-best all-time for a single-game. Mary Gibbons rounded out Navy's leading scorers as she registered 13 points.

"The three games we won this week tell us a lot about who we are," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "We had a pair of five hour trips within five days, one to Iona and one to the Greenbrier; and neither one was easy. We faced some adversity with things out of hands in both trips, but I felt that the kids didn't quit. They gathered themselves, re-focused and kept fighting. During the game, we weren't playing well and went down seven early, but they never gave up. They weathered the storms. It was a game of runs today. It was extra emotional as those runs were big ones that flipped the lead, whether it was Radford taking the lead or us rallying and taking our own lead. We weathered that third quarter where we only scored six points; we could've been defeated about that. When we turned the ball over late in the fourth quarter, we could've been defeated about that too, but we re-grouped. I'm really proud of that.

"A big thing for me about today's effort was that for the majority of the game, we had two sophomores and two freshmen out there making plays. Additionally, I felt that Morgan Demos gave us quality minutes in the second half; it's really difficult to not play for a whole half and then come in and perform the way she did. I thought Toni Papahronis played an outstanding first half and hit a couple of threes. Julianna Almeida played 41 minutes; that's definitely tough on a freshman playing her third game in five days. And again, Mary Gibbons made some real, real big shots when we needed them."

The action on Sunday opened with a significant Radford flavor to it as the Highlanders made five of their first six shots to sprint out to a 12-5 lead by the 5:18 mark of the first quarter. Coming out of a called timeout, the Mids turned in a methodical 8-0 run over the next 3:41. Barnett-Gay kickstarted the run with a jumper and later a free throw before Smith took the baton and netted the next five points. Defensively, Navy held Radford to 0-3 shooting with three turnovers during this span. With the score 13-12, Mikayla Firebaugh beat the buzzer for the Highlanders with a layup on their final possession to make it 14-13 after one quarter of play.

The game stayed within one possession for the next seven-plus minutes as Radford held the lead for the majority of the time, though Navy pulled even six times, but never ahead. Highlights for this stretch of the action, included a three-pointer by Lizzie Holder (So., Stillwater, Minn.) at 8:25 and six points from Barnett-Gay. Knotted at 30-30 at 2:43, back-to-back three-pointers by Gibbons and Smith, and a third by Toni Papahronis (Jr., Edmond, Okla.) helped the Mids take a 39-32 lead into the halftime intermission.

Unfortunately, that hot conclusion to the first half did not immediately carry over into the third quarter as Navy was mired in a 0-9 start from the field with eight turnovers to begin play. That extended slump allowed Radford to re-take the lead 42-39. Four consecutive points from Gibbons put an end to the Mids' woes as they drew even at 43-43 by the 2:13 mark. Each team added a field goal over the final two minutes of play to make it 46-45 Radford after three quarters.

The back-and-forth struggle continued into the fourth quarter with neither team giving an inch. Smith twice put Navy ahead during the first five minutes as she sank a jumper at 9:23 to make it 47-46 before knocking home a three-pointer at 6:29 to make it 50-49. During the next three-plus minutes, a 5-for-5 showing at the foul line by Barnett-Gay bolstered the Mids' lead up to six, 57-51 at 3:13. After five unanswered points by the Highlanders, two more free throws from Barnett-Gay tallied Navy's final points of regulation as it went up 59-56 with 2:02 to go. Radford's Kirah Dandridge knotted the game with a three-pointer with 23 seconds to go to eventually force overtime.

In a trend that is quickly emerging in 2024-25, Navy showcased a new level of composure and ability to move onto the next task at hand during the overtime period. Starting back with a tied score, the Mids immediately bolted out to a six-point lead, 65-59 on the strength of consecutive three-pointers by Smith and Gibbons over their first two possessions. The Highlanders had an equally strong retort with three straight layups between 3:07 and 2:13. The three-ball was valuable once again for Navy as Smith sank her third trey of the game to give her squad a 69-65 lead with 1:14 remaining. Radford was never able to recover from that blow as it trailed for the rest of the contest due to excellent foul shooting from the Mids as they went 9-10 from the line to close out the 78-73 victory.

"They [Radford] went into a zone to start overtime and Kyah and Mary responded with big three-pointers; that set the tone for us," commented Taylor. "The biggest play was when we called a play for Kyah with about a minute to go and she hits a three to put us up four. We were able to hold them off the rest of the way. I kept telling the kids, big-time players make big-time plays; Z stepped to the line and made 16 free throws today, Kyah made her final two free throws in overtime. Hats off to them."

For the game, Radford out-shot Navy from the field, 44.1 percent (26-59) to 32.3 (21-65), though the Mids were better from three-point range, 41.7 percent (10-24) to 33.3 (8-24) and from the foul line, 76.5 percent (26-34) to 54.2 (13-24).

In the battle on the glass, Navy out-rebounded Radford by three, 44-41, with a 16-10 edge in offensive boards. Kate Samson (Jr., Richmond, Va.) grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, while Almeida was nearly as active with nine total boards, including a game-high four offensive caroms.

Defensively, Navy forced 20 turnovers and was credited with 11 steals. Holder tied for the game-high with three steals. Samson was strong in the post with three blocked shots.

"It was a fun weekend and a great experience," said Taylor in closing. "None of us have ever been to the Greenbrier. Our kids got to experience one of history's most iconic resorts. They got to visit the hotel's bunker. It was a really neat experience. It was great to have Governor Justice and his wife attend our game, sitting right there on the baseline. It would've been nice to come down a day earlier and experience even more of the resort. We've extremely thankful for being given the opportunity to be a part of this event."

The Mids have a slower week of action upcoming as they'll be off the hardcourt until next Saturday when they travel to take on the Longwood Lancers in Farmville, Va. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.