ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's basketball team scored early and often on Wednesday night in the 2024-25 home opener for the squad. Playing in the first of 16 games this season at Alumni Hall, the Mids (2-0) used suffocating defense and hot shooting to run out to a 29-7 lead over the Lions in the first quarter on their way to a 103-45 victory. The win was the second-largest in program history, while the team's point total was the third highest ever in 48 seasons of varsity Navy Women's Basketball.

Saran Moschella (So., Staten Island, N.Y.) had the best performance of her young career as she dominated in all facets of the game to the tune of 25 points, seven rebounds, five three-pointers, two blocks and a steal over 22 minutes of action off the bench. Her point, rebound, three-point and block totals are all single-game career-highs. She was joined in double figures by Zanai Barnett-Gay (So., Glenn Dale, Md.) and Kate Samson (Jr., Richmond, Va.), who were efficient in their limited time on Wednesday night as Barnett-Gay scored 13 on 4-5 shooting in 15 minutes, while Samson shot 5-7 for 10 points in 10 minutes. As a team, all 13 players that were active for the game scored at least two points and added either multiple rebounds and/or assists.

"We shared the ball extremely well tonight," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "For the most part, I felt that we got quality shots. That's what we wanted to focus on with this game; taking quality shots and limiting the bad ones.

"What a performance by Saran Moschella. She was playing so confidently out there tonight; that was really fun to watch. A game like this is huge for camaraderie. Everyone got an opportunity; it was good to see what everyone does when given that chance. There were a lot of teaching points tonight. If you're going to play hard, there's going to be opportunities for you. It's just really good for team morale. One of the hardest parts of coaching is making sure your whole roster is involved even if the playing time isn't there some times for players deeper in your rotation. They show up every single day and bust their rear ends, but may not get the limelight that other players do. As a coach, you want to make sure that every single player knows how important they are and what a positive impact they have on the team."

Bryn Athyn, a school north of Philadelphia, was playing Wednesday as an exhibition as the NCAA Division III calendar doesn't officially allow countable games until Friday, Nov. 8.

The Mids came out of the game hot and never cooled off on Wednesday as Samson won the opening tip and just three seconds later Kyah Smith (So., Richmond, Va.) was streaking down the court for an uncontested layup. After some back-and-forth play over the initial two minutes of the game, Navy blew open a then 6-5 game at 8:22 with a 25-2 run that spanned into the second quarter. During the first quarter portion of that run, Samson had a hand in each of basket as she personally reached the 10-point mark by the 7:01 mark when it was 12-5. Mary Gibbons (Fr., Holden, Mass.) and Barnett-Gay took the scoring baton from Samson with five points a piece over the next two minutes. With the score 22-7, Morgan Demos (Jr., Downers Grove, Ill.), Toni Papahronis (Jr., Edmond, Okla.) and Barnett-Gay combined for the final seven points to close out an extremely efficient period of play. As a team, Navy shot 57.1 percent (12-21) from the field and converted 11 turnovers into 15 points, including 18 in the paint.

Another first possession basket by Smith put the exclamation point on the multi-period run to make it 31-7 at 9:31 of the second. The teams traded makes over the next 90 seconds to advance the score to 35-11 by the 8:07 mark. Kicked off by a Maren Louridas (Jr., Delmar, N.Y.) three-pointer from the wing, the Mids rattled off 10 unanswered points over the next two-plus minutes. Moschella ignited her career day during this span with her first of five three-pointers with a wide-open triple at 5:31. The second half of the period played out fairly even as Navy edged Bryn Athyn in scoring, 11-9 to make it 56-20 going into the intermission. That 56-point output is the highest in program history; surpassing the previous mark of 53 set on January 31, 1990 versus Marymount University.

Less than four minutes into the second half, the Mids were able to increase their lead into the 40-point range as Louridas grabbed a defensive rebound and quickly found Julianna Almeida (Fr., North Arlington, N.J.) breaking out in transition for a fast break layup. Ahead 66-26 at 6:42, Navy never allowed Bryn Athyn to get any closer as its advantage bubbled out to as much as 50 before settling at 46, 80-34 at the end of the quarter. Navy's 24-point quarter was bolstered by 58.8 percent (10-17) shooting from the floor and seven more forced turnovers.

The final period of play saw the Mids post their fourth straight 20-plus point quarter as they outscored the Lions, 23-11 on their way to a final of 103-45. Moschella was the star of the fourth with 12 points on 4-6 shooting, including her fourth and fifth three-pointers of the game. Moschella's previous single-game career-best for points was seven coming into Wednesday. Playing eight-plus minutes each, Morgan Blackford (So., Solon, Ohio) and Kelli Giuliani (Jr., Oakton, Va.) played pivotal roles in Navy's successful fourth quarter as Blackford scored her first collegiate points, as well as came up with two steals and two assists, while Giuliani assisted on a team-high three baskets. Wednesday was just the second game of Blackford's collegiate career as she joined the squad this fall as a walk-on after competing with Navy's track & field program in 2023-24.

For the game, Navy out-shot Bryn Athyn, 53.4 percent (39-73) to 29.6 (16-54) from the field, 36.0 percent (9-25) to 33.3 (4-12) from three-point range and 80.0 percent (16-20) to 45.0 (9-20) from the foul line.

In the rebounding battle, the Mids grabbed 12 more rebounds, 46-32 and had a 13-10 edge in offensive rebounds. Moschella tied for the game-high with seven boards. Joining her off the bench, Lizzie Holder (So., Stillwater, Minn.) came down with six rebounds. Both totals are career-bests for Moschella and Holder, respectively.

Navy had excellent ball movement all night as the Mids assisted on 26 of their 39 made baskets. That number of assists tied for seventh-most all-time in a single game by Navy. Smith led the way with five helpers over her 14 minutes on the court. Louridas was right behind with four assists in 12 minutes of action.

Defensively, the Mids were buzzing all over the court and forced the Lions into 29 turnovers on 19 steals. Smith and Papahronis led the way with three steals each, while five other Mids had two thefts. Holder and Moschella paced the blocked shot category with two rejections each as Navy finished with six as a team.

The Mids will be continue their early-season action on the road Tuesday morning with an 11 a.m. tip at Iona University in New Rochelle, N.Y.