ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Coming off an extended break for final exams, the Navy women's basketball team showed zero rust on Thursday night as it broke out to 10-0 run in the first quarter before weathering comeback after comeback from an experienced University of Delaware team on its way to an ultimate 79-69 victory at Alumni Hall. After taking that early lead, the Mids (8-3) saw the Blue Hens (3-7) power right back with a 12-0 run of their own to jump in front late in the first quarter. From that point on Thursday night the game stayed within two possessions until the fourth period when Navy opened the frame 9-10 from the field to seal the victory for good and cap its non-conference slate with the second-most wins before league play over the last 20 years.

Zanai Barnett-Gay (So., Glenn Dale, Md.) and Kate Samson (Jr., Richmond, Va.) played a leading role in the Mids' success as the duo combined for 45 points on 19-31 shooting with 15 rebounds. Individually, Barnett-Gay posted season-highs with 27 points and six assists to go along with eight caroms, while Samson was 8-11 from the field to tie her career-high of 18 points with an additional seven boards, three helpers and a game-high +26 plus-minus statistic. Off the bench, Mary Gibbons (Fr., Holden, Mass.) jolted the Navy offense with nine points, including a pair of three-pointers, one that was part of a four-point play.
 
"I feel really good about our performance tonight," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "The biggest thing for me was 19 assists and only 13 turnovers. When we're passing and sharing the ball, and its moving, things are good. Delaware is a really good team; they're very experienced. They're a little short-handed right now, but if they get healthy they're going to make some noise. They were physical, they were tough, they played hard. I was really proud of our team and the way we were able to deal with them. We held them to nine offensive rebounds.

"I thought Kate Samson was amazing. I thought that Kyah Smith played one heck of a game tonight. She didn't have a ton of points, but as a floor general, she was getting into the lane, making the extra pass and breaking their defense down. She had a hand in a lot of things offensively for us. I thought Zanai was phenomenal in the fourth quarter making clutch shot after clutch shot. Mary came in off the bench and made some key shots for us in the second half. That's what we need to be successful, two double-figure scorers and then complimentary scorers with nine, eight and seven points. Our point guard [Smith] played 26 minutes and had a 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. That's a winning formula."

The Mids opened play on fire on Thursday night as the duo of Barnett-Gay and Samson went shot-for-shot over the first 2:09 of first quarter to sprint Navy out to a 10-0. The hosts scored on each of their first four possessions and were 4-5 from the floor with a three-pointer by Barnett-Gay at 8:19 and an and-one conversion by Samson at 7:51 putting the exclamation point on this stellar start. A veteran club with four starters in their fifth years of collegiate competition, Delaware calmly re-grouped and countered back with a 12-0 run of its own over the next 5:06. Trailing 12-10, the Mids closed out the quarter with four unanswered points, two each from Samson and Gibbons to take a two-point lead.

With the score 14-12, the Blue Hens drew even and then took the lead within the first two possessions of the second quarter to go up 16-14. In a theme that would continue for most of the next two quarters, shot-for-shot rebuttals, Navy responded with a Julianna Almeida (Fr., North Arlington, N.J.) three-pointer off a crisp Kyah Smith (So., Richmond, Va.) assist at 8:41. Smith had a direct hand in the Mids' ensuing two baskets as she dished out assists to Barnett-Gay on another trey at 7:32 before hitting Samson for a driving layup at 6:26. Leading 22-20, Navy extended its advantage out to six with four points in quick succession by Samson and Maren Louridas (Jr., Delmar, N.Y.). Down 28-22 at 4:00, Delaware scored 11 of the next 14 points to swing back into the lead 33-31. Two free throws by Nia Henley (Fr., Spotsylvania, Va.) and a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer by Almeida off an in-bounds pass from Henley sent the Mids to the locker room up 35-34.

The tight nip-and-tuck action continued throughout the third quarter as Navy went up four, 40-36 following Barnett-Gay's third three-pointer of the game at 8:10 before Delaware clawed back even 43-43 by the 4:26 mark. The Blue Hens took their final lead of the game at 3:18 when Erica Wanzer knocked down a trey to make it 46-45. Louridas sparked a 7-0 run for the Mids as next time down the court she banged home a corner three before Gibbons converted a four-point play as she sank a three of her own from the top of the arc and was fouled on her follow-through to give Navy a 52-46 lead at 1:40.

Ahead 54-50 coming out of the quarter intermission, Navy never looked back in the fourth period as the Mids made nine of their first 10 shots, including nine straight. Once again, the three-ball was a weapon for Navy as Gibbons, Smith and Louridas found nothing but net on their attempts from distance during this lights out offensive run. Augmenting the Mids' marksmenship from long range was Barnett-Gay's dynamic driving and mid-range game as she scored 12 points during this portion of play. A game Delaware team tried to stay close, but Navy's lead had bubbled up to 11, 77-66 by the time the Mids had missed their second shot of the quarter. Over the final 3:54 of the game the teams traded single field goals to close out the scoring at 79-69. As a team, Navy shot 10-16 from the floor in the fourth quarter, with Barnett-Gay going 6-8 on her way to 14 points.

For the game, Delaware out-shot Navy from the field, 49.1 percent (28-57) to 48.4 (31-64), though the Mids were better from three-point range, 45.5 percent (10-22) to 41.2 (7-17) and from the foul line, 70.0 percent (7-10) to 46.2 (6-13). Navy's three-point shooting percentage was a season-high, while its 10 makes tied its season-best output versus Radford.

The Mids won the rebounding battle, 35-32 over the Blue Hens and had an 11-9 edge in offensive boards. Barnett-Gay and Louridas tied for the game-high with eight rebounds each, while Samson added seven caroms.

As noted by Taylor, Navy's ball movement was excellent on Thursday night with a 19-to-13 assist-to-turnover ratio. Barnett-Gay had a season-high six helpers, while Smith (4), Samson (3) and Louridas (3) all provided strong secondary play-making.

Defensively, the Mids forced the Blue Hens into 16 turnovers and were credited with seven steals, three of which came courtesy of Barnett-Gay. They also blocked two shots as a team.

"Our kids were locked in. I thought that we came out of timeouts with a purpose and executed plays," commented Taylor. "It's always tough coming off this extended exam break and to put in that kind of effort tonight before heading home for the holidays, I'm extremely proud. We talked about this being a statement game as we head into the Patriot League."

Navy will be away from competition for two weeks as its players and staff head home for the holidays before ramping up its prep for Patriot League play. The Mids will next be in action on Thursday, January 2 with a road tilt at American University. Tip-off in Washington, D.C. is set for 7 p.m. at Bender Arena.