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Nia Henley
© Claire Pelletier-Hoblock

Women's Basketball

Women's Basketball Welcomes Stetson to Alumni Hall for First Matchup since 2007

Mids and Hatters to tip-off at 12 noon on Saturday

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball team will be locked in and focused on getting back to its winning ways this Saturday with a non-conference bout against Stetson. After starting the season 6-0, the Mids (6-3) are in the midst of a three-game slide, including an overtime loss to Dartmouth on Wednesday night. On the opposite side of the ledger, the Hatters (4-4) have alternated wins and losses for nearly their entire season and come into Annapolis after dropping a 58-46 contest at Iona on Thursday night. The matchup between Navy and Stetson is the first in the series since January 2007. Tip-off on Saturday is set for 12 p.m. at Alumni Hall.

The Navy-Stetson game will have live stats provided online, as well as be broadcast on the ESPN+ platform. ESPN+ is a subscription-based streaming service that requires patrons to sign-up for monthly or yearly plans prior to tuning into the contest. An audio-only portion of the contests will also be available via WYRE: over the radio waves on 810 AM.

Navy vs. Stetson / Atlantic Sun Conference
A seldom called-upon series, Navy and Stetson have met just twice before in the existence of their respective programs ... Meeting both times in Deland, Florida on Stetson's campus, the Hatters won the initial showdown on Dec. 10, 2000 by five points, 87-82 as part of the Hatter Classic before the Mids evened the series on Jan. 2, 2007 with a five-point win of their own, 61-56 ... All-time, Navy is 3-4 against current members of the Atlantic Sun with that 2007 meeting versus Stetson being the most recent Navy-ASun contest ... The Mids are 1-2 versus Jacksonville and 1-1 against both Austin Peay and Stetson; there are eight members of the ASun that they've never played.  
    All-Time Meetings vs. Atlantic Sun
    Jan. 2, 2007 (A): Navy 61 - Stetson 56
    Dec. 18, 2004 (A): Jacksonville 63 - Navy 59
    Dec. 2, 2002 (H): Jacksonville 75 - Navy 73
    Nov. 18, 2001 (A): Navy 75 - Jacksonville 65
    Dec. 10, 2000 (A): Stetson 87 - Navy 82
    Dec. 31, 1995 (A): Austin Peay 92 - Navy 82
    Dec. 18, 1995 (H): Navy 95 - Austin Peay 73

Comparing the Teams

(2024-25 Stats)    Navy Stetson
Record / League-Only 6-3 / 0-0 PL 4-4 / 0-0 A-Sun
Home / Away / Neut. Record 2-3 / 3-0 / 1-0 3-0 / 0-3 / 1-1
Points Per Game 70.7 PPG 67.1 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game 59.3 PPG 65.5 PPG
Field Goal Percentage 37.8 % 38.6 %
3-Point Percentage 33.0 % 31.0 %
Free Throw Percentage 63.8 % 73.0 %
Rebounds Per Game 45.0 RPG 41.3 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game 13.9 / 15.2 15.5 / 19.3

Individual Leaders
(2024-25 Stats) Navy Stetson
Points Per Game Zanai Barnett-Gay, 18.8 ppg Cameron Thomas, 17.6 ppg
Rebounds Per Game Z. Barnett-Gay, 7.0 rpg Tiasia McMillan, 6.1 rpg
Assists Per Game Z. Barnett-Gay, 2.7 apg Mary McMillan, 4.8 apg
Field Goal Percentage Kate Samson, 45.7 % C. Thomas, 51.5 %
3-Point Percentage Mary Gibbons, 43.2 % M. McMillan, 50.0 %
Free Throw Percentage Z. Barnett-Gay, 72.1 % M. McMillan, 81.8 %

Last Time Out -- Wednesday vs. Dartmouth in Annapolis
A tough shooting performance in the first half and ineffectiveness in converting offensive rebounds into second chance points held back the Navy women's basketball team throughout the majority of the game versus Dartmouth on Wednesday night before a late fourth quarter rally forced overtime. In the extra period, the visiting Big Green (3-3) out-scored the Mids (6-3), 8-5 to clinch the 61-58 victory at Alumni Hall in a non-conference matchup.

Zanai Barnett-Gay tied Dartmouth's Victoria Page with a game-high 26 points. The talented sophomore guard added nine rebounds, an assist and a steal to her stat line on Wednesday night. Kate Samson posted a strong all-around line in support with nine rebounds, a career-high 16 rebounds and four blocks over a season-high 35 minutes of action. Maren Louridas also was active on the glass versus the Big Green as she tied her career-high with 11 rebounds to go along with six points.

The action on Wednesday night opened evenly as it was 5-5 after two minutes of play as Louridas kick-started the Mids' effort with a three-pointer 24 seconds in. After a Victoria Page trey made it 8-5 at 7:47, the Big Green went silent for the next 7:45 with 14 straight misses. Navy was able to take advantage of this cold streak with eight unanswered points. Up 13-8, the Mids were unable to close out the quarter up five as Page completed her individual 10-point quarter with a pull-up jumper at the buzzer. As a team, Dartmouth shot 4-21 with Page going 4-8 and her teammates combining for a 0-13 mark.

Nearly as cold shooting at 23.5 percent (4-17), but ahead on the scoreboard 13-10, the Mids couldn't engage its offense for almost the entire second quarter as they made just two field goals, a Barnett-Gay driving layup at 3:40 that made it 18-15 in favor of Dartmouth and another Barnett-Gay layup at 1:38 that sent the game into the locker room at 21-17. In the 11-4 quarter, the Big Green was just 3-11 (27.3 percent) from the field, while the Mids were 2-22 (9.1 percent). The storyline of the first half, that would carry over into the second half and overtime was Navy's inability to convert offensive rebounds into second chance points, as the Mids grabbed 12 o-boards in the opening 20 minutes of play, but only had two points to show for their tenacity on the glass.

The third quarter was the highest scoring period of the game as the teams combined for 40 points. Back-to-back post-up jumpers by Samson over the Mids' first two possessions immediately knotted the game at 21-21. Following an Alexandra Eldredge basket at 8:20, Barnett-Gay gave Navy its first lead of the second half with a three-pointer on the wing from a Samson kick-out. The back-and-forth efficient scorefest continued as the teams traded the lead and ties for the next three-plus minutes. With the score tied at 30-30 at 5:15, the visitors rattled off 13 of the final 18 points of the quarter to break out to a 43-35 lead after 30 minutes of play.

Trailing by eight, Navy's comeback took some time to get into gear in the fourth as Dartmouth scored three of the first four points to go up 10, 46-36 by the 8:44 juncture. After calling a timeout, the Mids came out firing on all cylinders and scored seven straight points over the next three minutes. A 2-2 showing at the foul line by Gibbons was followed up by a three-pointer from Lizzie Holder and a driving layup by Barnett-Gay in quick succession. Down by just three, 46-43, Navy kept chipping away as Barnett-Gay's clutch marksmanship drew her squad within two, 53-51 with her second three-pointer of the game at the 2:00 mark. Energized by this comeback, Almeida knotted the game at 53-all when she battled on the glass and came away with an offensive rebound and putback 39 seconds later. Neither team scored over the final 1:21 of regulation and the game advanced into overtime.

In the extra period, Navy's comeback story was short-circuited with an 0-7 start from the floor and an 0-2 effort from the foul line over the first four-plus minutes of action. Defensively, the Mids held strong and kept within shouting distance as the Big Green were only able to muster a six-point advantage during this cold streak. A straight-on three-point make by Barnett-Gay with 26 seconds left in overtime cut Navy's deficit to 59-56. A pair of 1-2 showings at the foul line by Dartmouth down the stretch sandwiched a Samson layup at 0:19 to send the game final at 61-58.

For the game, Dartmouth out-shot Navy from the field, 34.8 percent (23-66) to 25.6 (21-82), from the three-point line, 23.8 percent (5-21) to 21.7 (5-23) and from the foul line, 50.0 (10-20) to 45.8 (11-24).

The Mids were strong on the glass with a 63-53 advantage in rebounds over the Big Green. Those 63 boards are the ninth-most in program history and the most since Navy grabbed 65 against Charleston Southern on Dec. 21, 1995. 25 offensive rebounds were a leading factor in the Mids' grand total on Wednesday; 25 o-boards is the seventh-highest total in program history. Individually, Samson led all players with a career-high 16 rebounds. Louridas was second on the team as she tied her career-high with 11 caroms. Off the bench, Morgan Demos (Jr., Downers Grove, Ill.) snatched a career-high eight rebounds with six on the offensive end; all coming over seven minutes of play in the first half.

An overriding factor in the Mids' defeat was only turning those 25 offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points.

Parking / Shuttle
Fans are reminded that the general public does not have access to drive their vehicles on to the U.S. Naval Academy. Fans may park at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for a fee and take a shuttle that will run every 10 minutes starting one hour before the game and will continue running until one hour after the game is completed. Fans 18 and over need a government-issued photo ID. Enter Gate 5 off Taylor Ave. to park at the stadium. 
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Players Mentioned

Zanai Barnett-Gay

#4 Zanai Barnett-Gay

G
5' 8"
Sophomore
Morgan Demos

#23 Morgan Demos

F
6' 2"
Junior
Lizzie Holder

#10 Lizzie Holder

F
6' 1"
Sophomore
Maren Louridas

#30 Maren Louridas

G
6' 0"
Junior
Kate Samson

#44 Kate Samson

C
6' 4"
Junior
Mary Gibbons

#5 Mary Gibbons

G
5' 7"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Zanai Barnett-Gay

#4 Zanai Barnett-Gay

5' 8"
Sophomore
G
Morgan Demos

#23 Morgan Demos

6' 2"
Junior
F
Lizzie Holder

#10 Lizzie Holder

6' 1"
Sophomore
F
Maren Louridas

#30 Maren Louridas

6' 0"
Junior
G
Kate Samson

#44 Kate Samson

6' 4"
Junior
C
Mary Gibbons

#5 Mary Gibbons

5' 7"
Freshman
G