ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy women's basketball team got back to its winning ways on Saturday with a stifling defensive effort against Stetson that led the Mids to a 66-49 victory over the Hatters. Strong from the start, the Mids (7-3) held the Hatters (4-5) to just 22.2 percent (4-18) from the field in the first quarter and 5.9 percent (1-17) from three-point range for the contest at Alumni Hall as Navy led wire-to-wire on its way to ending its three-game losing streak.

Kate Samson (Richmond, Va.) was active scoring and cleaning up the glass as the junior recorded her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds over 25 minutes of action. Zanai Barnett-Gay (So., Glenn Dale, Md.) extended her streak of double-digit scoring with 13 points to go along with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Nia Henley (Fr., Spotsylvania, Va.) joined her teammates in double-digits as she posted a career-best 10 points on 3-5 shooting off the bench.

"I'm proud of the resiliency that we showed today," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "I felt that our bench came in and played extremely well. For a stretch in the first half, the grouping of Nia, Lizzie and Mary played really well and was causing Stetson trouble on both ends of the court. There are a lot of things from today's game, that we'll need to improve upon. I'm excited about the win and how some of the kids played, but 23 turnovers is tough. We'll definitely have to work on taking care of the basketball much better, though at the same time, we turned them over 19 times. Another positive from today was that we shared the ball a lot better than we have in a few of our more recent games. 17 assists is great, that means that the ball is moving; we've got a really good basketball team when that's happening."

A dominant 9-0 start to the action by Navy on Saturday set the tone for game as the Mids were active up-and-down the court. Defensively, the Mids held the Hatters to an 0-11 mark over this initial 6:30 stretch of play, while Samson opened up 3-3 from the floor for six points, with an additional point from a free throw. After the Hatters' Tiasia McMillan finally got her squad in the scoring column with a layup at 3:30, the Mids responded with five points in quick succession, first a corner three-pointer by Lizzie Holder (So., Stillwater, Minn.) and right after, a Morgan Demos (Jr., Downers Grove, Ill.) layup. With the score 14-2, the teams traded baskets for the final 2:30 of the quarter with Holder and Demos netting their second field goals of the period to make it 18-7 before McMillan posted up for the last points of the quarter to cut the Hatters' deficit to nine, 18-9. Eight turnovers in the opening frame held back Navy's explosiveness as it shot 47.1 percent (8-17) from the floor.

The second quarter opened extremely slow as neither team scored for the first three-plus minutes until Stetson went back-to-back at 6:42 and 6:18 with Eva Bradshaw and Quentarra Mitchell baskets. Leading by just five, Navy re-engaged its offense and scored the next six points, capped by a four-point play from Henley at 4:24. That three-pointer and 'and-one' conversion sparked the Mids over the next three minutes as the hosts out-scored the Hatters, 9-6, to grow its lead out to 14, 33-19. Four more points from Henley and a three-pointer by Mary Gibbons (Fr., Holden, Mass.) provided the bulk of the Mids' scoring during this run. Three of Navy's five made field goals in the second quarter were from beyond the arc.

Up 33-19 coming out of the locker room after halftime, Navy increased its advantage to a comfortable 22 points over the first 4:34 of action in the third quarter. A 9-1 run saw Toni Papahronis (Jr., Edmond, Okla.) and Barnett-Gay successfully knock down treys to book-end three more points by Samson. With the score 42-20 at 5:26, Stetson shaved seven points off its deficit to pull with 15, 46-31 with 15 seconds left in the third quarter before Barnett-Gay struck just before the buzzer with an athletic jumper in the lane to make it 48-31 through three.

The Mids sailed smoothly through the fourth quarter, increasingly their lead to 20 courtesy of a Saran Moschella (So., Staten Island, N.Y.) layup at 8:54 before rattling off an 8-0 run between 5:34 and 3:57 with consecutive baskets by Julianna Almeida (Fr., North Arlington, N.J.), Barnett-Gay (twice) and Maren Louridas (Jr., Delmar, N.Y.) on four straight possessions to give Navy a game-high 23-point lead, 62-39.

In the 66-49 victory, Navy out-shot Stetson, 38.2 percent (26-68) to 31.6 (18-57) from the field, 25.0 percent (6-24) to 5.9 (1-17) from three-point territory and 66.7 percent (8-12) to 63.2 (12-19).

The Mids dominated the glass with a 17-rebound advantage, 52-35. Navy grabbed 10 more offensive rebounds than Stetson, 20-10. Samson led all players with 12 rebounds, while Louridas and Barnett-Gay were right behind her with totals of nine and eight, respectively.

Navy had excellent ball movement on Saturday with 17 assists on its 26 made baskets. Barnett-Gay, Gibbons and Samson all tied for the top-billing with three helpers each.

Defensively, the Mids forced the Hatters into 19 turnovers and was credited with 10 steals. Barnett-Gay, Gibbons and Louridas all registered two steals on the day.

"Kate did a good job of taking advantage of what was available inside," commented Taylor. "She had three assists out of the post, as well. She competed. She's getting a lot more aggressive in going after rebounds. She's just scratching the surface. Eventually when she can get fully healthy we hope that she can get back to her preseason level when she was really playing superbly.

"Nia is starting to come into her own. She missed quite a bit of time in the preseason with an injury. She's a true point guard. She's extremely active in her communication. We were sputtering for a bit in the second quarter, but she sparked us when she hit those two three-pointers. Her energy is definitely going to help us moving forward."

Navy will have a 12-day break in-between competition as it turns its complete focus onto final exams. Next up for the Mids will be a showdown versus the Delaware Blue Hens on Thursday, Dec. 19. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at Alumni Hall.