WORCESTER, Mass. – The Navy women's basketball team fought valiantly to the end on the road at Holy Cross as it overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half to take a 59-58 lead with four minutes to go in regulation before the first-place Crusaders closed the contest on a 13-4 run as they thrived at the foul line down the stretch to win 71-63. Trailing by 10 after one quarter, the Mids (10-16, 6-9 PL) clashed against a Crusader (16-10, 10-5 PL) club and outscored the hosts in the second and fourth quarters, but eventually came up short at Hart Center.

Navy had four players reach double figures with Zanai Barnett-Gay (Fr., Glenn Dale, Md.) posting a team-high 18 points to go along with seven rebounds, four assists and a steal over 39 minutes. Toni Papahronis (So., Edmond, Okla.) ranked second with 13 points, while Kyah Smith (Fr., Richmond, Va.) and Sydne Watts (Sr., Canton, Ga.) each added 12 a piece. Watts bolstered the Mids' fourth quarter comeback effort with the first 10 points of the period.

"Our defensive rotations were not good in the first half," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "We weren't getting to the mid-line and weren't giving back-side help; it happened on multiple occasions. They got too many clean looks and were able the drive the ball really hard. We didn't play the gaps well enough. We just weren't connected enough defensively in the first half. Offensively, I thought we did some good things and had some opportunities, but unfortunately we missed some opportunities that we normally convert.

"In the second half, I thought they [Holy Cross] executed really well in the third quarter and we didn't counter them with very good shots of our own. In the fourth quarter we made a lineup change and I felt that Toni, Sydne and Zanai played really well and got us back into the game. We had an opportunity to take a three-point lead with about two minutes to go, but unfortunately we didn't convert it and then it became a slugfest. Ultimately, they made one more play than us at the end. Their experience showed there in the final minutes of the game." 

The game opened evenly as both teams traded baskets over the first 5:40 as the scoreboard showed an 8-8 score. Four different Mids tallied field goals in this opening segment. From that juncture at 4:20, Holy Cross scored 13 of the next 16 points to break out to a 21-11 lead through one quarter. A trio of three-pointers and a 7-0 advantage in points off turnovers in favor of the Crusaders helped the hosts to that 10-point lead.

A three-pointer by Smith on Navy's first possession cut the Mids' deficit to single-digits, 21-14. The Crusaders' lead held fairly steady as it bounced between six and nine points for the next four-plus minutes until Lindsay Berger pushed Holy Cross back up by 10, 34-24 at 4:47. A 6-0 rebuttal by Navy over the ensuing 4:07 pulled the visitors within four points with just one possession to go in the half; a three-pointer by Papahronis kick-started this run. The Crusaders made their final possession extra painful for the Mids as Cara McCormack banged home her third three-pointer of the first half to send the game into the intermission, 37-30 in favor of Holy Cross.

That trey invigorated the Crusaders after the break as they recorded 11 of the first 17 points of the third quarter to break out to a 48-36 advantage by the 6:09 mark. Kate Samson (So., Richmond, Va.) kept Navy's hopes alive during this stretch as she was 2-3 with a pair of textbook postup moves for four points. Holy Cross held its double-digit lead into the third quarter break as all six of Barnett-Gay's points in the second half of the period were answered by the Crusaders.

Trailing 53-42 after three quarters of play, Navy gave up the first basket of the fourth period before Watts caught fire for the Mids and single-handedly put her squad on her back with 10 straight points. In a matter of 3:35, the senior knocked down three-pointers at 9:28 and 7:52 with a 4-4 effort at the foul line intermingled. Behind Watts' sharp-shooting, the game was quickly tightened up to a 55-52 score at 6:53. After a three-pointer by multi-year All-Patriot League performer Bronagh Power-Cassidy increased Holy Cross' lead back to six, Navy rattled off seven unanswered points starting with a driving layup by Barnett-Gay at 6:11 and five quick points by Papahronis on back-to-back possessions. An 'and-one' conversion by Papahronis at 3:59 gave the Mids their first lead since early in the first quarter. With the score 59-58 in favor of Navy, the teams traded baskets the next four times down the court as the scoreboard advanced to 63-62 at 2:26. A 9-0 run to close the game by the Crusaders, including a 7-8 effort at the foul line helped the hosts hold off the Mids' upset attempt and walk away with a 71-63 victory.

For the game, Holy Cross outshot Navy, 46.4 percent (26-56) to 41.8 (23-55) from the floor, 38.9 percent (7-18) to 29.4 (5-17) from three-point range and 85.7 percent (12-14) to 70.6 (12-17) from the foul line.

The rebounding battle was close to the end as the Crusaders edged the Mids, 33-31, though Navy held an 11-10 advantage in offensive rebounds. Maren Louridas (So., Delmar, N.Y.) and Barnett-Gay led the Mids with 15 combined caroms, eight for Louridas and seven for Barnett-Gay.

Defensively, both teams forced 13 turnovers and Navy was credited with four steals.

"I thought we had some good performances," said Taylor in closing. "I thought Toni played very well. Sydne had a really good fourth quarter. Z came on in the second half. We can learn from and take quite a few things from today's game. I'm sure once we watch the film we're going to see even more positives; we went on the road against the number one defense in the Patriot League and hung 63 on them, but we have to hold them under that. It's one of those things that when you get those opportunities on someone's home court you want to close that out. Unfortunately, we didn't close it out." 

Navy will continue its road trip on Wednesday with a tilt at Lafayette. Tip-off between the Mids and Leopards is set for 6 p.m. in Easton, Pa.