ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Already equalling its win total from last season before the end of January, the Navy women's basketball team will be looking to reach the 15-win mark for the first time in seven seasons since the 2017-18 team went 25-8. One team stands in its way and it happens to be Navy's service academy rival to the north, Army. In a matchup of long-time adversaries, the first of two 2024-25 matchups will see the Mids (14-4, 6-1 PL) and Black Knights (13-4, 5-2 PL) battling for supremacy atop the Patriot League standings in front of a national audience with the game being televised on CBS Sports Network on Sunday. Tip-off at Christl Arena on the post of the United States Military Academy is set for 1 p.m. This game will serve as a precursor to February's Star Game matchup between the teams in Annapolis on Saturday, the 15th.

Sunday's Navy-Army game will have live stats provided online, as well as be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. An audio-only portion of the contests will also be available via WNAV: over the radio waves on 99.9 FM or 1430 AM, online at WNAV.com or through the iHeart and Audacy platforms. 

Navy versus Army
The Mids and Black Knights have met 83 times in a series that began on January 18, 1981  ... All-time, Army has a three-game edge, 43-40 ... The series is nearly even in every possible way with it being 20-19 in favor of Army at West Point, 3-3 at neutral sites and 20-18 in favor of the Black Knights in Annapolis ...  
The Mids are mired in a four-game losing streak in contests played at Christl Arena with its most recent win coming on January 23, 2021 ... Over the last ten matchups, the overall series leans towards the Black Knights by a 7-3 margin.
    Last Five Games:
    Feb. 10, 2024 (A): Army 70 - Navy 58 **2024 Star Game
    Jan. 20, 2024 (H): Army 66 - Navy 51
    Feb. 11, 2023 (H): Army 66 - Navy 64 **2023 Star Game
    Jan. 21, 2023 (A): Army 75 - Navy 61
    Feb. 12, 2022 (A): Army 70 - Navy 66 **2022 Star Game

Most Recent Navy-Army Matchup ... February 10, 2024 in West Point
Facing off with its service academy rival, Army, with the 2024 Star on the line, the Navy women's basketball was unable to overcome an early double-digit deficit on Saturday and fell by a final score of 70-58. Coming in with wins in three of their last four games, the Mids (8-14, 4-7 PL) couldn't quell a sharpshooting Black Knight (10-11, 7-4 PL) team that sank multiple three-pointers in the first, third and fourth quarters, while forcing the visitors into 20 turnovers before a loud and boisterous crowd at Christl Arena on the campus of the United States Military Academy. The contest was part of the 2023-24 Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA.

Individually, Kate Samson dominated the action on both ends of the court as she tied a career-high with 16 points to go along with nine rebounds, while blocking a career-high six shots. The freshmen backcourt of Zanai Barnett-Gay and Kyah Smith combined for 33 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in their first career Star Game. Barnett-Gay led the Mids with 20 points with six rebounds, three assists and a steal. Her fellow plebe Smith finished with 13 points, five rebounds and a career-high seven assists.

Army started out fast with a 7-0 run over the opening 2:01 of play and extended its lead to eight, 10-2 a little over 90 seconds later. From that juncture at 6:22, a 6-0 run, including four points by Maren Louridas shaved Navy's deficit to just two, 10-8 by 5:22. The game of runs continued as the Black Knights responded with eight unanswered over the next 2:33. With the score 18-8 at 2:49, Army scored six of the next seven points to extend its lead out to 15 before consecutive baskets by Toni Papahronis and Barnett-Gay pulled Navy within 11 by the end of the quarter. Five turnovers and three made three-pointers by the Black Knights held the Mids back in the initial period of play.

Trailing 24-13 after one, the teams opened the second quarter evenly with six points each over the first 5:13 of action. Similar to the first quarter, large swings of momentum ruled the final four-plus minutes as Army tallied eight straight points to break open a game-high 19-point lead, 38-19 before Navy countered with six consecutive points of its own to conclude the half down, 38-25. Samson bolstered the Mids' late run with a pair of deft shots to give her six points in the period and nine for the half. Seven more turnovers suppressed Navy's effectiveness in the quarter as it shot 46.2 percent (6-13) from the field.

In a near-mirror image of the second quarter, the first five minutes of the third quarter played out almost evenly as short runs by both sides advanced the score to 44-32 by the under-five media timeout at 4:58. Down by 12, Navy twice tightened its deficit to eight points in the ensuing two minutes, first at 44-36 following a Samson layup and again at 46-38 on a pull-up jumper by Smith. In a two-plus minute run of play that changed the game, Army had a loud response to this challenge with three straight three-pointers by Reese Ericson to burst out to a 17-point lead. A late layup by Samson made it 55-40 through three quarters.

Down, but not out, the Mids rallied to start off the fourth quarter as they scored on three of their first four possessions, while shutting out the Black Knights. With the score 55-47, the three-ball once again spelled doom for the visiting Navy team as a 6-0 run on the back of Trinity Hardy and Reese Ericson treys gave Army a double-digit lead that they wouldn't relinquish for the remainder of the contest. Twice the Mids came within 10 points at 61-51 and 62-52 and eventually finished down 12 when Smith sank her first three-pointer of the game with 22 seconds left.

For the game, Navy outshot Army from the field, 44.2 percent (23-52) to 41.9 (26-62) and from the foul line, 61.5 percent (8-13) to 56.3 (9-16). The Black Knights held a significant edge in three-point shooting, 42.9 percent (9-21) to 33.3 (4-12).

Comparing the Teams

(2024-25 Stats)	Navy	Army
Record / League-Only	14-4 / 6-1 PL	13-4 / 5-2 PL
Home / Away / Neut. Record	7-3 / 6-1 / 1-0	6-3 / 7-1 / 0-0
Points Per Game	68.1 PPG	62.0 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	58.2 PPG	56.3 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	38.6 %	39.8 %
3-Point Percentage	32.7 %	33.9 %
Free Throw Percentage	66.1 %	74.5 %
Rebounds Per Game	41.7 RPG	34.8 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	14.1 / 14.2	14.4 / 14.0

Individual Leaders

(2024-25 Stats)	Navy	Army
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 19.7 ppg	Trinity Hardy, 13.8 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 8.1 rpg	Kya Smith, 7.2 rpg
Assists Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 3.4 apg	T. Hardy, 3.1 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Kate Samson, 49.5 %	Camryn Tade, 45.7 %
3-Point Percentage	Mary Gibbons, 40.0 %	Reese Ericson, 40.0 %
Free Throw Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 77.7 %	C. Tade, 81.0 %

Last Time Out -- Wednesday at Boston University
Navy responded to a slow start on Wednesday morning with a record-setting second quarter on its way to a 74-64 win over Boston University. Mired in a seven-game losing streak to the Terriers (7-11, 1-6 PL), the Mids' (14-4, 6-1 PL) chances of ending that slump didn't look overly promise to begin the early tilt as they shot less than 20 percent in the first quarter and trailed 14-10 before catching fire and knocking down seven three-pointers as part of a 31-point second period. That mid-game burst jolted Navy into the lead and the Mids never looked back securing the road victory at Case Gymnasium.

One game after her double-digit scoring streak was snapped at 46 games, Zanai Barnett-Gay was a force for the Mids with game-highs of 26 points and 10 rebounds. Julianna Almeida and Lizzie Holder provided strong secondary scoring as both players set new career-highs with point totals of 15 and 13, respectively.

The action on Wednesday morning started with a Boston flavor to it as the hosts invigorated the children in attendance for the special Education Day contest with a 6-0 start. A 5-0 response by Navy pulled the visitors closer; a three-pointer by Maren Louridas capped this run. After those two baskets, the Mids' shooting touch went cold with only one make, a Toni Papahronis offensive rebound and putback, over the final seven minutes. While struggling from the field, Navy added three free throws to augment their offense as Boston completed the quarter up 14-10.

The second period had a completely different feel to it as the Mids burst through the gates with three straight three-pointers over three possessions; Almeida book-ended this streak with the team's first and third treys. With the score 19-18, the Terriers re-took the lead at 20-19 by the 8:15 mark and later, 23-21 at 6:50. The hosts extended that lead out to four at 27-23. From that juncture at 5:11, Navy rattled off 15 unanswered points to swing the lead back in its favor, 38-27. The Mids were 6-6 during that 2:38 stretch with Holder, Mary Gibbons and Barnett-Gay all knocking down three-pointers. Over the final two and a half minutes of the half, Boston at one point shaved five points off its deficit to make it 38-32 late, before a final three-pointer by Almeida sent Navy to the locker room up 41-32. For the period, the Mids shot 12-18 from the field and 7-10 from beyond the arc.

Navy re-established its 11-point lead on its first possession as Papahronis found Holder for a layup. Similar to the first quarter, the Mids struggled to find their shooting touch as they went scoreless for the next three-plus minutes before Gibbons found the bottom of the net for her second three-pointer of the game at 6:21 and Barnett-Gay followed her up with a triple of her own at 4:51 to make it 49-39. Those were the final field goals for Navy as Boston concluded the quarter with an 8-1 run to tighten the contest to 50-47.

The roller coaster action continued in the fourth quarter as the Mids opened up initial 3:35 of the period on an 8-1 run of their own to make it 58-48. The well-balanced scoring attack of Barnett-Gay, Holder and Almeida all kept adding to their strong individual performances during this span. An exchange of 5-0 runs, first by Boston from 5:57 to 5:18, and then by Navy from 4:59 to 4:29 advanced the score to 63-53. The back-and-forth clash saw the Terriers fight back one final time with seven straight points. With the score 63-60 at the 2:35, the Mids flexed their muscle down the stretch with 11 of the final 15 points. Barnett-Gay kick-started the streak with a pair of athletic long jump shots with two more successful free throws to give her 26 points for the game.

For the game, Boston out-shot Navy in all three categories, 44.7 percent (21-47) to 41.3 (26-62) from the field, 46.2 percent (6-13) to 34.4 (11-32) from three-point range and 80.0 percent (16-20) to 68.8 (11-16) from the free throw line.

Bolstered by an 18-7 advantage in offensive rebounds, the Mids won the battle on the glass, 37-28 on Wednesday. Barnett-Gay and Almeida fronted Navy's rebounding attack with respective totals of 10 and seven. Of note, five of Almeida's seven boards were on the offensive end.

The Mids' ballhandling was a strength versus the Terriers with 15 assists on 26 made field goals and only had 13 turnovers. Barnett-Gay and Holder each tallied four assists. Holder's total was a career-high.