ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Following a run three of four games on the road, the Navy women's basketball team will return to the friendly confines of Alumni Hall with a Patriot League showdown against Lehigh on Wednesday night. In a matchup of two of top teams in the conference, the Mids (14-5, 6-2 PL) and the Mountain Hawks (16-4, 7-1 PL) are separated by just one game in the standings as Wednesday's game marks the mid-way point of the 18-game league slate. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Alumni Hall.

The Navy-Lehigh 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.

Navy vs. Lehigh
The Mids and Mountain Hawks have met 71 times in a series that began on December 8, 1981 ... All-time, Lehigh leads Navy by three wins, 37-34 ... The tight series is also split near evenly among the venues as the Mountain Hawks are 21-15 at home versus an 19-16 advantage for the Mids in Annapolis ... Since the Mids joined the Patriot League in 1991-92, the series is slanted in Lehigh's favor, 35-29 ... Over the last ten matchups, Lehigh has a 9-1 advantage over Navy, with the Mountain Hawks sweeping the four straight season series in 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023 ... A 62-46 victory by the Mids in the teams most recent meeting ended that nine-game losing streak ... Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the two programs didn't meet during the 2021 portion of the Patriot League season
    Last Five Games:
    Jan. 31, 2024 (H): Navy 62 - Lehigh 46
    Jan. 17, 2024 (A): Lehigh 81 - Navy 65
    Feb. 15, 2023 (H): Lehigh 72 - Navy 38
    Jan. 8, 2023 (A): Lehigh 77 - Navy 42
    March 2, 2022 (H): Lehigh 64 - Navy 42  

Most Recent Navy-Lehigh Matchup ... January 31, 2024 in Annapolis
Navy put together its most complete effort of the 2023-24 season with 40 minutes of crisp action on both ends of the court at Alumni Hall on Wednesday night in a 62-46 victory over Lehigh. Up by seven at the end of the first quarter, the Mids (7-13, 3-6 PL) kept their foot on the gas pedal offensively and extended their lead out to as much as 24 mid-way through the fourth quarter, while its defense turned the Mountain Hawks (12-8, 4-5 PL) over 19 times and held them to more than 26 points under their season-long scoring average of 72.2 points per game.

Navy was led on the offensive end by 40 combined points from its talented freshmen backcourt duo of Zanai Barnett-Gay and Kyah Smith. Barnett-Gay recorded her fifth double-double of the season and third in three games with 21 points and 10 rebounds to go along with five assists and three steals. Smith netted 19 points with three assists and two steals over 33 minutes of action. Maren Louridas was everywhere for the Mids on Wednesday with nine points, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

The action on Wednesday night opened evenly with both teams netting five points over the initial three minutes. Louridas kick-started Navy's offense with a three-pointer on the team's first possession. A single free throw by Toni Papahronis at 6:49 gave the Mids a lead that they wouldn't relinquish for the next 36-plus minutes as Navy quickly built out a 13-8 advantage over the next three minutes as part of an 8-3 run. Smith paced the Mids during this span with five points, including her first three-pointer of the game. Ahead by five, Navy extended its lead down the stretch with baskets by Sydne Watts and Morganne Andrews to close the quarter up 17-10. The Mids' defense was active in the first period with nine forced turnovers on six steals, while the ever-dangerous Mountain Hawk three-point shooting barrage was held to just 1-6 from long range. Coming into Wednesday night, Lehigh averaged 8.6 three-pointers a game.

Up seven coming out of the quarter break, the teams traded baskets over the first five minutes of the period and the score advanced to 24-18 at 4:59 when Barnett-Gay grabbed an offensive rebound and immediately fired up a shot that passed through the basket, while getting fouled for an eventual 'and-one' conversion. Navy's offense kept clicking as Smith converted her own 'and-one' 30 seconds later. With the score 29-22 with two minutes left in the second quarter, the dynamic freshmen duo went back-to-back to round out the period with Barnett-Gay netting her 12th and 13th points of the half, while Smith broke into double figures with a pull-up jumper to make it 33-22 at the half. The two plebes recorded 14 of Navy's 16 points in the period.

Already thriving defensively, the Mids' pressure dominated the first two minutes of the third quarter as the Mountain Hawks turned the ball over on each of their first three possessions, while Navy's offense countered with four straight baskets capped by Smith's three-pointer in transition at 8:15 that made it 42-22. An 8-0 rebuttal by Lehigh tightened the margin to 12 by the 5:44 mark of the quarter and later was extended to 12-3 to make it 45-34 a minute later. Bending, but not breaking, the Mids re-engaged its potent offense over the final four minutes with a run of four baskets over five possessions to go back up by 17, 53-36 before the end of the quarter. Navy was especially active in the paint with 14 of its 20 points coming from driving layups and post-ups during the third period.

In control of the scoreboard to start the final quarter of play, the Mids slowly built out its lead to a game-high 24 points with seven unanswered points over the first five minutes. Smith, Barnett-Gay, Louridas and Papahronis all contributed points during this span to make it 60-36. With the result all but clinched, Lehigh shaved eight points off its deficit over the final minutes of play to conclude the game at 62-46 in favor of Navy.

For the game, Navy out-shot Lehigh in all three facets of the game, 39.7 percent (27-68) to 31.4 (16-51) from the field, 28.6 percent (4-14) to 20.8 (5-24) from three-point range and 66.7 (4-6) to 64.3 (9-14) from the foul line.

In the rebounding battle, Lehigh edged out Navy by one, 40-39, though the Mids were more active on the offensive glass with a 12-10 advantage. Barnett-Gay paced Navy with 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Louridas added eight boards of her own, while Andrews snagged five coming off the bench.

The Mids were extremely clean with their ball-handling on Wednesday night as they posted a 13-to-9 assist-to-turnover ratio. Barnett-Gay was the leading facilitator with a game-high five helpers.

Comparing the Teams

(2024-25 Stats)	Navy	Lehigh
Record / League-Only	14-5 / 6-2 PL	16-4 / 7-1 PL
Home / Away / Neut. Record	7-3 / 6-2 / 1-0	10-1 / 6-3 / 0-0
Points Per Game	67.1 PPG	69.5 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	58.3 PPG	56.3 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	38.4 %	44.2 %
3-Point Percentage	32.3 %	35.2 %
Free Throw Percentage	65.0 %	77.9 %
Rebounds Per Game	41.6 RPG	31.4 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	13.8 / 14.2	14.7 / 15.4

Individual Leaders

(2024-25 Stats)	Navy	Lehigh
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 19.4 ppg	Maddie Albrecht, 14.9 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 8.0 rpg	M. Albrecht, 5.3 rpg
Assists Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 3.4 apg	Colleen McQuillen, 3.1 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Kate Samson, 49.5 %	M. Albrecht, 50.5 %
3-Point Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 38.8 %	Gracyn Lovette, 40.5 %
Free Throw Percentage	Mary Gibbons, 77.8 %	Whitney Lind, 90.0 %

Last Time Out -- Sunday at Army 
An inauspicious start by the Navy women's basketball team on Sunday afternoon at Army saw the visitors fall behind 21-12 in the first quarter and never recover as the final three quarters were nearly even at 38-37. After 40 minutes of hard fought action, the game at Christl Arena went final with the Black Knights (14-4, 6-2 PL) victorious by a score of 59-49 over the Mids (14-5, 6-2 PL).

Julianna Almeida and Zanai Barnett-Gay led Navy's offensive effort on Sunday as both players netted 15 points. Defensively, Toni Papahronis was everywhere and recorded a career-high four blocks.

The action at Christl Arena opened evenly as an early 4-0 lead by Army was quickly answered back by Navy as Barnett-Gay pushed her squad ahead 5-4 by the 6:23 mark with her second basket of the contest. A driving layup by Trinity Hardy at 5:35 helped the Black Knights re-take the lead 7-5 and ignite a larger 14-4 run for Army as the hosts went up ten, 19-9 by the 1:38 mark. A step-back three-pointer by Barnett-Gay on the ensuing possession helped the Mids cut their deficit into single digits, though a response by Hardy before the end of the quarter gave the Black Knights a 21-12 lead at the quarter break. As a team, Army shot 8-14 from the floor and 3-7 from three-point range in the period.

Baskets by Lizzie Holder and Barnett-Gay over the first two minutes of the second quarter allowed Navy to draw within five points in short order. From that juncture at 8:08 when it was 21-16, Army had a loud 11-4 retort to break out to a game-high 14-point lead of 32-18 by 4:36. Down, but not out, the Mids buckled down defensively and held the Black Knights scoreless for over four minutes. With Army's offense at bay, Navy chipped away at its deficit with eight unanswered points. Morgan Demos sparked this run with a pair of successful field goal attempts. After Almeida pulled the Mids back to within six, 32-26, a Kya Smith layup before the buzzer gave the Black Knights an eight-point lead going into the locker room.

The second half opened with a trading of baskets over the initial minute of play with Army's Smith scoring first before Maren Louridas fired back with her first three-pointer of the game. That was the first of two long range field goals for the Mids in the quarter as Almeida found her stroke from beyond the arc at 6:07 to make it a 40-33 game. Unfortunately, for Navy, that trey and a later jumper by Almeida at 4:35 only drew the team to within seven as Army was quick to respond throughout the quarter. The frame concluded with the Black Knights ahead 47-38.

Offense was hard to come by in the fourth quarter as each team only recorded one field goal over the first five-plus minutes of play, an 'and-one' for Army and a three-pointer for Barnett-Gay. With the game still at a nine-point margin of 50-41, Barnett-Gay found Holder slicing through the drive for an easy layup at 4:04 to make it a 50-43 game. The action loosened up down the stretch, but in a back-and-forth manor as layups by Almeida and Gibbons in consecutive possessions cut Navy's deficit to six by the 1:52, but a dagger three-pointer by Reese Ericson 10 seconds later put the Mids' comeback effort on ice as the hosts held on for the 59-49 victory.

For the game, Army out-shot Navy from the field, 34.8 percent (23-66) to 33.3 (20-60) from the field, 27.8 percent (5-18) to 23.5 (4-17) from three-point range and 66.7 percent (8-12) to 41.7 (5-12).

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.