BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The rebuilding of the Navy women's basketball program reached another new high mark on Thursday as the Mids were selected as the preseason favorites in the 2025-26 Patriot League Coaches' Poll. Coming off a 19-12 season in which they reached the postseason for the first time since 2018 with a berth in the WNIT, the Mids under the direction of sixth-year head coach
Tim Taylor, have even higher aspirations for 2025-26. Leading the charge for Navy's hopes this upcoming season is the Patriot League Preseason Player and Defensive Player of the Year
Zanai Barnett-Gay. The Patriot League announced both of these results on Thursday.
The Mids garnered 71 points and received a pair of 10 first-place votes. In a wide-open top of the league leaderboard, four other programs received first-place votes, including runner-up Army, who earned 68 points and two nods for first place. Loyola and Holy Cross continued to follow the crowded leaderboard storyline as they were picked back-to-back in third and fourth place with 63 and 60 points, respectively. The Greyhounds recorded a league-high three first-place votes, while the Crusaders attained two. The fifth team to earn a first-place vote was Lehigh, who finished fifth in the balloting with 57 points. A strong division separates the final five teams in the preseason poll as Colgate (34), Bucknell (33), Boston University (32), Lafayette (21) and American (11) all finished over 20 points back in positions, six through 10, respectively.
Navy returns the core of last year's roster and will look to continue on of the biggest turnarounds in NCAA Division I women's basketball. The Mids improved from a 14-win season in 2023-24 to 19 in 2024-25. Among DI programs, Navy was one of just nine teams to add five or more wins to their total in back-to-back seasons with a +13 from '22-23 to '23-24 and +5 from '23-24 to '24-25. Only TCU (+26, 8 wins in '22-23 to 34 in '24-25), Buffalo (+18, 12 wins to 30 wins) and Navy have improved by 18 or more games during that period of time.
As a team, the Mids return four starters, 84.4 percent of its points, 85.8 percent of its rebounds and 76.3 percent of its assists from a team that finished the regular season in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Patriot League with an 11-7 mark in conference play. Via tie-breakers, Navy ended up as the fourth seed and hosted its first home Patriot League Quarterfinal game since 2018. The Mids bring back Barnett-Gay (19.0 points per game, 7.7 rebounds per game, 3.1 assists per game), the reigning PL Rookie of the Year sophomore guard
Julianna Almeida (9.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg), two-time team captain
Maren Louridas (4.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and a healthy
Kate Samson (9.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg and 1.7 blocks per game), while incorporating a talented five-person freshmen class.
Navy Women's Basketball as Patriot League Preseason Favorites
1996-97
2013-14
2014-15
2025-26
An uber-talented junior guard, Barnett-Gay will lead Navy's efforts in 2025-26. Returning after back-to-back years on the All-Patriot League First Team, Barnett-Gay was selected by coaches as the 2025-26 Patriot League Preseason Player and Defensive Player of the Year. She was barely edged in voting as the league's top player at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season after she averaged 19.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.3 steals over 34.7 minutes per game. Barnett-Gay ranked first in steals, second in points and minutes, fourth in rebounds and seventh in assists in the Patriot League, while standing 32nd in scoring and 54th in steals per game nationally among DI players. For her defensive prowess, she was honored as the 2024-25 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year.
Last season, Barnett-Gay became the 23rd player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone doing so on Feb. 12d at Lehigh. With 1,135 points through 61 career games during her first two seasons with the Mids, she ranks 17th all-time for total points and number one in scoring average at 18.61 ppg. Among all active DI players in 2024-25, her career scoring average was 11th best and will move into the top 10 prior to the start of the 2025-26 season as players graduate and go pro.
She's the fourth Navy player to ever earn the nod as Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year and first since Jade Geif prior to the 2014-15 campaign.
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Navy Women's Basketball Preseason Patriot League Players of the Year
1997-98: Becky Dowling
1999-00: Erica Hayes
2013-14 & 2014-15: Jade Geif
2025-26:
Zanai Barnett-Gay
The rest of the 2025 All-Patriot League Preseason Team consists of Loyola's graduate forward Lex Therien, senior guards Anne Bair of Colgate and Kaitlyn Flanagan of Holy Cross and junior wing Fiona Hastick from Army.
Voting for the Patriot League women's basketball preseason poll and all-league team was conducted by league head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own team or student-athletes.
2025-26 Women's Basketball Preseason Player & Defensive Player of the Year:Â Zanai Barnett-Gay, Navy, Jr., G
2025-26 Patriot League Women's Basketball Preseason All-Patriot League Team
Fiona Hastick, Army West Point, Jr., G/F ...Â
2024-25 Stats:Â 33 GP, 10.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.6 apg, .355 FG%, .307 3P%, 22 blocks, 36 steals
Anne Bair, Colgate, Sr., G ...Â
33 GP, 12.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.5 apg, .887 FT%, .371 3P%, 54 steals
Kaitlyn Flanagan, Holy Cross, Sr., G ...Â
31 GP, 9.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 5.2 apg, .382 FG%, 33 steals, 20 blocks
Lex Therien, Loyola Maryland, Gr., F ...Â
31 GP, 15.7 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 1.9 apg, 0.2 bpg, 1.45 spg, .554 FG% (stats from 2023-24; Therien was injured last season)
Zanai Barnett-Gay, Navy, Jr., G ...Â
31 GP, 19.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 3.1 apg, .411 FG%, .313 3P%, 72 stls, 12 blks
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2025-26 Patriot League Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
- Navy – 71 (2 first-place votes)
- Army West Point – 68 (2)
- Loyola Maryland – 63 (3)
- Holy Cross – 60 (2)
- Lehigh – 57 (1)
- Colgate – 34
- Bucknell – 33
- Boston University – 32
- Lafayette – 21
- American – 11
