ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Faced with the daunting task of trying to contain an undefeated Florida team that was averaging 94.3 points per game, while rolling over opponents by 42 a contest, the Navy women's basketball team was locked in for 40 minutes and entered its name in the program record book with a convincing 69-54 victory at Alumni Hall on Sunday. The Mids (3-0) showcased a well-balanced attack and a style of play that executed on both ends of the court as four players finished with eight or more points, while holding the Gators (4-1) to just 28.8 percent shooting from the field and 19.2 percent from three-point range.

The victory on Sunday was the program's first over an SEC foe since Dec. 20, 1998 when it defeated Ole Miss at home as part of that season's Navy Classic. All-time, this was the Mids' fourth-ever win over a team from a Power 4 conference as they earlier knocked off the Baylor Bears, 81-17 on Jan. 1, 1993, Ole Miss in 1998 and Clemson on Nov. 9, 2019.

Zanai Barnett-Gay (Jr., Glenn Dale, Md.) led all players with 22 points to go along with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Zoe Mesuch (Fr., Clintondale, N.Y.) provided the Mids' with explosive first half scoring with 5-6 shooting from three-point range for 15 points. Julianna Almeida (So., North Arlington, N.J.) filled up the box score with 12 points, seven rebounds and a career-high eight assists. Matched up against taller opposition, Morgan Demos (Sr., Downers Grove, Ill.) dominated the glass with a game-high 12 rebounds, while netting eight points and posting a +29 plus-minus statistic.

"Hats off to Coach Daniel [Villarreal]," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "We sat down this week and he came through with a great game plan. He saw some things on film and made suggestions; it was a phenomenal game plan. We did a lot of things today that we typically try not to do, so for our kids to execute that in two days shows a lot of growth. We rolled with a lot of freshmen and sophomores out there at important times.

"This win is big. I know they didn't have Liv McGill today, but still to beat an SEC team. Hats off to Florida for coming up to Annapolis. You have to respect that as a lot of teams don't want to head out on the road and play mid-majors.

"It means a lot for our seniors. Think about what they went through as freshmen, they were 1-29. I always go back to how that team and those players never quit, they kept believing, they kept fighting and made the ultimate sacrifice. Our captain Maren Louridas did not play today because she had to miss two days of practice because she's a Rhodes Scholar finalist. She will be right back in the starting lineup on Wednesday. She's a great leader and a great teammate. She sacrifices a lot for us. I tip my cap to her. She was leading the bench; that was to key to everything."

The action on Sunday opened with a brief Florida lead as Me'Arah O'Neal knocked home a three-pointer for the Gators on their first possession of the game. After finding their footing offensively, Barnett-Gay got the Mids on the scoreboard at 7:21 with a driving layup off a Demos pass. From that juncture, the three-ball sparked Navy to an eventual 13-0 run. The next three times down the court, Navy was clutch from long range as Barnett-Gay made the team's first three-pointer before Mesuch entered her name in the scoring column with consecutive treys at 6:25 and 5:53. Almeida rounded out the 13-0 run with a second-chance layup after Barnett-Gay hustled for an offensive rebound and found her backcourt mate for the easy basket. With the score 13-3, Florida turned the tide its favor with 13 straight points of its own to re-take the lead 16-13 by the 1:18 mark. Mesuch sank her third three-pointer of the stanza to end the Mids' scoring lull and draw her squad even at 16-16. The teams exchanged made baskets over the final 52 seconds of the quarter to leave the score 18-18 through 10 minutes of play.

Mesuch's hot start carried over into the second quarter when Christina Liggio (Fr., Colts Neck, N.J.) found her on the wing for another three-pointer, her fourth of the game. The Mids' sharpshooting from distance continued further into the quarter as Almeida stretched Navy's lead to six, 28-22, with a three of her own. The back-and-forth battle kept going during the second as Florida fired back with seven unanswered points over a two-minute run to jump back into the lead 29-28 at the 4:20 mark. Demos powered the Mids in the final minutes of the second quarter with four points, three rebounds and an assist, while Saran Moschella (Jr., Staten Island, N.Y.) nailed her team's eighth three-pointer of the half with a long-range snipe with 46 seconds to go. Their individual success sent Navy to the locker room at half time up eight, 39-31. Overall, in the first half, Navy shot 8-14 from three-point range.

"Zoe's fast start opened everything up for everyone else," commented Taylor. "I'm sure she was frustrated that she didn't score much later in the game, but her start was huge for us. As a freshman, I'll have to talk her through that. She was the difference in the game early on and she allowed us to spread the floor because they [Florida] had to lock up on her. She played really, really good today."

Leading by eight after the intermission, the Mids came out in the second half with even more aggression in their attack as they opened the third quarter with the first six points to go up 45-31 and force the Gators to call a timeout at 6:22. A slight 4-0 rebuttal by Florida drew the SEC squad back to within 10 before the fearless Navy squad rattled off eight straight points to bubble its lead up to a game-high of 18 and eventually 16 at the quarter break. Back-to-back triples coming off the hands of Barnett-Gay led off the streak before Demos capped it with a layup. Defensively, the Mids handcuffed the Gators to the tune of just 13.3 percent shooting on 2-of-15 from the field during the third.

Up 53-37 with just 10 minutes to go before entering its name in the program record books, Navy barely flinched when Florida threw its final punches the Mids' way. During the initial five minutes of the fourth quarter, Navy went up by as much as 18 again before Florida cut its deficit back to 14 at 60-46 when the under-five media timeout came at 4:58. The Gators' last ditch at making a comeback saw the visitors draw within nine, 62-53 with 2:55 remaining in the game before Barnett-Gay took control and scored five of the Mids' final seven points to ice the 69-54 victory.

17 of Barnett-Gay's 22 points on Sunday came in the second half as she tight-roped around foul trouble after she was tagged with three in the first half. She shot 4-6 from the field, 2-2 from three-point range and 7-8 from the foul line, while playing 19:12 of a possible 20 minutes in the second half.
 
For the game, Navy out-shot Florida, 47.1 percent (24-51) to 28.8 (19-66) from the field and 45.5 percent (10-22) to 19.2 (5-26) from three-point range. The teams posted identical 57.9 marks (11-19) from the foul line.

The substantially smaller Midshipmen lineup out-rebounded the Gators by 10, 47-37. Demos led all players with 12 caroms, a total that tied her single-game career-high. Barnett-Gay had a strong effort on the glass as well with eight rebounds. Almeida and Kate Samson (Sr., Richmond, Va.) tied with seven rebounds each.

Navy had success moving the ball as the team registered assists on 16 of its 24 made baskets. Almeida led all players with a career-high eight helpers.

Defensively, the Mids forced the Gators into 13 turnovers and were credited with four steals. Barnett-Gay paced Navy with two steals.

Navy will now turn its attention to a Wednesday evening matchup with Rider University. Tip-off between the Mids and Broncs is set for 7 p.m. at Alumni Hall.