ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy women's basketball team begins the December portion of its non-conference schedule with a Thursday night road bout at Radford University. One year after the Mids (5-2) and Highlanders (5-5) faced off in an epic overtime battle at the Greenbrier Resort in southern West Virginia, the teams will go head-to-head on the Highlanders' campus at Carilion Clinic Court at the Dedmon Center. Navy won last year's matchup with an explosive 19-point overtime effort to pull away, 78-73 and improve to 5-0 at the time. Tip-off on Thursday night is set for 6 p.m.

Thursday's Navy-Radford 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. An audio-only portion of the contests will also be available via WNAV: over the radio waves on 1430 AM, online at WNAV.com or through the iHeart and Audacy platforms.  

Navy vs. Radford / Big South Conference
Last year's matchup at the Greenbrier Resort re-fired a series that had laid dormant for 16 years as the teams' prior most recent matchup came in Annapolis on Dec. 22, 2008 in a game that Navy won 61-44 ... The original matchup in this now seven-game series was on Nov. 23, 1991 when the two programs faced off in Emmitsburg, Maryland as part of the Mount St. Mary's Tip-Off Tournament; Radford was victorious in that game, 80-66 ... Sandwiched in-between those to meetings, the teams have split the series 2-2 ... All-time, the Navy-Radford series leans towards the Mids, 4-3, though the Highlanders are 2-1 in games on their campus ... Thursday will be the 32nd showdown for Navy versus a Big South Conference foe; all-time, the Mids are 23-8 (11-2 vs. Longwood; 4-0 vs. Charleston Southern; 4-3 vs. Radford; 2-2 vs. High Point and 2-1 vs. Winthrop)
    All-Time Meetings vs. Radford
    Nov. 17, 2024 (N): Navy 78 - Radford 73 (OT) ** - Greenbrier Tip-Off Classic
    Dec. 22, 2008 (H): Navy 61 - Radford 44
    Nov. 30, 2007 (A): Radford 63 - Navy 51
    Dec. 19, 2005 (H): Navy 71 - Radford 65
    Jan. 5, 2005 (A): Radford 59 - Navy 51
    Feb. 4, 2004 (A): Navy 74 - Radford 68
    Nov. 23, 1991 (N): Radford 80 - Navy 66  ** - Mount St. Mary's Tip-Off

Most Recent Navy-Radford Matchup -- Nov. 17, 2024 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
 The Navy women's basketball team extended its undefeated streak to start the 2024-25 season to 5-0 with a back-and-forth 45-minute battle versus Radford on Sunday afternoon. Taking on the Highlanders (1-4) in a neutral site contest at Colonial Hall on the grounds of the historic Greenbrier Resort in southeast West Virginia, the Mids (5-0) overcame a roller coaster afternoon of action to walk away with a 78-73 overtime victory.

Navy's fourth different leading scorer in five wins, Kyah Smith was a constant presence for the Mids as she netted five or more points in four of five periods on Sunday on her way to a career-best 26. The sophomore guard was especially dangerous from three-point range as she shot 5-of-7 from distance during her 37 minutes off the bench. Her classmate Zanai Barnett-Gay had to tight-rope her way around foul trouble for the majority of the game, but persevered to the tune of 22 points and five assists over 31 minutes. Barnett-Gay entered her name in Navy's record book with a 16-of-17 showing at the foul line; 16 makes are the fourth-best all-time for a single-game. Mary Gibbons rounded out Navy's leading scorers as she registered 13 points.

The action on Sunday opened with a significant Radford flavor to it as the Highlanders made five of their first six shots to sprint out to a 12-5 lead by the 5:18 mark of the first quarter. Coming out of a called timeout, the Mids turned in a methodical 8-0 run over the next 3:41. Barnett-Gay kickstarted the run with a jumper and later a free throw before Smith took the baton and netted the next five points. Defensively, Navy held Radford to 0-3 shooting with three turnovers during this span. With the score 13-12, Mikayla Firebaugh beat the buzzer for the Highlanders with a layup on their final possession to make it 14-13 after one quarter of play.

The game stayed within one possession for the next seven-plus minutes as Radford held the lead for the majority of the time, though Navy pulled even six times, but never ahead. Highlights for this stretch of the action, included a three-pointer by Lizzie Holder at 8:25 and six points from Barnett-Gay. Knotted at 30-30 at 2:43, back-to-back three-pointers by Gibbons and Smith, and a third by Toni Papahronis helped the Mids take a 39-32 lead into the halftime intermission.

Unfortunately, that hot conclusion to the first half did not immediately carry over into the third quarter as Navy was mired in a 0-9 start from the field with eight turnovers to begin play. That extended slump allowed Radford to re-take the lead 42-39. Four consecutive points from Gibbons put an end to the Mids' woes as they drew even at 43-43 by the 2:13 mark. Each team added a field goal over the final two minutes of play to make it 46-45 Radford after three quarters.

The back-and-forth struggle continued into the fourth quarter with neither team giving an inch. Smith twice put Navy ahead during the first five minutes as she sank a jumper at 9:23 to make it 47-46 before knocking home a three-pointer at 6:29 to make it 50-49. During the next three-plus minutes, a 5-for-5 showing at the foul line by Barnett-Gay bolstered the Mids' lead up to six, 57-51 at 3:13. After five unanswered points by the Highlanders, two more free throws from Barnett-Gay tallied Navy's final points of regulation as it went up 59-56 with 2:02 to go. Radford's Kirah Dandridge knotted the game with a three-pointer with 23 seconds to go to eventually force overtime.

In a trend that is quickly emerging in 2024-25, Navy showcased a new level of composure and ability to move onto the next task at hand during the overtime period. Starting back with a tied score, the Mids immediately bolted out to a six-point lead, 65-59 on the strength of consecutive three-pointers by Smith and Gibbons over their first two possessions. The Highlanders had an equally strong retort with three straight layups between 3:07 and 2:13. The three-ball was valuable once again for Navy as Smith sank her third trey of the game to give her squad a 69-65 lead with 1:14 remaining. Radford was never able to recover from that blow as it trailed for the rest of the contest due to excellent foul shooting from the Mids as they went 9-10 from the line to close out the 78-73 victory. 19 points is the highest single-overtime scoring output in program history.

For the game, Radford out-shot Navy from the field, 44.1 percent (26-59) to 32.3 (21-65), though the Mids were better from three-point range, 41.7 percent (10-24) to 33.3 (8-24) and from the foul line, 76.5 percent (26-34) to 54.2 (13-24).

Comparing the Teams

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Radford
Record / League-Only	5-2 / 0-0 PL	5-5 / 0-0 Big South
Home / Away / Neutral Record	4-1 / 1-1	4-0 / 0-4 / 1-1
Points Per Game	65.7 PPG	59.4 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	61.0 PPG	60.2 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	39.0 %	34.7 %
3-Point Percentage	29.1 %	24.8 %
Free Throw Percentage	68.8 %	65.7 %
Rebounds Per Game	41.9 RPG	37.6 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	15.7 / 16.7	11.9 / 15.8

Individual Leaders

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Radford
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 17.7 ppg	Angelina Nice, 9.3 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 8.6 rpg	Georgia Simonson, 5.6 rpg
Assists Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay 4.3 apg	Adelyn Traylor-Walker, 2.2 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Kate Samson, 51.2 %	G. Simonson, 42.4 %
3-Point Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 40.0 %	A. Nice, 28.6 %
Free Throw Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 71.4 %	Joi Williams, 76.5 %

Last Time Out -- Sunday, November 30 versus Duquesne in Annapolis
 The Navy women's basketball team closed out action at the 2025 Navy Classic with a disappointing 69-67 overtime loss to Duquesne on Sunday afternoon. Leading for over 28 minutes and by 12 points going into the fourth quarter, the Mids (5-2) were unable to get their shot to fall on offense and keep the Dukes (6-2) off the offensive glass in the fourth quarter as they only hit one of their 14 field goal attempts, while allowing nine offensive rebounds as they were out-scored 16-4 in the stanza. In overtime, Navy came up just two points short as Duquesne pulled out the come-from-behind victory at Alumni Hall.

Julianna Almeida and Christina Liggio led the Mids' individual efforts on Sunday as duo combined for 26 points, 14 for Almeida and a career-high 12 for Liggio. Almeida rounded out her stat line with a career-best 12 rebounds to go along with three assists and three steals in 42 minutes of action. Liggio came off the bench and played in 23 minutes, adding three rebounds and two assists, while shooting 5-of-7 from the field with a pair of three-pointers. Zanai Barnett-Gay and Saran Moschella nearly made it four Mids in double-figures as they each registered nine points for the game.

The game opened with a significant Duquesne feel to it as the visiting Dukes scored the first eight points on Sunday and held Navy without a point until the 6:16 mark of the first quarter when Kate Samson scored with an offensive rebound and putback layup. After a Duquesne basket made it 10-2 at 5:26, Navy responded with nine unanswered points to dart into the lead 11-10 within a span of 2:51. Liggio ignited this run with five straight points before Almeida put an exclamation point on it with a three-pointer at 2:31. The teams traded field goals over the final two-plus minutes as the Dukes took a slight 15-13 lead into the first quarter break.

Trailing by two coming out to start the second quarter, the Mids kicked off the action with a 9-0 run with Almeida and Liggio once again spearheading the attack. The Jersey duo recorded seven of Navy's nine points during this span, including Liggio's second three-pointer of the game. As quickly as the Mids pulled up to a seven-point lead, 22-15, the Dukes responded back on the strength of back-to-back three-pointers from Alexis Bordas to make it a 22-21 game with 3:26 left in the stanza. With her team slightly skidding the newly-inserted Saran Moschella came off the bench and was lights out from three-point range over the final 3:10 of the quarter as she sank all three of her attempts from long range to give Navy a short-lived 31-25 lead before Mackenzie Blackford swished a three-pointer of her own at the buzzer to draw Duquesne to within three, 31-28 at halftime.

The Dukes mirrored that late trey with a trey on their first possession of the second half to immediate pull back even with the Mids, 31-31. The back-and-forth competition continued as Zoe Mesuch connected from long range for Navy on the ensuing possession to engage a small 11-5 run over the next three-plus minutes. With the score 42-36, the Mids were able to extend their advantage out to 14 points in the second half of the third quarter as the three-ball kept falling for the hosts as Barnett-Gay and yesterday's hero Mary Gibbons joined the three-point barrage. Following Liggio's 11th and 12th points of the game to put Navy up 56-42, Bordas went 2-2 at the foul line with four seconds in the quarter to help Duquesne shave two important points off its deficit.

In the third quarter, the Mids shot 10-of-18 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range, while forcing the Dukes into five turnovers.

The fourth quarter opened with neither team making a shot from the field for over three minutes, though Duquesne was able to register four made free throws versus just one for Navy to make it a 57-48 game at the 7:21 juncture of the period. Following a Reina Green three-pointer pulled the Dukes even closer at 57-51, Quinn Boettinger went 1-of-2 at the foul line to push the Mids' advantage back up to seven, 58-51 at 6:25. With Navy still in search of its first made field goal of the quarter, Duquesne kept its foot on the comeback pedal with eight straight points to go up 59-58 with 4:08 left in regulation. Almeida finally put an end to the Mids' field goal drought with a pull-up jumper at 3:46 to flip the one-point margin back in Navy's favor, 60-59. Defense ruled the late action even more as the teams combined to go 0-for-13 from the field (0-5 Navy and 0-8 Duquesne) with two turnovers each down the stretch. A 1-for-2 showing at the foul line by the Dukes' Harriet Ford with four seconds left knotted the game at 60-60 before the clocked showed all zeroes.

During that cold fourth quarter, Duquesne shot 23.5 percent (4-17) from the field, while Navy countered with a 7.1 percent (1-14) effort. The Dukes' comeback was bolstered by nine offensive rebounds, a pair of three-pointers and six free throws.

The action in overtime was even throughout as two-point leads by Duquesne were quickly responded to with 62-62 and 64-64 retorts by Navy. Following an 'and-one' conversion by Ford to put the Dukes up 67-64 with 57 seconds left in the period, Almeida calmly sank her second three-pointer of the game to re-tie the game once again, this time at 67-67 with 39 seconds remaining. Two free throws over Duquesne's final three possessions and a pair of empty results for Navy sealed the 69-67 come-from-behind victory for the Dukes.