ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Coming off back-to-back overtime defeats, the Navy women's basketball team will be looking to get back in the win column and to do so within the confines of the 40 regulation minutes of a game on Sunday. To do so, Navy will have to defeat an Iona Gael club that heads into the contest as winners of four straight. Sunday's matchup between the Mids (5-3) and Gaels (6-2) is a rematch from last November 12 that went the way of Navy, 55-53 on the road. Tip-off on Sunday afternoon is set for 3 p.m. at Alumni Hall. The women's game is the second of day as the Navy men go head-to-head with Air Force starting at 12-noon. 

Sunday's Navy-Iona 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. Iona/MAAC
The Mids and Gaels have met six times in women's basketball action in a series that begin on Nov. 19, 1997 as part of a home-and-home series the saw games separated by 18 days ... That matchup at Alumni Hall in Annapolis ended with a 15-point victory for Navy, 65-50 ... All-time, Navy is 3-2 versus Iona with three of the games being decided by 10 points or less with a three-point decision for the Gaels in 2013 being the closest ... Over two Navy-Iona matchups on the Gaels' home court, the series is knotted at 1-1 as Navy won in Dec. of 1997 by 12 points before Iona held the home court advantage in Nov. of 2012 by 10 points ... The Mids have won the last two matchups in 2016 (73-68) and 2024 (55-53) to go up 4-2 in the all-time series ... All-time versus Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opponents, Navy is 33-34 in 67 previous meetings. Mount St. Mary's (9-20) is Navy's most common foe playing 29 times. The Gaels will be the third MAAC opponent for the Mids in 2025-26 as Navy has already defeated Rider on Nov. 19 (67-56) and Manhattan on Nov. 29 (59-52).
    All-Time Matchups:
    Nov. 12, 2024 (A): Navy 55 - Iona 53
    Nov. 21, 2016 (H): Navy 73 - Iona 68
    Nov. 17, 2013 (H): Iona 64 - Navy 61
    Nov. 9, 2012 (A): Iona 74 - Navy 64
    Dec. 7, 1997 (A): Navy 61 - Iona 49    
    Nov. 19, 1997 (H): Navy 65 - Iona 50

Most Recent Navy-Iona Matchup -- Nov. 17, 2024 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
The Navy women's basketball team withstood punch-after-punch by Iona in front of a boisterous Kids' Day crowd at the Hynes Athletic Center on Tuesday. Tipping off at 11 a.m. before a called crowd of 2,171 spectators, most of whom were school-aged children, the Mids (3-0) overcame a slow start with a suffocating brand of defense over the final three quarters that held the Gaels (0-2) to just 34 points and 24.1 percent (13-54) shooting. After 40 minutes of nail-biting competition, Navy walked away with a 55-53 victory over Iona.

Zanai Barnett-Gay filled up the box score on Tuesday with her first double-double of 2024-25 courtesy of a team-high 14 points and 10 rebounds. Additionally, the All-Patriot League Defensive Team member, grabbed three steals and blocked a pair of shots, while dishing out four assists in 37 minutes of action. Maren Louridas did a little bit of everything for the Mids as she recorded nine points, six rebounds and two steals. Toni Papahronis sparked Navy's comeback with hard-nosed defending that resulted in a career-high four blocked shots and a team-high +10 in the +/- statistic.

Trailing 8-3 early, the Mids responded with seven unanswered points capped by a Lizzie Holder 'and-one' at 4:12 to allow Navy to re-take the lead 10-8. The Gaels fired back from this challenge with a 11-0 run of their own to pull ahead 19-10 by the 1:45 mark. A crisp pass out of the post by Holder to Mary Gibbons on the wing for an open three-pointer put an end to the run on the ensuing possession.

After Iona shot 53.3 percent (8-15) from the field and 3-5 from three-point range to build up a 19-13 lead through one quarter of play, Navy changed up its defensive looks and ratcheted up its pressure in the second period. Those changes started making an impact almost immediately as the Mids scored the first seven points of the stanza to jump back in front 20-19 at 7:23. Barnett-Gay got the offense going during a stretch of three straight makes as she broke out for a layup following a Kyah Smith (So., Richmond, Va.) steal and assist before Gibbons knocked down her second three-pointer of the game and Barnett-Gay repaid Smith with a steal and breakout pass of her own. Over the final seven minutes of the quarter, the score was tied at 20-20, 22-22, 24-24 and lastly 26-26. Julianna Almeida netted Navy's 22nd and 24th points, respectively before Morgan Demos tied the game going into the halftime intermission with a successful post-up with less than five seconds to go.

A 5-0 individual start to the second half by Louridas gave the Mids their first multi-possession lead of the game. Trailing 31-26, the Gaels had a quick rebuttal with nine unanswered points over the next 3:14. Back-to-back baskets by Navy surrounding the under-five media timeout pulled the visitors back square, 35-35 at 4:31. Louridas' sixth and seventh points of the quarter extended Navy's run to 6-0 and pushed the Mids back into the lead. As the score slowly crept to 40-39 in favor of Navy at 1:39, the Mids closed out the period with the final four points to hold a 44-39 edge through 30 minutes of play.

The constant ebbs-and-flows of the contest continued into the fourth quarter where Iona's Judith Gomez banged home a three-pointer on the Gaels' first possession before the Mids fired back with six unanswered points to establish their largest lead of the game of eight, 50-42. From that point at 7:40, Navy's offense went silent for nearly six minutes as Iona was able to methodically shave six points off its deficit. A pair of free throws by Louridas at 1:49 and a fast break layup by Holder at 1:08 helped the Mids extend its lead to six, 54-48. Aided by its passionate fan base, the Gaels went down swinging and fought right back with four straight points to make it a two-point game with 27 seconds remaining. The teams split free throw opportunities over their final possessions, though an intentional miss by Iona's Ella Fajardo added to the intensity as a loose ball with one second remaining ended up in the hands of Zoey Ward, who immediately threw an unsuccessful off-balanced shot towards the hoop as time expired.

For the game, Navy out-shot Iona, 38.2 percent (21-55) to 30.4 (21-69) from the floor, 50.0 percent (4-8) to 21.4 (6-28) from three-point range and 64.3 percent (9-14) to 62.5 (5-8) from the foul line.

In the battle of the boards, the home Gaels grabbed four more rebounds, 43-39 with a significant 20-12 edge in offensive rebounds. Barnett-Gay led the Mids with a season-high 10 caroms.

Defensively, Navy forced Iona into 15 turnovers and was credited with nine steals. Barnett-Gay also paced the Mids in that statistical category with three. Navy was active with its post defense as well with eight blocks. Papahronis led the Mids with a career-best four rejections.

Comparing the Teams

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Iona
Record / League-Only	5-3 / 0-0 PL	6-2 / 0-0 MAAC
Home / Away / Neutral Record	4-1 / 1-2	4-0 / 2-2
Points Per Game	68.0 PPG	56.3 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	65.5 PPG	55.8 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	39.8 %	33.9 %
3-Point Percentage	30.7 %	24.0 %
Free Throw Percentage	68.3 %	68.5 %
Rebounds Per Game	42.5 RPG	40.4 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	15.5 / 17.4	11.9 / 13.5

Individual Leaders

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Iona
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 17.9 ppg	Isabellah Middleton, 13.0 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 8.8 rpg	Zoey Ward, 8.4 rpg
Assists Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay 4.4 apg	Mya Zaccagnini, 2.9 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Kate Samson, 51.0 %	I. Middleton, 40.8 %
3-Point Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 39.4 %	Ella Fajardo, 35.0 %
Free Throw Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 75.0 %	Z. Ward, 65.0 %

Last Time Out -- Thursday, December 4 at Radford University
For the second straight game, the Navy women's basketball team found itself needing to extend play into overtime to decide a victor and unfortunately for the second straight game, the Mids came out on the short end of that overtime action as Navy fell on the road to Radford University by a score of 97-84 in double overtime on Thursday night. A 12-point swing in the fourth quarter in favor of Radford pulled the hosts even to force the additional periods of action. Tied 67-67 at the end of regulation and 78-78 at the end of the first overtime period, the host Highlanders (6-5) were nearly perfect in the second period of extra time as they shot 3-4 from the floor and 12-12 from the foul line to pull away from the Mids (5-3) at the Dedmon Center.

Thursday's overtime thriller came one year after the same two teams met up in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia as part of the Greenbrier Tip-Off Classic and went to overtime, though that matchup on Nov. 17, 2024 went the way of the Mids, 78-73.

Zoe Mesuch led Navy's individual efforts with a career-best 20 points on 8-15 shooting from the floor and a 4-7 mark from three-point range. Zanai Barnett-Gay recorded her fourth double-double of the season as she finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds with an additional five assists over 49 minutes of action. Julianna Almeida and Kate Samson gave Navy four players in double figures as they scored 13 and 10 points, respectively.

After shooting 50 percent from the field in the first quarter and leading the Highlanders, 15-10, the Mids continued at that clip with four baskets on their first eight shots in the second period to build out a 13-point lead of 27-14 by the 4:57 mark. Four points by Barnett-Gay and three-pointers from Almeida and Saran Moschella highlighted this 12-4 run. Radford fought back with seven of the next nine points to cut its deficit to eight, 29-21, with 1:26 remaining in the quarter. The momentum pendulum swung back in Navy's favor to close the half as it re-built its lead to 12, 35-23, as a result of Moschella's second three-pointer of the stanza.

The Mids' offense kept humming following halftime as they opened the third quarter on an 8-3 run to increase their lead out to a game-high 17 points, 43-26, by the 7:08 juncture of the period. Six consecutive points from Almeida, including a four-point 'and-one' play capped this early run. On the ropes and nearly knocked out, Radford rallied to the tune of a 14-7 run and pulled within 10, 50-40 with 2:44 left in the quarter. Back-to-back three-pointers off the hands of Mary Gibbons and Mesuch made sure that hope was short-lived and Navy was right back up 16 with 49 seconds. Another three by the Highlanders' Joi Williams closed the quarter at 57-45 in favor of the Mids.

The Mids slumped for the first time all game to start the fourth quarter as they hit just one of their first four shots and turned the ball over three times. This lull allowed the Highlanders to scrap their way back into the contest as they rattled off a 10-2 run to draw within four, 59-55 by the 6:27 mark. The hosts continued fighting back versus Navy and made it a one-point game, 63-62, over the next three-plus minutes. With her team ahead by just one, Samson flexed her physicality the next time down the court with an offensive rebound and putback at 2:46 to make it 65-62. Consecutive baskets by Radford's Cate Carlson, a three-pointer, and Anna Stromberg at 1:55 and 1:09 gave the Highlanders their first lead since early in the first quarter, 67-65.

With the pressure mounting, the Mids showcased their prowess and fight with two offensive rebounds on their final possession of regulation. A jump ball tie-up with 0.9 seconds on the clock forced Navy to draw up one final look at the hoop. An in-bounds pass by Almeida found Samson seven feet from the basket and in one motion, the senior center caught the pass and immediately put up a shot that banked off the backboard and through the hoop as time expired in regulation.

In overtime, Navy controlled the majority of the action as it made five of its first seven shots. Mesuch was the sparkplug for the Mids over this initial 3:44 run of play as she made a three-pointer at 3:11 to push Navy ahead 74-71 and later sank a pull-up jumper at 1:56 to make it 76-73. After Barnett-Gay got an offensive rebound and putback basket to increase Navy's lead to 78-73 at 1:16, Radford rallied once again with baskets on its final two possessions, including a wild off-balanced fadeaway three-pointer by Williams with less than three seconds left in the period to knot the game at 78-78 and force five more minutes of action.

In the second overtime period, the Highlanders jumped on the Mids early and out-scored the visitors 10-4 over the first 3:17 to go up 88-82. Radford was 2-3 from the field and 6-6 from the foul line to build up its six-point advantage. A jumper by Barnett-Gay at 1:23 pulled her squad to within four, but unfortunately that was it offensively for Navy as Radford scored nine unanswered points with a three-pointer and six foul shots to seal the 97-84 double overtime victory.

Over the final 30 minutes of action (the second half and two overtimes), the Mids turned the ball over 11 times, which resulted in a 17-4 advantage in points off turnovers for the Highlanders, while the hosts knocked down 10 three-pointers after only going 2-9 from distance in the first half.

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. Enter Gate 5 off Taylor Ave. to park at the stadium. Fans 18 and over need a government-issued photo ID. 
**Starting May 7, 2025, in accordance with The Real ID Act of 2005, visitors entering through the Pedestrian Gate 1 Visitor Control Center or accessing the USNA through the fan shuttle bus for a game should be prepared to present a REAL ID-compliant driver's license, U.S. Passport, enhanced state-issued ID, or another acceptable form of identification, to access federal facilities.  Foreign passports are NOT permitted for general access.