LEWISBURG, Pa. – Down, but never out, the Navy women's basketball team turned in a comeback for the ages versus Bucknell on Saturday afternoon as the Mids fought their way out from 17-point deficit in the second quarter to force overtime and eventually complete the comeback in extra time, 79-75. A substantial nine-point swing in the fourth quarter by the Mids (15-6, 7-3 PL) pulled them even and briefly into the lead over the Bison (11-10, 6-4 PL) at Sojka Pavilion before out-scoring the hosts 10-6 in overtime.

Matched up against the Patriot League's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Ashley Solfikanich, Morgan Demos (Jr., Downers Grove, Ill.) had a career-best performance as she blew past her previous-high of nine points as she posted 20 on Saturday to go along with nine rebounds over 34 minutes of action. A well-rounded offensive effort from across Navy's ranks, Zanai Barnett-Gay (So., Glenn Dale, Md.) and Mary Gibbons (Fr., Holden, Mass.) were next in the scoring column for the Mids with respective totals of 16 and 15 points before Julianna Almeida (Fr., North Arlington, N.J.) and Kyah Smith (So., Richmond, Va.) rounded out the group of five double-digit scorers with 13- and 10-point performances, respectively.

"We had a tough start to today's game, but I'm so proud of our kids," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "They continue to show so much resiliency in the face of the injuries that we've had to deal with and obstacles like this most recent stretch of three games in six days. Dealing with all of that and coming off of two losses, faced with a 17-point hole in the second quarter, a lot of teams would've folded and packed it in. They kept believing and kept fighting. We started rallying and getting stop-after-stop. Honestly, in the first quarter, I felt that we were getting the shots that we wanted to get; I told our staff, I don't think we have to make any adjustments because we're getting the looks, we just have to make the shots.

"Hats off to this group of kids, they fought their butts off. Everybody contributed. Morgan Demos had a career game; she was outstanding. She did a phenomenal job on one of the most talented post players in the league, Ashley Sofilkanich, and offensively she finished around the hoop so well. On the last play of the game, Zanai did a heck of a job on Sophia Sabino to get a steal and seal the game. As a team, we did a tremendous job of stepping to the foul line and making our free throws going 23 of 28; that was big."

Navy had an inauspicious start to Saturday's contest as it was down 13-4 by the 5:42 mark of the first quarter. After consecutive baskets by Smith, a three-pointer at 3:20, and Barnett-Gay, a pull-up jumper at 2:40, the Mids were quickly back within four, 13-9. Unfortunately for Navy, those were the last made field goals of the opening period as Bucknell closed out the frame on a 9-0 run.

The Bison extended their unanswered scoring streak to 11-0 before eventually stretching it out to 14-1 to blow its lead out to 17, 27-10 by the 8:24 juncture of the second quarter. From that point in the action, Navy's plebes took over and helped their squad significantly cut into their deficit with a 15-4 run over the next five and a half minutes. Gibbons was the engineer with a four-point play to start the run before later adding four more free throws. Almeida was influential too during this span with a pull-up three-pointer. With the score 31-25 at 2:58, Bucknell was able to add two points to its advantage before the break to make it 35-27 heading into halftime.

Gaining confidence from their successful second quarter, the Mids further carved into their deficit and drew within one point over the first three minutes of play in the third quarter. Five points by Barnett-Gay sparked this 9-2 run that made it 37-36 Bucknell at 7:05. The teams traded baskets for the next two-plus minutes as the score increased to 39-38, 41-40, 43-42 and finally 45-44. Following that layup by Demos at 4:15 that drew Navy within one point, Bucknell had an emphatic rebuttal with nine unanswered points to jolt back up by 10, 54-44 by the 1:47 mark. A three-pointer by Gibbons pulled the Mids back within single-digits before a pair of late Bison free throws ended the frame with a 56-47 score.

The success that Navy had found in spurts over the second and third quarter finally resulted in a streak that pushed the Mids into the lead as the visitors opened the fourth period on a 13-2 run. Demos tallied the first six points of this stretch and eight in total with Almeida adding a jumper and Smith a three-pointer. With Navy ahead 60-58, Bucknell used its strong outside marksmanship with a pair of treys by Isabella King to re-take the lead at 61-60 and later 64-62 by the 4:40 mark. A 6-0 response by the Mids swung the scoreboard back in their favor 68-64 following a steal and layup by Barnett-Gay at 2:13. The three-ball extended Bucknell's chances one final time as Reese Zemitis knotted the game at 69-69 with 36 seconds left in regulation. Neither team was able to convert on their final possessions and the game concluded 40 minutes of play tied 69-69. The Mids shot 53.8 percent (7-13) from the field and 87.5 percent (7-8) from the foul line as part of their 22-13 fourth quarter comeback.

The game was decided in overtime by strong defense and clutch foul shooting. Bucknell made the first field goal of the period when Zemitis banged home a three-pointer at 2:12 to re-tie the score, 73-73. Two ensuing free throws by King put the Bison up, 75-73 with 1:18 left to play. With Bucknell putting on a full-court press versus Navy, the Mids confidently navigated the pressure and found Demos all alone under the hoop for an easy layup for her 19th and 20th points of the game. Deadlocked at 75-75, Navy re-gained the ball following a Solfilkanich miss with 36 seconds left and Almeida drove to the lane before getting fouled. Showing the utmost composure, the freshman went 2-2 at the line to give the Mids a lead that they wouldn't relinquish for the remainder of the game as the Bison missed two more shots and saw Barnett-Gay force one final turnover with 10 seconds left. Navy added two important free throws to clinch the 79-75 come-from-behind victory.

For the game, Bucknell out-shot Navy, 38.8 percent (26-67) to 37.3 (25-67) from the field, 43.8 percent (7-16) to 30.0 (6-20) from three-point range and 88.9 percent (16-18) to 82.1 (23-28) from the foul line. Of note, Navy's free throw percentage was a single-game season-high.

The host Bison also won the rebounding battle by three boards, 41-38. Demos and Barnett-Gay tied for the team lead with nine caroms each.

Navy had excellent ball-handling on Saturday with a 13-to-7 assist-to-turnover ratio. Barnett-Gay paced the Mids with four helpers.

Defensively, Navy forced Bucknell into 13 turnovers and was credited with six steals. Barnett-Gay also led the Mids in this statistical category with four thefts. Toni Papahronis (Jr., Edmond, Okla.) provided strong defensive play of her own with three blocked shots over 28 minutes of action.

"There were stretches throughout the game today where everybody had a run," commented Taylor. "Mary had a heck of a run in the second quarter. She jump-started us with her energy. It wasn't just offensive energy either, the first play she was in she tips the ball away and dives on the floor. Kyah came in and hit some big shots in clutch moments when we needed it. Z was everywhere for us, scoring, facilitating and being disruptive on defense. Julianna hit a big three-pointer for us in the first half and knocked down her free throws down the stretch.

"Though they might not always be recognized, the efforts by Toni and Maren were key today too. They might not have scored a ton, but their ability to rebound and affect things definitively played a vital role in our comeback. Toni blocked three shots and Maren came through with clutch offensive rebounds when we needed to extend a possession. It was really a total team effort."

Navy will now step away from the court for the Patriot League's annual women's basketball mid-week bye. Through 10 games of its 18-game league schedule, Navy is tied with Holy Cross for third place in the conference standings with a 7-3 mark. Next up will be a home bout versus Lafayette on Saturday, Feb. 8. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. at Alumni Hall.