BETHLEHEM, Pa. – History was achieved Wednesday night in Bethlehem when
Zanai Barnett-Gay became the 23rd player in the existence of Navy women's basketball to reach the 1,000-point plateau with a layup early in the third quarter at Lehigh. Coming into the game with 979 career points, the sophomore guard was electric for the Mids (15-8, 7-5 PL) with 12 first half points and nine quick points within the first 2:35 of the third quarter. Barnett-Gay's strong third quarter was part of a fiery comeback by Navy that pulled the visitors even 53-53 before Lehigh (20-4, 11-1 PL), the first-place team in Patriot League, flexed its muscle in the fourth quarter and sealed the victory by a final score of 74-56 at Stabler Arena.
Barnett-Gay (So., Glenn Dale, Md.) highlighted the Mids' individual effort on Wednesday night with 26 points on a crisp 10-16 shooting from the field and a 4-5 mark from three-point range to go along with three steals and two assists.
Morgan Demos (Jr., Downers Grove, Ill.) provided excellent secondary scoring with an efficient 8-10 showing from the field on her way to her first career double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. Off the bench,
Saran Moschella (So., Staten Island, N.Y.) scored eight points, including a pair of three-pointers.
"We had some bad possessions and didn't take as many quality shots in the second and fourth quarters," remarked head coach
Tim Taylor. "In the second quarter we were only 5-17 when in the third quarter we were 10-15. When you're taking quality shots, that matters. Lehigh is a talented basketball team with a lot of weapons. We had a really nice performance for Saran; Zanai was incredible and Morgan had a great performance. Those three were great, but we need more from the rest of the team. For us to be successful, we need more than three people scoring. I feel that the games that we've really been good in, Z gets 20 to 22 points and we get a couple more double-figure scorers and a few more with seven or eight points.
"We just went cold in the fourth quarter. Z picking up her fourth foul late in the third was huge, it swung the momentum. We had to sit her for three-plus minutes and on a night like tonight with the way that she was dominating you can't afford to have her sitting. We turned them over 18 times and did some positive things on defense. That third quarter shows you what kind of basketball team we can be; we went toe-to-toe with them. It's a similar story to the last time we played them; we were right there with them and then we could make shots down the stretch."
The action on Wednesday night opened nearly even as it was 9-7 in favor of Lehigh by the 6:16 mark. Barnett-Gay was red hot from the start with all seven of her team's points on 3-4 shooting. Trailing 13-9 at 5:27, the duo of Barnett-Gay and Demos powered the Mids into a tie with back-to-back made field goals. Knotted with 4:41 left in the quarter, defense was the name of the game down the stretch as Navy was held scoreless as it went 0-7 from the field, while Lehigh was only able to muster two points on 1-4 shooting with three turnovers.
With the score 15-13 through 10 minutes of play, the Mountain Hawks continued to silence the Mids as the visitors went 0-4 to start the second quarter, though their defense was hanging tough. After Lehigh slowly edged out to an 18-13 lead,
Mary Gibbons (Fr., Holden, Mass.) found Barnett-Gay for a three-pointer from the wing to quickly pull Navy back within two. From that juncture at 7:28, Lehigh rattled off eight unanswered points, that eventually expanded out to a 17-4 run. With her squad behind 35-20, Demos was a demon on the glass over the final 2:40 of the second quarter with a pair of offensive rebounds and put-back buckets to go along with another successful field goal. That 6-3 run by the Mids cut their deficit to 38-26 before Jessie Ozzauto added two points before the expiration of the half to send the Mountain Hawks into the locker room up 14. A 5-8 mark from three-point range by Lehigh aided its 25-13 second quarter effort.
Down, but not out, Navy came out of the halftime break on a mission. Barnett-Gay had the starring role of this quest and scored on four of the Mids' first five possessions. After netting 12 points in the first half on her hunt for 1,000 in her career, Barnett-Gay quickly achieved the milestone within the first 2:35 of the quarter. Following a pair of two-point baskets, she took a hand-off from Demos beyond the arc and casually nailed a three-pointer to make it a 41-33 game at 7:45. History was made just 20 seconds later when
Toni Papahronis (Jr., Edmond, Okla.) picked Maddie Albrecht's pocket for a steal and found Barnett-Gay for the fast break layup at 7:25. Her basket made her the 23rd player in program history with 1,000 points and tied Colleen Cassidy for the fastest to the milestone as they both reached it in just 53 career games. Cassidy scored her 1,000th point early in her junior season of 1980-81.
With the score 41-35, Lehigh re-engaged its dangerous offense with eight of the next 12 points to expand its lead back to double figures, 49-39, by the 3:46 mark. Following a trading of baskets, Moschella knocked down her first three-pointer of the day to make it a 51-45 game at 2:40. The three-ball continued to stimulate the Mids' comeback as in back-to-back possessions at 1:42 and 1:07, Barnett-Gay and Moschella found nothing, but net and like that the game was tied, 53-53. A late 4-0 run over the final 61 seconds helped the Mountain Hawks take a 57-53 lead into the break. As a team in the third quarter, Navy shot 10-15 from the field and 4-5 from three-point range as it outscored Lehigh in the sixth highest-scoring third quarter in program history, 27-17.
All the momentum, that the Mids had built up in the third quarter screeched to a halt in the fourth. The hard-charging upset-minded visitors were unable to find any rhythm offensively as they missed their first 11 shots of the quarter and turned the ball over seven times. With Navy's offense at bay, Lehigh pulled away over the course of the fourth quarter and won by an eventual score of 74-56.
"Hats off to Zanai," commented Taylor. "Scoring 1,000 points that quick is amazing. I told her in the locker room, that she deserves everything she gets because she practices like that. When you practice as hard as she does, the games become easy.
"I think you're starting to see some things from
Morgan Demos, as well, because she practices like that; she puts in the time. When you put in the time, good things happen."
For the game, Lehigh outshot Navy, 52.7 percent (29-55) to 36.1 (22-61) from the field, 33.3 percent (8-24) to 26.1 (6-23) from three-point range and 72.7 percent (8-11) to 60.0 (6-10) from the foul line.
The Mountain Hawks took Wednesday night's rebounding battle, 34-31. Demos led all players with 11 rebounds, five on offense and six on defense.
Defensively, Navy forced Lehigh into 18 turnovers and was credited with nine steals. Barnett-Gay and Demos each had three steals, as well as one block on the night.
"We're in a tough stretch," said Taylor in closing. "Playing on the road before hosting Army is difficult. We've got to regroup from tonight and try to get better. The key is to keep getting in the gym and working to get better. We're trying to get some confidence back in some of our kids that are struggling a bit now. We've just got to stay positive, keep lifting them up and trying to help them improve. That's what we're supposed to do as a coaching staff. We pride ourselves on overcoming adversity and that's what we've got to do here."
Navy will now turn its attention to its annual Star Game versus Army on Saturday. The matchup for service academy supremacy is slated for an 11 a.m. start at Navy's Alumni Hall. The action will be televised live nationally on CBS Sports Network.
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