ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Not one to be ever counted out, the Navy women's basketball team continues to battle as it fought for 45 minutes on Wednesday night versus Colgate and overcame an 11-point first quarter to force overtime, but fell in extra time by a score of 76-72. A substantial disparity in free throws was the undoing for the Mids (15-10, 7-7 PL) as the Raider (20-7, 10-4 PL) went to the charity stripe 35 times and converted a Patriot League single-game season-high 31 foul shots. Navy's defense spurred its comeback as it held Colgate to only three field goals in the fourth quarter and one in overtime.

Julianna Almeida (Fr., North Arlington, N.J.) and Saran Moschella (So., Staten Island, N.Y.) provided the Mids with strong efforts throughout the game as Almeida helped Navy fight back in the first half with 11 of her game-high 21 points, while Moschella caught fire in the second half with 13 of her eventual 17 points. Kyah Smith (So., Richmond, Va.) and Zanai Barnett-Gay (So., Glenn Dale, Md.) gave the Mids four scorers in double figures as Smith knocked down a trio of three-pointers on her way to 11 points, while Barnett-Gay did a little bit of everything with 10 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals.

"Tonight, I was pleased with the effort. I just didn't like the way we started, that's disappointing," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "35 free throws, wow! Hats off to them [Colgate] though because they made 31. I don't I've ever been a part of a game where we gave up 35 free throws; that's just crazy. I'll admit we were fouling some at the end for strategy, but we'll have to look at the film. I thought our kids gave great effort. 12-16 versus 31-35, there's not a whole lot else you can say. I thought we did everything we could've done. We missed a few shots in the fourth and overtime, but that's basketball. I probably could've called a better play late."

Colgate was strong from the jump on Wednesday as the visitors won the opening jump ball and almost immediately converted a layup just four seconds into the contest. The duo of Almeida and Maren Louridas (Jr., Delmar, N.Y.) kept Navy in range with seven early points as the hosts took their only lead of the first half at the 5:15 mark after Louridas and Almeida knocked home a pair of three-pointers to make it 7-6. From that juncture, the Raiders caught fire and rattled off 12 unanswered points over the next 4:05. A three-pointer on the Mids' second-to-last possession by Smith pulled her squad within eight, 18-10 at the quarter break. As a team, Colgate shot 9-14 from the field in the initial stanza.

The three-ball played an important role in Navy's comeback effort in the second quarter as consecutive treys from Barnett-Gay at 7:53 and Almeida at 7:00 drew the Mids to within three, 21-18. In a theme that would dominate the remaining 27 minutes of regulation and throughout overtime, five straight free throw conversions by Colgate's Morgan McMahon on back-to-back possessions short-circuited that run and increased her club's lead back to eight. Trailing 26-18, Navy clawed its way back even with an 8-0 run between 5:07 and 1:52. A pair of second-chance baskets, first by Moschella and later by Almeida sparked this run. A 4-2 close to the quarter in favor of the Raiders allowed the guests to take a 30-28 lead into the halftime intermission. Navy's defense held Colgate to just 2-10 shooting from the field, but the Raiders countered with an 8-9 performance from the charity stripe.

The ebbs-and-flows of action continued in the third quarter with neither team making more than two shots in a row over the first seven-plus minutes of the period. Moschella was the engineer of Navy's offense in the third as she opened up with six of the Mids' first eight points. Her three-pointer from the corner at 8:25 kick-started this streak that culminated with a physical and-one layup and conversion at 5:23. With the score 43-38 for Colgate at 3:06, a quick 5-0 individual run by Smith drew Navy even by the 2:39 mark. A perfect 6-6 mark from the foul line down the stretch by the Raiders helped them finish the quarter up 51-47 over the Mids.

A 6-2 start to the fourth quarter allowed Navy to once again pull even with Colgate. A jumper on the first possession by Almeida and a three-pointer by Moschella spearheaded this comeback attempt. Another basket by Moschella at 7:02 gave Navy its first lead since early in the first quarter. The edge was short-lived as four straight conversions from the foul line by Christina Midgette shot the Raiders back into the lead. Following two of Colgate's only three made field goals of the period at 2:18 and 1:48, the visitors held a 61-57 lead. The will of Navy showed through over the final 91 seconds of regulation as Morgan Demos (Jr., Downers Grove, Ill.) battled through the paint for a layup before Barnett-Gay came up with her fourth steal of the game and Almeida made Colgate pay with a three-pointer coming out an in-bounds with 52 seconds left. The Raiders converted on each of their final two possessions, while Barnett-Gay went 2-2 from the foul line to send the game to overtime knotted at 64-64.

A long three-part offensive possession, that included a pair of offensive rebounds resulted in the Mids' largest lead of the game, three, 67-64 when Smith swished a straight-away three-pointer at 3:54. A near mirror image of that occurred for the Raiders less than a minute later when a 1-2 showing at the foul line was extended with two offensive rebounds that ultimately were turned into a made field goal to re-tie the game. The heart and hustle continued in the second half of the overtime period as an offensive board and putback by Demos pushed Navy ahead 69-67 at 1:48. Four straight free throws over the next 59 seconds swung Colgate back into a lead that the visitors wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the period as they held on for a 76-72 victory.

"We're going to have to look at the way we started tonight," commented Taylor. "We gave Colgate some easy looks and plays, that we stressed in practice and pregame that we couldn't let happen. Our start was not good; on the opening tap, they get the ball for the easiest two points. Man, we'd love to have those two points back at the end of the game. Those are things that matter when you're playing competitive conference games. We started 3-13 with four turnovers in the first quarter.

"I thought we played really well after that. The group that finished the game played a lot of minutes. Saran Moschella came in and made a really big difference. We're going to have to find her more minutes if she's going to keep doing that. She played a great all-around game, 17 points and really good defense. I thought Kyah did a good job defensively too. When you've got a group that is playing well together, its hard to make changes. I was rolling with that group down the stretch."
 
For the game, Colgate out-shot Navy, 43.1 percent (22-51) to 36.8 (25-68) from the field and 88.6 percent (31-35) to 75.0 (12-16) from the foul line. The Mids were efficient from three-point range with a substantial 34.5 percent (10-29) to 10.0 (1-10) advantage.

The Raiders won the battle on the boards, 40-36, though the Mids grabbed five more offensive rebounds, 17-12. Demos finished with a game-high 10 rebounds, five on each end of the court. Almeida tied her career-high with nine caroms, including six on the offensive end.

Defensively, Navy forced Colgate into 17 turnovers and was credited with seven steals. Barnett-Gay had active hands throughout with a game-high five steals.

Barnett-Gay was the top facilitator on Wednesday night with a game-high five assists.

Navy will be back in action on Saturday afternoon with a road tilt at Holy Cross. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. at the Hart Center.