ANNAPOLIS, Md. - With the Patriot League Tournament creeping closer each day, the Navy women's basketball team is focused on improving its standing in the conference leaderboard every game. With two regular season contests left to be played, the Mids (17-10, 9-7 PL) are just a game out of fourth place and two out of third. Next up for Navy is a road trip to Loyola on Saturday in a rematch of a January 11 meeting that went the way of the Mids, 63-59. Tip-off at the Greyhounds' (9-18. 3-13 PL) Reitz Arena is set for 12 p.m.

Saturday's Navy-Loyola 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.

Navy versus Loyola
The Mids and Greyhounds have met 42 times in a series that began on January 28, 1979 ... All-time, Navy leads Loyola, 27-15 on the strength of the Mids' dominant 17-4 advantage in games played in Annapolis ... In games played in Baltimore, Loyola holds an 11-9 edge ... A two-game season sweep in 2021 by Navy helped end a four-game slide in the series; the two teams have since split the 2022, 2023 and 2024 series ... Since the Greyhounds joined the Patriot League in 2013-14, the Mids are 15-11 overall ... Over the last ten matchups, the series leans towards Navy 6-4 due to a 5-0 mark at Alumni Hall during that stretch. The Mids' most recent win at Reitz Arena came on Feb. 13, 2021 with a final score of 69-60; they've lost three straight since then. 
    Last Five Games:
    January 11, 2025 (H): Navy 63 - Loyola 59
    February 21, 2024 (H): Navy 53 - Loyola 51
    January 27, 2024 (A): Loyola 70 - Navy 67
    February 19, 2023 (A): Loyola 74 - Navy 50
    January 14, 2023 (H): Navy 63 - Loyola 43

Most Recent Navy-Loyola Matchup ... January 11, 2025 in Annapolis
With its back against the wall, the Navy women's basketball team came from behind with a gutsy 13-0 run to close out Saturday's game versus Loyola. Trailing 59-50 with just 3:22 left in regulation, the Mids (12-3, 4-0 PL) turned up their defensive intensity and offensive efficiency down the stretch forcing six turnovers by the Greyhounds (6-9, 0-4 PL), while shooting 2-3 from the field and 8-10 from the foul line to earn the 63-59 victory at Alumni Hall.

Zanai Barnett-Gay was at the forefront of Navy's performance on Saturday afternoon with a season-high 28 points on 9-17 shooting from the field, a 7-8 mark from the foul line and three three-pointers, while grabbing seven rebounds and collecting six steals over 39 minutes of action. Kyah Smith also came through in the clutch for Navy as she nailed the go-ahead basket with 35 seconds to go as part of her 10-point day.

After playing twice in 2023-24 and Loyola winning at home by three points and Navy later winning at home by two points, the fans at Alumni Hall knew Saturday was going to be a competitive 40-minute battle. The action began that way with ties of 7-7 at 6:34, 13-13 at 2:18 and finally 15-15 with 38 seconds remaining in the quarter. A three-pointer by Amandine Amorich on Loyola's last possession gave the Greyhounds an 18-15 lead after one quarter of play.

The tight back-and-forth contest continued into the second quarter where the lead changed hands three times with two ties. Neither side led by more than four points. The first four-point edge came at 5:05 when Barnett-Gay capped a 9-2 run with a three-pointer from the corner. The run consisted of earlier treys by Lizzie Holder and Toni Papahronis. With the score 30-26, Loyola scored four straight to knot the game at 30-30 with 3:36 left in the half. Back-to-back successful jumpers by Smith closed out the scoring in the second quarter as the teams retired to the locker room with Navy ahead 34-30. Loyola went scoreless for the final 3:36 of the frame as it turned the ball over four times and went 0-3 from the field.

Coming out in the second half, the Mids struggled mightily to make in-roads offensively, as they were shut out for the first 5:10 of the third quarter. During this futile stretch, the Greyhounds were only able to net eight unanswered points to grab at 38-34 lead. A crisp pass through the paint from Smith to Holder ended Navy's streak and pulled the hosts within two points. The Mids never truly got their offense in gear in the third quarter, but made enough baskets and hung tough defensively to only allow the Greyhounds to hold a 46-42 lead at the end of 30 minutes of action. Overall, Navy shot 3-10 from the field and turned the ball over seven times in its eight-point quarter of play.

Sensing a potential opening to capture its first Patriot League victory of an injury-plagued season, Loyola darted out to a 10-point lead of 56-46 by the 6:40 mark. The next time down the court, Barnett-Gay found a cutting Julianna Almeida for an athletic layup to draw the Mids back within single digits. After two minutes of the scoreboard standing still, the Greyhounds recorded points on back-to-back possessions to build their lead back to nine, 59-50 with 3:22 left in regulation. Navy's 'never quit' attitude shined over the final 3:22 of play as defensively it put Loyola in a stranglehold that saw the visitors shoot 0-3 from the field and turn the ball over six times. Energized by this dominant effort, the Mids' offense stalked down the Greyhounds with a purpose. Papahronis kick-started the run that would eventual reach 13-0 with a 2-2 showing at the foul line at 2:47. In a break that would further spark Navy, Barnett-Gay banked in a three-pointer on its next possession to make it a 59-55 game. Four free throws in quick succession by Barnett-Gay drew the Mids even, 59-59 by the 1:47 mark. Smith took over from her as she scored the go-ahead basket with 35 seconds to go before icing away the victory with two free throws with just three seconds left. Loyola was unable to record a single field goal attempt over the final 35 seconds as Papahronis, Barnett-Gay and Mary Gibbons all came up with steals during the Greyhounds' frantic comeback attempt.  

For the game, Loyola out-shot Navy, 48.0 percent (24-50) to 39.0 (23-59) from the field, though the Mids out-shot the Greyhounds from three-point range 28.6 percent (6-21) to 23.1 (3-13) and from the foul line 68.8 percent (11-16) to 50.0 (8-16).

Comparing the Teams

(2024-25 Stats)	Navy	Loyola
Record / League-Only	17-10 / 9-7 PL	9-18 / 3-13 PL
Home / Away / Neut. Record	8-7 / 8-3 / 1-0	5-7 / 4-11
Points Per Game	67.6 PPG	56.8 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	61.7 PPG	60.5 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	38.1 %	41.3 %
3-Point Percentage	31.6 %	30.0 %
Free Throw Percentage	67.8 %	60.9 %
Rebounds Per Game	40.5 RPG	33.0 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	13.4 / 13.6	11.8 / 16.2

Individual Leaders

(2024-25 Stats)	Navy	Loyola
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 19.2 ppg	Laura Salmeron, 13.7 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 7.6 rpg	Koi Sims, 10.4 rpg
Assists Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 3.2 apg	L. Salmeron, 2.3 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Morgan Demos, 49.2 %	K. Sims, 50.2 %
3-Point Percentage	Julianna Almeida, 37.5 %	Amandine Amorich, 32.5 %
Free Throw Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 78.5 %	A. Amorich, 72.2 %

Last Time Out -- Wednesday vs. American
Looking to build off the momentum of a key road win over Holy Cross on Saturday, the Navy women's basketball team found itself in a tight battle versus American for over 20-plus minutes on Wednesday before turning up the pressure, forcing 15 second half turnovers and outscoring the Eagles 50-28 over the third and fourth quarters on its way to a record-setting 88-60 victory at Alumni Hall.

The 88 points scored on Wednesday are the most-ever by a Midshipmen squad over a Patriot League foe in a regulation length game as the previous-high was 87 against Army in the Patriot League Tournament Semifinals on Feb. 27, 1999.

Navy's attack was well-balanced as 10 of the 11 players that appeared on Wednesday night scored points led by a career-best outing from Mary Gibbons, who tallied 23 points on 7-8 shooting from three-point range. Her seven makes are tied for the eighth-most by a Mid in a single-game and equals Taylor Dunham's output from Feb. 28, 2018 versus American. Gibbons was joined in double figures by Zanai Barnett-Gay, who recorded 17 points, while Maren Louridas, who added a season-high 13 points to go along with a team-high six rebounds. Morgan Blackford and Morgan Demos nearly gave Navy five players in double digits as both players recorded nine points on the evening.

The action started out evenly as the game was tied at 8-8, 10-10 and 12-12 over the initial six minutes of play. Demos provided the early spark for the Mids' offensively as she scored six of her team's first eight points, with all of them coming over a 72-second span of play between 8:44 and 7:32. A three-pointer by Gibbons at 2:58 gave Navy a brief 15-14 lead as American had an immediate rebuttal courtesy of a Grace Koepke layup. Baskets by Barnett-Gay and Saran Moschella over the Mids' final two possessions of the quarter tied the game for a fourth time at 19-19.

The game continued at a basket-for-basket pace into the second quarter as the teams were knotted again at 21-21 and 23-23. Following a free throw by the Eagles' Molly Driscoll at 7:36 to give the visitors a 24-23 edge, Gibbons swung the lead back into the Mids' favor with her second three-pointer of the game and Navy would never look back as they were up for the ensuing 27:20. That trey kicked off an 8-0 run with a Julianna Almeida jumper sandwiched in-between another Gibbons three-pointer at 4:51. With the score 31-24, the Eagles shaved a single point off their deficit over the final four-plus minutes of the half as the teams retired to their respective locker rooms with Navy ahead 38-32.

A 4-0 individual start to the third quarter by Driscoll pulled American within two points, 38-36, by the 9:03 mark before Navy loudly re-engaged its offense to the tune of a 9-0 run. Toni Papahronis played a pivotal role in this stretch of the action as she knocked down a three-pointer from the corner before getting a steal, an offensive rebound and putback and finally a dramatic second steal as she dove into the backcourt for a loose ball and called timeout to keep possession as American players lunged towards her.

Up 47-36 at 6:53, Navy's lead bounded between eight and 11 for the next three-plus minutes before the Mids turned up the heat even more of the final 3:22 with a 10-2 close to the quarter. Eight of those points came from Gibbons, including back-to-back baskets from beyond the arc 28 seconds apart at 2:14 and 1:46. As part of its dynamic 25-12 third quarter effort, Navy forced nine American turnovers on six steals and extended three possessions with offensive rebounds. 14 of the Mids' points came off of turnovers or second chance opportunities.

Ahead 63-44 at the start of the fourth quarter, Navy cruised to the win as it never allowed American to get closer than 19 (68-49 at 7:05). Louridas found her stroke from distance over the first three minutes of the final stanza with a pair of three-pointers. With the score 73-49 at 6:52, Blackford was the story down the stretch as the sophomore walk-on from the Naval Academy's track & field program, scored nine of the Mids' final 15 points on 2-2 shooting from the field and five successful free throws. Those nine points set a new career-high for Blackford.
 
For the game, American out-shot Navy from the field by a slim 45.1 percent (23-51) to 44.9 (31-69) margin, though the Mids had better accuracy from three-point range, 38.5 percent (10-26) to 14.3 (3-21) and from the foul line, 59.3 percent (16-27) to 50.0 (11-22).

Defensively, Navy forced American into 27 turnovers, a total that is the most by a DI opponent of the Mids since Nov. 9, 2019 when Clemson turned the ball over 31 times. The Mids' defense was credited with 11 steals as Barnett-Gay (3), Papahronis (2), Louridas (2), Gibbons (2) and Kelli Giuliani (2) all recorded multiple thefts.