BALTIMORE – The Navy women's basketball team started out hot on Saturday afternoon and imposed its will defensively on Loyola to the tune of a 36-17 halftime lead. Turning the Greyhounds (9-19, 3-14 PL) over 11 times and translating that into a flawless 16-0 points off of turnovers scoring mark at the break, the Mids (18-10, 10-7 PL) weathered a spirited fourth quarter comeback before walking away with a 66-53 victory on the road at Reitz Arena.

Zanai Barnett-Gay (So., Glenn Dale, Md.) posted her seventh double-double of the season with team-highs of 16 points and 10 rebounds over 33 minutes of action. Julianna Almeida (Fr., North Arlington, N.J.) was clutch throughout the contest and shot 5-7 from the field and 3-4 from three-point range on her way to 14-point outing and a team-high +15 plus-minus statistic. Morgan Demos (Jr., Downers Grove, Ill.) gave the Mids three double-digit scorers on the day, as she went for 11 points to go along with three rebounds and a career-best six assists.

"Our defense jump-started us today," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "We did a good job forcing turnovers. We were able to get some steals and get out and running. They [Loyola] did miss some shots early, but I thought we tightened up and started to control the action better. I thought we were a little stagnant on offense at times in the first half, we weren't moving as crisp as I would've liked. We took some tough shots even though we were up big. 

"The story of the second half was we turned the ball over too much; it's as simple as that; 13 turnovers are too many. They started pressing us and we got a little sloppy and lackadaisical. They were able to turn that defense into offense and scored on six straight possessions. They cut it to five, but we turned it around late to get some easy baskets and get to the foul line. Our defense also improved down the stretch. I told the team postgame, that we'll take the win, but that wasn't a complete enough effort to be able to win in the Patriot League Tournament. We've just got to be better."
 
Loyola opened the game off solidly and held a brief 5-4 lead over Navy by the 6:04 mark of the first quarter. A post-up by Demos and kick out to Kyah Smith (So., Richmond, Va.) for a three-pointer from the wing swung the Mids back into the lead on the ensuing possession. After Loyola responded with a basket to knot the game at 7-7, Navy scored seven unanswered points, kick-started by a trey from Almeida. Koi Sims put an end to the Greyhounds' drought to make it 14-9 at 1:49. Baskets down the stretch by Barnett-Gay and Saran Moschella (So., Staten Island, N.Y.) gave the Mids a nine-point lead after one quarter.

Navy carried that momentum over into the second period and scored 12 of the first 13 points of the quarter. Nia Henley (Fr., Spotsylvania, Va.) tallied the first four points of that run before Barnett-Gay took the scoring baton with the next four points. A three-pointer by Almeida at 4:28 completed the streak and gave the Mids a 30-10 lead. The Greyhounds turned the ball over six times during the first five-and-a-half minutes of the quarter. The teams traded baskets over the second portion of the stanza and Navy took a 19-point lead into the locker room, 36-17.

Overall, in the first half, the Mids forced the Greyhounds into 11 miscues and translated those turnovers into a dominant 16-0 points off of turnovers scoring margin. Navy also had a crisp 9-to-3 assist-to-turnover ratio as its offense was constantly making that one additional pass to find an open player.

The third quarter opened with more of the same as Navy tallied six of the first eight points and forced five turnovers to expand its lead out to 23, 41-29 by the 5:14 mark. Loyola eventually steadied the ship and cut into its deficit to the tune of 48-31 score at the end of 30 minutes of action. Barnett-Gay and Demos each scored four points for the visitors in the third.

With the game seemingly in hand, the Mids had to withstand a threat by the Greyhounds in the fourth quarter as the hosts turned up the heat defensively and held the Mids without a field goal attempt for the first 6:34 of the period. A swarming defensive effort forced Navy into eight turnovers during that run of play and pulled Loyola within five points, 50-45. Showcasing a level of composure not often seen in freshman, Almeida calmly caught a Toni Papahronis (Jr., Edmond, Okla.) pass in the corner and swished home her third three-pointer of the game at 3:26 to stop the Greyhounds' streak of success and increase the Mids' lead to eight. Navy never allowed Loyola to get closer than eight the rest of the game and increased its lead to as much as 16 down the stretch before taking the 66-53 win.

In the fourth quarter, Navy only took four field goal attempts and shot 3-4, while going to the foul line 11 times and sinking all 11 opportunities. Team captain Maren Louridas (Jr., Delmar, N.Y.) was locked in at the line with a perfect 6-6 showing. The Greyhounds forced the Mids into nine turnovers in the stanza, though only turned those into 10 points.

"We contributions from almost everybody today," commented Taylor. "All 11 active players saw time in the first half. We got a good boost from Nia coming off the bench in the first half. I thought Saran did some good things as well. It was good to Julianna get a few more shots and knock them down. Morgan Demos was solid once again, 11 points, six assists and did a pretty good job on one of the best posts in the league, Koi Sims, for a majority of the game." 

For the contest, Navy out-shot Loyola, 41.8 percent (23-55) to 40.7 (22-54) from the field and 94.1 percent (16-17) to 44.4 (4-9) from the free throw line, though the Greyhounds were more accurate from three-point range, 41.7 percent (5-12) to 25.0 (4-16).

The Mids dominated the battle on the boards, 34-25, on the strength of a 9-5 edge in offensive rebounds and a 25-20 advantage in defensive boards. Barnett-Gay led all players with 10 rebounds.

Navy had crisp ball-movement throughout the majority game and finished with 14 assists. Demos posted a career-high six assists, while Papahronis tied her season-high with four helpers.

Defensively, Navy forced Loyola into 19 turnovers and was credited with eight steals. Papahronis and Henley each had two steals.

Navy will conclude its regular season on Wednesday at home with a 5:30 p.m. contest versus Boston University at Alumni Hall.

Patriot League Standings (Through 17 of 18 games)
 Lehigh: 15-2   (at Colgate on March 5)
 Army: 13-4   (at Holy Cross on March 5)
 Colgate: 12-5   (home vs. Lehigh)
 Holy Cross: 11-6   (home vs. Army)
 Navy: 10-7   (home vs. Boston on March 5)  **Navy swept both Holy Cross and Bucknell during the regular season
 Bucknell: 10-7   (at American on March 5)
 Boston Univ.: 5-12   (road vs. Navy)
 Lafayette: 5-12   (at Loyola on March 5)
 Loyola: 3-14   (home vs. Lafayette)
 American: 1-16   (home vs. Bucknell)