DANBURY, Conn. - The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) announced its year-end awards late Thursday and Navy's Zanai Barnett-Gay was near the top of the press release as the sophomore guard was selected as a member of the All-ECAC Second Team. The talented guard was recognized for her award-winning campaign that saw her chosen as the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and repeat with a spot on the All-Patriot League First Team, all the while leading her Navy squad to a 19-win season and a postseason berth for the first time since 2018.

Now a two-time All-ECAC honoree, Barnett-Gay has continued the stellar start to her collegiate career this season with double-digit scoring efforts in 30 of 31 games and double-doubles in seven contests, including a stat-stuffing game against Lafayette on February 8 when she went for a season-high 29 points to go along with 13 rebounds and three blocked shots. She scored 20 or more points in 13 games this season, including a 24-point outing in Navy's season finale at Old Dominion on March 22 as part of the 2025 WNIT Tournament. Named to the USBWA Player of the Year Midseason Watch List, Barnett-Gay became the 23rd player in Navy program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau as she did so on February 12 at Lehigh in just her 53rd career game. Already up to 17th place on that list with 1,135 points, the Patriot League Rookie of the Year in 2023-24 improved across the board in nearly every statistical category as she finished her sophomore campaign averaging 19.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game this season, up from 18.2, 6.2 and 3.0 in 2023-24, respectively. The 2024-25 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, Barnett-Gay thrived on both ends of the court as she recorded 72 steals and blocked 12 shots over 31 games. 

Part of the standout sophomore class across the NCAA Division I ranks, Barnett-Gay's 18.6 career scoring mark is 11th-best among all active players and fifth among the vaunted Class of 2027 trailing only USC's JuJu Watkins' 25.5 points per game average, Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo's 23.3, Iowa State's Audi Crooks' 21.4 and Western Illinois' Raegan McCowan's 21.0.

The major award winners for the 2024-25 season include Harvard's Harmoni Turner, who was the ECAC Player of the Year, Quinnipiac's Gal Raviv, who was named the ECAC Rookie of the Year and Aaron Roussell, who was selected as the ECAC Coach of the Year. The 2024-25 All-ECAC First Team consisted of Turner and Raviv, as well as Kayla Cooper (Gr., UAlbany), Maggie Doogan (Jr., Richmond) and Ashley Sofilkanich (So., Bucknell). Joining Barnett-Gay on the All-ECAC Second Team are Destiny Adams (Sr., Rutgers), Fatmata Janneh (So., Saint Peter's), Laila Lawrence (Sr., Coppin State) and Peyton McDaniel (R-Jr., James Madison).

The ballot for All-ECAC consisted of players from the East Coast and schools that compete in the AAC, America East, Atlantic 10, Big East, Big Ten, CAA, Ivy League, MAAC, MEAC, NEC and Patriot League conferences.