EASTON, Pa. – The Navy women's basketball team started out fast and kept its foot on the gas pedal for 40 minutes on Saturday as it rolled to a 97-58 road victory over Lafayette. After shooting 40.9 percent, but still scoring 24 points in the first quarter, the Mids (9-6, 3-1 PL) found that next gear and shot a scalding 65.9 percent over the final 30 minutes of action to turn a seven-point lead into a dominant 39-point margin of victory over the Leopards (6-9, 2-2 PL). Navy's effort on Saturday at the Kirby Sports Center saw the team break two records and post two more top-10 single-game all-time marks.

The Mids' 97 total points were the most-ever against an NCAA DI opponent and their 39-point margin of victory was the highest-ever versus Lafayette in 87 meetings. Other new editions to the program's single-game record book were 26 assists tying the seventh-most all-time in a contest, while their 38 made fields tied for tenth all-time.

Individually, Zanai Barnett-Gay (Jr., Glenn Dale, Md.) closed in on a triple-double for the second-straight game as she recorded 26 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in 33 minutes of action. On Wednesday at Bucknell, she finished with 10 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists in Navy's blowout win over the Bison. Zoe Mesuch (Fr., Clintondale, N.Y.) also played a pivotal role in the Mids' success on Saturday as scored 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field with a 6-of-12 mark from three-point range, while also assisting on a career-high eight baskets. Her previous high was four assists in a game. Quinn Boettinger (Fr., Schwenksville, Pa.) gave Navy three players in double figures as she registered 10 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes of playing time.

"I think this was one of our best games from an energy standpoint for a full 40 minutes," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "We competed defensively on every possession and thought we made Lafayette take contested shots. They are an extremely talented team and shoot it well, so for us to stay locked in for 40 minutes was huge. Every player that stepped on the floor brought toughness today.

"I thought we did an outstanding job of finding the right person and taking the right shots. 26 assists on 38 shots is awesome! Zanai and Zoe had 15 assists and no turnovers to go along with 48 combined points. Overall, our starting guards had 21 assists and just one turnover; you can't ask for more than that!"

The action on Saturday opened evenly as Lafayette was undaunted by Navy's pace both offensively and defensively as it was 7-7 through three-plus minutes of play. After Morgan Demos (Sr., Downers Grove, Ill.) briefly put the Mids up two, 9-7 at 6:20, the Leopards fired back with eight unanswered points to bolt out to a 15-9 advantage. Navy had a loud rebuttal of its own to the tune of seven straight points to pull ahead, 16-15 by the 3:17 mark. Julianna Almeida (So., North Arlington, N.J.) began this run with one of her go-to elbow jumpers at 4:55. A possession that perfectly encapsulated the Mids' heart and hustle mindset came during this segment of the action as Boettinger started the possession by batting a pass away for a steal before the Mids fought for three offensive rebounds and Mesuch finally found Christina Liggio (Fr., Colts Neck, N.J.) cutting to the rim for a driving layup. A three-pointer by Liggio and later a second chance offensive rebound and put back by Boettinger increased Navy's lead to 21-15 just one minute later at 2:17. Three made free throws with less than a second remaining in the quarter by Barnett-Gay gave the Mids a 24-17 advantage.

"I thought Julianna [Almeida] really jump-started us today when we were down 15-9," commented Taylor. "Her ability to hit the elbow jumper against the zone forced Lafayette to make adjustments and that opened up the three-ball for us."

Navy slowly started putting distance between itself and Lafayette within the first three minutes of the second quarter as the Mids broke out a 10-point lead, 29-19 at 8:37 before increasing it to 11, 31-20 at 7:17. Following that Barnett-Gay turnaround jumper, Lafayette never saw its deficit reach single digits again. Navy had its way shooting threes, but also dissecting Lafayette's interior defense as 12 off its points came inside the paint with nine more coming from beyond the three-point line. Boettinger served as the dominant post player, while Barnett-Gay was the athletic slasher to the hoop with Mesuch setting up shop from three-point range. That dynamic trio tallied 22 of the Mids' 24 points in the second quarter as the teams retired to their locker rooms at half time with Navy up 48-33.

As a team, Navy shot 66.7 percent (10-15) from the field and 50.0 percent (3-6) in the second quarter.

The Mids built off that scorching shooting performance from the second stanza with a somehow even better 6-6 start to the third quarter. Not missing a shot from the field until the 2:51 mark of the third quarter, Navy increased its lead with an overall run of 18-9. Mesuch was the spark plug during this span with eight points on 2-of-2 shooting from three-point range, as well as 2-of-2 from the foul line. Five other Mids provided the additional 10 points. With the score 66-42 following that first missed shot, Navy continued pulling away as the visitors took a 25-point lead into the quarter break, 75-50. Saran Moschella (Jr., Staten Island, N.Y.) was a leading performer for the Mids in the final two-plus minutes with a three-pointer from the wing at 1:26 and driving layup to beat the buzzer.

Overall, Navy shot 69.2 percent (9-13) from the field, 80.0 percent (4-5) from three-point range and 71.4 percent (5-7) from the foul line in its highest-scoring quarter of the game (27 points).

The Mids kept up the intensity on both ends of the court throughout all 40 minutes as the fourth quarter opened with a 14-4 run over the first 4:32 of play. Navy's guards made everything happen during this span of play as Mesuch hit two more three-pointers, Mary Gibbons (So., Holden, Mass.) ran out for a pair of fast break layups and Barnett-Gay had one of her patented picked off passes and breakaway layups. Up 35, 89-54, Navy nearly reached the 40-point threshold twice over the final four minutes of regulation as the Mids rode Lizzie Holder (Jr., Stillwater, Minn.) down the stretch with four baskets in their final six possessions. Navy went up 39, 95-56, at 1:49 and later with 57 seconds to go with the final score of 97-58.
 
For the game, Navy out-shot Lafayette, 57.6 percent (38-66) to 42.9 (21-49) from the field and 44.4 percent (12-27) to 33.3 (5-15) from three-point range. The Leopards hit 91.7 percent (11-12) for their shots from the foul line versus 69.2 (9-13) for the Mids.

Navy held a 10-rebound advantage in the battle of the boards, 34-24. The Mids were extremely active on the offensive glass with 15 o-boards to go along with 19 on the defensive end. Barnett-Gay led all players with 11 rebounds, including seven offensive caroms.

The Mids had a day for the record books with their ball-handling as they assisted on 26 of their 38 made baskets. That total is tied for seventh-most in a single game. Mesuch assisted on a career-high eight field goals, while Barnett-Gay finished with seven helpers. Navy's assist-to-turnover ratio on Saturday was 26-to-11.

Defensively, Navy forced Lafayette into 20 turnovers and flipped those extra opportunities into 36 points off turnovers versus just nine points off turnovers for the Leopards. The Mids were credited with nine steals with Barnett-Gay and Boettinger each recording a pair of thefts.

"Quinn gave us great play off the bench today," said Taylor. "She had a really good stretch in the first half. When our post players (Morgan, Lizzie and Quinn) go 12-of-16, that makes us even more dangerous. I loved how they finished today. I also thought Christina and Saran also gave us quality minutes off the bench.

"When we can get five people hitting threes it really makes us hard to guard. I'm most pleased with how we defended and were locked in together all day."

Navy will continue early season Patriot League action on Wednesday with a home head-to-head bout versus American. Tip-off between the Mids and Eagles is set for 7 p.m. at Alumni Hall.