ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Riding high after winning three straight games in dominant fashion, the Navy women's basketball team is squarely focused on extending that streak and avenging its only Patriot League loss of the 2025-26 season with a Wednesday night road showdown versus Holy Cross. Coming up short versus the Crusaders (10-7, 4-2 PL) by a score of 66-55 on Jan. 3, the Mids (10-6, 5-1 PL) have been on a mission since that contest and have rolled in all facets of action in victories over Bucknell, Lafayette and American. Navy has a few extra days rest over Holy Cross as the Mids were idle over the weekend after Lehigh forfeited their scheduled contest on Saturday. Wednesday night's matchup is set for a 6 p.m. tip-off at Holy Cross' Hart Center. Following that contest, the Mids will return home for a service academy challenge against the Army Black Knights on Saturday morning.

Wednesday's Navy-Holy Cross 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 Holy Cross
The Mids and Crusaders have met 78 times in a series that began on January 18, 1992 … All-time, Holy Cross leads Navy, 53-25 with a 27-11 advantage in games played in Worcester … The two teams had never met prior to the Mids joining the Patriot League in 1991-92 … The series has had multiple lengthy streaks in its history with Holy Cross winning the first eight games, followed by streaks of seven, 10 and 11 consecutive wins by the Crusaders; overall they won 36 of the first 40 games in the series (1992-2008); beginning with the 2009-10 season, Navy swung momentum in its direction with sweeps of the 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2107, 2018 and 2025 season series … Over the last 10 contests, the series edge goes to Holy Cross, 7-3 
    Last 5 Games:
    Jan. 3, 2026 (H): Holy Cross 66 - Navy 55
    March 10, 2025 (H): Holy Cross 66 - Navy 52  **Patriot League Quarterfinals
    Feb. 22, 2025 (A): Navy 66 - Holy Cross 57
    Jan. 8, 2025 (H): Navy 67 - Holy Cross 56
    Feb. 24, 2024 (A): Holy Cross 71 - Navy 63

Most Recent Navy-Holy Cross Matchup ... January 3, 2026 in Annapolis
In a rematch from last year's Patriot League Tournament, the Navy women's basketball team was unable to gather a bit of revenge on the Holy Cross Crusaders as the visitors from Worcester, Massachusetts used a 58.3 percent shooting performance from the field and a 6-of-8 mark from the foul line in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Mids. Extremely competitive throughout the contest at Alumni Hall on Saturday afternoon, the Mids led for 17:59 minutes of action and as late as the three-minute juncture of the third quarter before the Crusaders closed the game with a 19-8 run over the final eight minutes of regulation play to secure the 66-55 victory.

The Mids had a trio of players reach double figures on Saturday led by Zanai Barnett-Gay and Julianna Almeida, who tied for the team lead with 15 points each. Mary Gibbons provided Navy with 12 points off the bench on 4-of-7 shooting from three-point range.

The action opened evenly as the teams traded baskets for the first five minutes before Navy took the game's first two-possession lead at 4:02 when Almeida hit the Mids' first three-pointer of the contest. Another three-pointer, this one courtesy of Gibbons at 3:04 extended the host's lead to seven, 14-7. After an exchange of field goals the score advanced to 16-9 with 2:37 remaining in the first quarter. Holy Cross pulled closer down the stretch and made it a 20-16 game through 10 minutes of play.

The slight momentum that the Crusaders grabbed in the closing minutes of the first continued on into the second quarter when they knotted the game at 20-20 within the first 1:44 of the period. Consecutive three-pointers by Gibbons helped jolt the Mids back in from by four, 26-22 by the 5:28 mark of the quarter. The ebbs and flow of the stanza continued in the second five-minute portion as Holy Cross re-tied the game at 1:24 following a Meg Cahalan free throw. A three-pointer by the Crusaders' Kendall Eddy rounded out the squad's 7-0 run to close the quarter as the visitors took a 33-30 lead into the locker room at halftime. 

The tight back-and-forth action carried over into the second half as Holy Cross went up five, 37-32 at 9:21 before Navy fired back with a Maren Louridas three-pointer and Barnett-Gay driving layup on back-to-back possessions to draw even by the 8:07 mark, 37-37. The offenses for both teams struggled over the majority of the rest of the period as Holy Cross made just three baskets versus two for Navy, a Morgan Demos jump shot and a Gibbons three-pointer. With points hard to come by, the game advance to the quarter break with the Crusaders barely ahead, 45-44.

The matchup between two of the favorites to win the Patriot League continued to entertain the spectators at Alumni Hall with the sixth tie of the game coming off a Barnett-Gay free throw at 8:00. With the score knotted at 47-47, a quick series of plays by the Crusaders' Kaitlyn Flanagan and Kendall Eddy proved to make the difference in winning and losing as Flanagan drove through the lane for the go-ahead basket before Eddy immediately picked off the in-bounds pass and nailed a three-pointer to swing Holy Cross into the lead by five with 7:29 left in regulation. Navy never was able to muster a strong enough response to get closer than five for the remainder of the game as the Crusaders out-scored the Mids, 14-8 over the final six-plus minutes.

Holy Cross sealed the 66-55 victory with a 21-11 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and a 6-of-8 effort from the foul line, while Navy was only able to hit three of its 14 attempts and missed all seven of its three-point tries.

For the game Holy Cross out-shot Navy from the field, 42.4 percent (25-59) to 31.7 (20-63) and from three-point range, 31.6 percent (6-19) to 20.0 (6-30). The Mids were a crisp 9-11 from the foul line for an 81.8 percent showing versus a 52.6 (10-19) effort for the Crusaders.

Holy Cross held a significant advantage in rebounding, 48-34 with an 11-7 edge in offensive boards and a 37-27 margin in defensive caroms. Barnett-Gay led Navy with eight rebounds with Almeida one back at seven.

Comparing the Teams

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Holy Cross
Record / League-Only	10-6 / 5-1 PL	10-7 / 4-2 PL
Home / Away / Neutral Record	6-3 / 4-3	6-2 / 4-5
Points Per Game	72.1 PPG	59.4 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	64.4 PPG	59.7 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	41.9 %	39.8 %
3-Point Percentage	30.8 %	24.5 %
Free Throw Percentage	68.1 %	73.8 %
Rebounds Per Game	39.4 RPG	36.8 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	16.1 / 14.5	14.5 / 15.1

Individual Leaders

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Holy Cross
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 17.7 ppg	Meg Cahalan, 14.9 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 8.2 rpg	Simone Foreman, 8.4 rpg
Assists Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay 4.3 apg	Kaitlyn Flanagan, 4.1 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Kate Samson, 51.6 %	M. Cahalan, 44.8 %
3-Point Percentage	Mary Gibbons, 36.5 %	Kendall Eddy, 36.1 %
Free Throw Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 78.1 %	M. Cahalan, 78.8 %

Last Time Out -- Wednesday, January 14 versus American in Annapolis
The Navy women's basketball team continued its run of scorching hot basketball with an 86-68 win over American on Wednesday night. After averaging 87 points in back-to-back victories over Bucknell and Lafayette last week, the Mids started out Wednesday's contest with an 18-0 run to build up a double-digit advantage that would never be touched by the Eagles over the entirety of the game at Alumni Hall.

Navy's offense clicked throughout with 22 or more points in three of the four quarters with 19 in the third period as the outlier. Once again pace and precision marked the Mids' success as they assisted on 22 made baskets, scored 25 points off of turnovers and knocked down 10 three-pointers to ease to the win.

Individually, four different Mids recorded double-digit scoring outputs with Zanai Barnett-Gay leading the way with 24 points to go along with additional team-highs of eight rebounds, six assists and five steals over 34 minutes of action. The reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Week, Zoe Mesuch provided strong support with 17 points on three three-pointers and four assists. Julianna Almeida and Christina Liggio tied for third on the team with 13-point outputs.

Navy dominated the action from the opening tip as the hosts came out and shot a scalding 5-of-6 from the field over the first three minutes and forced American to burn a time out with the score 11-0. Mesuch was the early spark plug with five of the Mids' points. Navy continued to build on its initial run with seven more unanswered points following that timeout. Another three-pointer by Mesuch and a fast break layup from Boettinger put the final exclamation point on the 18-0 run. Defensively, Navy held American scoreless for nearly eight minutes with an 0-for-10 mark from the field and five turnovers. The Eagles finally broke onto the scoreboard at the 2:02 mark courtesy of a Molly Driscoll layup. Baskets by Maren Louridas and Liggio closed out the frame with Navy up 22-6.

Navy kept its foot on the gas as it forced American into two more turnovers over the first three minutes, while adding to its lead with points on four straight possessions. Liggio led off the quarter with a three-pointer from the wing at 9:13 before Almeida drove the lane for an athletic layup at 8:28 and Louridas fought for an offensive rebound and putback at 7:39. With the score 30-8 after an Almeida free throw, the Mids continued to put distance between themselves and the Eagles with nine of the game's next 14 points to go up 39-13 by the 4:28 juncture of the stanza. That 26-point lead was the largest of the evening, as American was able to shave three points off its deficit before retiring to the locker room with the score, 44-21.

The third quarter opened with a shift in momentum as the Eagles registered back-to-back three-pointers with 90 seconds to draw within 17 before Barnett-Gay grabbed the reigns of the Mids' offense and countered back with consecutive baskets to re-extend her squad's lead over 20 points again. Liggio then took the torch for Barnett-Gay with five points of her own in quick succession to make it a 22-point game, 53-31 by the 5:01 mark. Twice American cut Navy's lead to 19, but Barnett-Gay had a different plan with eight individual points over the final 3:30 of the quarter to make it a 63-42 game through 30 minutes of action.

In total, Barnett-Gay scored 12 of the Mids' 19 points in the frame on 4-6 shooting from the floor with a pair of three-pointers and two free throws.

With the result nearly sewed up, Navy's lead in the fourth quarter reached as high as 23, 74-51, at 6:58 before American rattled off 10 straight points to tighten the contest up to 13, 74-61 with 3:50 left to play. Three-pointers by Mesuch, Barnett-Gay and Liggio down the stretch sealed the victory as Navy pressed on and walked away with the 86-68 decision.

For the game, Navy out-shot American, 47.1 percent (32-68) to 42.1 (24-57) from the field, though the Eagles held advantages in three-point shooting, 50.0 percent (11-22) to 30.3 (10-33) and at the foul line, 90.0 (9-10) to 70.6 (12-17).

Navy continued its run of strong ball-handling as the Mids assisted on 22 of 32 made baskets, while turning the ball over only 11 times. Barnett-Gay also led her squad in this category, as well with six helpers and zero turnovers.