ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The fans in Annapolis and viewers watching world-wide on CBS Sports Network will be treated on Saturday to a matchup that's been circled on the calendar since the Patriot League announced its conference schedule in the fall. The first of two service academy women's basketball rivalry matchups this season between Navy and Army is set for Saturday morning in Annapolis with an 11 a.m. tip-off at Alumni Hall. Picked one and two in the preseason poll for the conference, the Mids (11-6, 6-1 PL) and Black Knights (15-3, 6-1 PL) have lived up to the billing and are currently tied atop the conference standings with matching 6-1 marks. Both teams come in extremely hot with Army winning its last six games, while Navy has won its past four games by an average of 24.2 points per contest. Saturday's game is presented by USAA.
Saturday's Navy-Army game will have live stats provided online, as well as be televised on the CBS Sports Network.
An audio-only portion of the contests will also be available via WNAV: over the radio waves on 1430 AM, online at WNAV.com or through the iHeart and Audacy platforms.
Navy versus Army
The Mids and Black Knights have met 85 times in a series that began on January 18, 1981 ... All-time, Army has a five-game edge, 45-40 ... The series is extremely close in every possible way with it being 21-19 in favor of Army at West Point, 3-3 at neutral sites and 21-18 in favor of the Black Knights in Annapolis ... The Mids are mired in a three-game losing streak in contests played at Alumni Hall with its most recent win coming on January 22, 2022 (61-60) ... Saturday's contest will be the first of two service academy showdowns this season with the 44th Star Game between the programs set for Feb. 21 at West Point ... Over the last ten matchups, the overall series leans towards the Black Knights by an 8-2 margin as Army has won seven straight over Navy.
Last 5 Games:
Feb. 15, 2025 (H): Army 68 - Navy 64 **2025 Star Game
Jan. 26, 2025 (A): Army 59 - Navy 49
Feb. 10, 2024 (A): Army 70 - Navy 58 **2024 Star Game
Jan. 20, 2024 (H): Army 66 - Navy 51
Feb. 11, 2023 (H): Army 66 - Navy 64 **2023 Star Game
Most Recent Navy-Army Matchup ... February 15, 2025 in Annapolis
The Navy women's basketball team left it all out on the line Saturday in a nip-and-tuck service academy battle versus Army at Alumni Hall. Following 40 minutes of hard fought action, the Black Knights were able to overcome a 12-point first quarter lead by the Mids and earn the 2025 Women's Basketball Star by a final score of 68-64. A six-point fourth quarter swing by the visitors on the strength of six forced turnovers allowed Army to come away with the victory in Saturday's game.
Julianna Almeida had a game that she won't soon forget as she went for a career-high 25 points on 8-15 shooting from the field, including a 5-7 mark from three-point range and a 4-5 effort from the foul line.
Zanai Barnett-Gay and
Morgan Demos provided strong secondary scoring with efforts of 15 and 12 points, respectively. Demos added team-highs of eight rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots over 37 minutes.
Playing in front of a strong and passionate home crowd at Alumni Hall, the Mids and Black Knights opened the action evenly over the first 2:05 as it was 5-5. After Almeida pulled Navy even at the point, the freshman quickly followed up her initial three-pointer with another one 30 seconds later to give her squad an 8-5 lead. An exchange of baskets advanced the score to 9-7 by the 7:14 mark. From that juncture, the Mids rattled off 14 unanswered points over the next 4:27 of play.
Maren Louridas scored the first five points of this run before Demos and Barnett-Gay added two a piece. The scalding hot start of Almeida continued down the stretch of the 14-0 run with five more points, including her third three-pointer. With the score 23-7, Army shaved four points off its deficit to conclude the quarter at 26-14 in favor of Navy. Single-handedly, Almeida outscored the Black Knights, 15-14 in the period.
The Mids continued to hold a double-digit advantage for the first three-plus minutes of the second quarter as a pair of Louridas foul shots at 6:51 made it 28-18. As much as the pendulum of momentum swung in the way of Navy in the first quarter, it swung back for Army in the second quarter as the visitors tallied 15 of the next 17 points to take a 33-30 lead following a Kya Smith offensive rebound and putback with 53 seconds left in the stanza. A three-pointer from the corner by
Saran Moschella on the Mids' final possession sent the teams into the locker room knotted at 33-33. 12 points in the paint by the Black Knights and their defense holding the Mids to 2-14 shooting from the field was the story of their comeback in the second.
Army, a dangerous three-point shooting team that was held to just 2-10 in the first half, shook off the tough opening 20 minutes and knocked down two of its first three attempts from beyond the arc to re-take a three-point lead of 43-40 by the 6:51 mark. After a quiet second quarter Almeida found her stroke once again and scored seven of Navy's first nine points of the third period to pull her team within one, 43-42 at 5:55. Two successful free throws from Barnett-Gay pushed the Mids into the lead by one and Almeida immediately involved herself once again as she banged home her fifth three-pointer of the game at 4:42 to make it 47-43. A dynamic cut through the paint and crisp pass from
Toni Papahronis to Demos two minutes late gave Navy its largest lead of the second half, 51-46. The back-and-forth play continued over the final 2:40 of the quarter as a Fiona Hastick three-pointer and a 4-4 showing at the foul line drew Army back square with Navy, 53-53 before two free throws by Barnett-Gay gave the Mids a two-point lead at the break.
Shooting 4-5 from three-point range in the third quarter, the Black Knights went back to what worked as on their first possession Hastick hit from beyond the arc to swing the lead back in her team's favor, 56-55. Heating up in the second half after an extremely quiet first 20 minutes, Barnett-Gay registered five straight individual points in a run of 57 seconds to put Navy up 60-56 by 6:42. Defense reigned supreme over the next five minutes as the teams combined for just 10 points, four for the Mids and six for the Black Knights as a Demos layup at 1:57 tied it, 64-64. A steal and fast break layup by Army's senior captain Trinity Hardy with 62 seconds left in regulation gave the visitors a lead that they would hold on to as the Black Knights forced two additional turnovers over the Mids' last two possessions, while tacking on two free throws to seal the 68-64 victory. As part of its six-point fourth quarter swing, Army held Navy to 4-16 shooting and turned over the Mids six times.
For the game, Army out-shot Navy, 40.3 percent (25-62) to 34.5 (20-58) from the field, while the Mids held advantages from three-point range, 38.9 percent (7-18) to 33.3 (7-21) and at the foul line, 94.4 percent (17-18) to 84.6 (11-13).
The rebounding battle was deadlocked at 38-38 as both teams grabbed 13 offensive and 25 defensive caroms. Army's Kya Smith had a team-high 12 rebounds, while Demos and Louridas tied for top billing for Navy with eight each.
Comparing the Teams
| (2025-26 Stats) |
Navy |
Army |
| Record / League-Only |
11-6 / 6-1 PL |
15-3 / 6-1 PL |
| Home / Away / Neutral Record |
6-3 / 5-3 |
8-1 / 7-2 |
| Points Per Game |
72.1 PPG |
67.9 PPG |
| Points Allowed Per Game |
64.1 PPG |
56.6 PPG |
| Field Goal Percentage |
42.1 % |
43.4 % |
| 3-Point Percentage |
31.2 % |
32.7 % |
| Free Throw Percentage |
68.9 % |
75.9 % |
| Rebounds Per Game |
39.5 RPG |
33.3 RPG |
| Assists/Turnovers Per Game |
15.8 / 14.4 |
15.8 / 13.9 |
Individual Leaders
| (2025-26 Stats) |
Navy |
Army |
| Points Per Game |
Zanai Barnett-Gay, 17.8 ppg |
Kya Smith, 14.6 ppg |
| Rebounds Per Game |
Z. Barnett-Gay, 8.5 rpg |
K. Smith, 9.9 rpg |
| Assists Per Game |
Z. Barnett-Gay 4.3 apg |
Brooke Wilson, 3.3 apg |
| Field Goal Percentage |
Kate Samson, 50.5 % |
K. Smith, 58.4 % |
| 3-Point Percentage |
Mary Gibbons, 36.3 % |
Reese Ericson, 40.6 % |
| Free Throw Percentage |
Z. Barnett-Gay, 79.0 % |
Camryn Tade, 83.6 % |
Last Time Out -- Wednesday, January 21 versus Holy Cross in Worcester
Hoping to carry over the momentum that it had built up last week prior to Saturday's cancelled contest with Lehigh, the Navy women's basketball team was up to the task and started Wednesday's game at Holy Cross by shooting 62.5 percent in the first quarter. Co-holders of first place in the Patriot League, the Mids withstood all of the punches thrown their way by the host Crusaders and led for over 34 minutes, including all of the second half as they earned a hard fought 72-58 victory at the Hart Center.
On the day she was named to the Mid-Major Player of the Year Midseason Watch List,
Zanai Barnett-Gay was as good as advertised with a packed box score of 19 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, one steal, one block and no turnovers.
Zoe Mesuch was right there with Barnett-Gay atop the scoring pylon with 19 points of her own on 8-of-10 shooting and three three-pointers.
Julianna Almeida gave Navy three players in double figures as she added 13 points to the victors' total on Wednesday night.
The action on Wednesday night opened evenly as both squads netted four points over the initial two minutes. A brief 4-0 run courtesy of back-to-back baskets by Mesuch and Almeida pushed the Mids out to an 8-4 lead by the 6:58 mark. The teams traded successful field goals over the next 60 seconds as the Crusaders pulled to within two, 10-8 before Mesuch drove the lane and dropped an easy pass off to
Morgan Demos for a wide-open layup at 5:48 to make it 12-8. A three-pointer by
Mary Gibbons from the top of the arc on Navy's next possession gave the visitors a seven-point lead, 15-8. After Holy Cross called a timeout to re-group after this short run and score on its first possession, Navy answered back with a 6-2 run to expand its lead to 21-12 by the 2:54 juncture of the quarter. Consecutive three-pointers by Mesuch and Barnett-Gay sparked this run. Down the stretch, the Crusaders fought back and scored nine of the quarter's final 11 points to pull with two, 23-21 at the break.
For the period, both teams ended up shooting 10-of-16, as Navy opened up 7-of-9, while Holy Cross closed it by knocking down 5-of-6 shots of its own.
Defense controlled the action in the second quarter as the scoreboard was untouched for nearly two-and-a-half minutes until Mesuch drove through the lane for a layup at 7:40. Trailing 25-21, the Crusaders re-took the lead for the first time since the opening minutes of the game with a short 6-0 run. A four-point rebuttal by the Mids between 4:36 and 4:10 swung the advantage back in favor of the visitors. Over the final four-plus minutes of the quarter the teams traded baskets with Holy Cross pulling even before Navy answered back in three separate exchanges. The final basket of the half saw Barnett-Gay score on the Mids' final possession with less than six seconds to go to turn a 33-33 tie into a 35-33 lead going into the locker room.
Following an ultra-competitive first half in which the teams were separated by just two points, Navy left nothing up for debate in the second 20 minutes of action as the Mids opened the third quarter on a 10-0 run that was capped by another Gibbons three-pointer and a Demos 'and-one' conversion on consecutive possessions. With the score 45-33 at 6:50, Navy kept its foot on the gas and extended its lead out to a game-high 17 with seven of the next nine points. The Mids' potent backcourt did all of the damage during this stretch as Barnett-Gay, Mesuch and Almeida went back-to-back-to-back in a span of 52 seconds to make it a 52-35 game by the 5:20 mark. Putting forth a valiant fight for their home fans, the Crusaders shaved that 17-point deficit all the way down to six, 54-48 with an efficient 13-2 run over a three-plus minutes. Bending, but not breaking, Navy ended the quarter on a high note as
Maren Louridas found Almeida wide open from beyond the arc for a three-pointer with 17 seconds remaining.
As a team, Navy shot 60.0 percent (9-15) from the floor and 100.0 percent (3-3) from three-point range in the third quarter.
Ahead 57-48 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Mids once again used immediate offense coming out of the huddle as they began the final period on a 7-0 run to push their lead back into double digits. Mesuch and Louridas energized Navy during this stretch as Mesuch scored five of those points, while Louridas knocked down the concluding basket. In addition to her field goal, Louridas grabbed three rebounds, two on the offensive end, and assisted on Mesuch's first three-pointer as a part of this three-minute run. Comfortably in the lead, Navy had an answer for every last gasp by Holy Cross as its advantage stayed between 13 and 17 points for the final seven minutes. A pair of free throws by the Crusaders' Mary-Elizabeth Donnelly with 29 seconds left closed the scoring at 72-58 in favor of the Mids.
For the game, Navy out-shot Holy Cross, 46.8 percent (29-62) to 40.3 (25-62) from the field, 40.0 percent (8-20) to 22.2 (4-18) from three-point range and 100.0 percent (6-6) to 40.0 (4-10) from the foul line.
In a complete reversal from their earlier meeting that the Crusaders out-rebounded the Mids by 14, the visitors flipped the script on Wednesday with a 41-31 advantage in caroms. Barnett-Gay was extremely active on the glass as she tied her season-high with 13 rebounds. In an efficient 12 minutes off the bench in the second half, Louridas snagged five rebounds, including three off the offensive glass.
Parking / Shuttle
Fans are reminded that the general public does not have access to drive their vehicles on to the U.S. Naval Academy. Fans may park at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for a fee and take a shuttle that will run every 10 minutes starting one hour before the game and will continue running until one hour after the game is completed. Enter Gate 5 off Taylor Ave. to park at the stadium. Fans 18 and over need a government-issued photo ID.
**Starting May 7, 2025, in accordance with The Real ID Act of 2005, visitors entering through the Pedestrian Gate 1 Visitor Control Center or accessing the USNA through the fan shuttle bus for a game should be prepared to present a REAL ID-compliant driver's license, U.S. Passport, enhanced state-issued ID, or another acceptable form of identification, to access federal facilities. Foreign passports are NOT permitted for general access.
