ANNAPOLIS, Md. – With the bright lights of a nationally-televised broadcast versus its service academy rival in a battle for first place in the Patriot League shining on it, the Navy women's basketball team never blinked on Saturday and earned a wire-to-wire victory over Army by a final score of 60-44. The tone was set from the first possession of the game when Zanai Barnett-Gay (Jr., Glenn Dale, Md.) picked off a Taylor Wilson pass and coasted in for a breakaway layup as the Mids (12-6, 7-1 PL) built up a seven-point first quarter lead over the Black Knights (15-4, 6-2 PL) and pulled away with a dominant fourth quarter effort. Navy's 16-point win was bolstered by a significant 21-rebound edge over Army and a 14-0 advantage in fast break points. Saturday's contest was sponsored by USAA.

Playing in her first Army-Navy game, Zoe Mesuch (Fr., Clintondale, N.Y.) thrived in the moment as she led the Mids with 17 points on 7-14 shooting with three three-pointers. Barnett-Gay filled up the box score with 13 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Kate Samson (Sr., Richmond, Va.) and Julianna Almeida (So., North Arlington, N.J.) gave Navy four players in double figures as they each finished with 10 points on Saturday.

"That was a heck of a game," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "That was a war. Army is a really talented team; those players over there have won a lot of games. They're well-coached and very disciplined. They came as advertised. They missed some shots that they normally make, but I'd like to think that our defense had something to do with that.

"I'm proud of how our team weathered the storm. Every time that they [Army] made a push, we were able to get key stops and make key buckets. We knew Army wasn't going to go away. I don't care how big of a lead we got, we knew they weren't going to go away, they're not going to quit, that's not in their DNA. I'm proud of our kids. We continue to grow. I thought we grew a lot at Holy Cross; we overcame some adversity and really played well in the second half, we showed grit and handled our business. That experience really helped us out there today. That was a really great game for a national TV audience."

The action opened with Navy darting out to a 5-0 lead over the opening 2:06 of play. Barnett-Gay kicked off the run with an intercepted pass and breakaway layup 17 seconds in before Mary Gibbons (So., Holden, Mass.) sank a three-pointer from the wing at 7:54. After Army got onto the scoreboard with a Kya Smith layup on the ensuing possession, the teams traded baskets for the next two minutes. A driving layup through the paint by Mesuch and an expertly executed baseline out-of-bounds play that resulted in a wide-open jump shot for Samson allowed the Mids to take a commanding 15-5 lead by the 4:10 mark. Bending, but not breaking, the Black Knights fired back with eight consecutive points to draw within two points with 67 seconds left in the quarter. The back-and-forth battle continued into the waning seconds of the period as Quinn Boettinger (Fr., Schwenksville, Pa.) and Mesuch combined to net the next five points and re-extend Navy's lead to seven, 20-13, by the quarter break.

As a team, Navy shot 69.2 percent (9-13) from the field, but was uncharacteristically cavalier with its ball-handling and had six turnovers to keep Army in the contest.

Mirroring a top prize fight, both teams survived the opening hype of the first quarter and got down to business on the defensive end as the game progressed. Longer more methodical possessions and tight, physical defending mark the second quarter as the first six minutes saw each side add just six points to its respective tally. Camryn Tade notched four of those points for Army, while Barnett-Gay converted all three of her foul shots to pace Navy during this stretch. The junior guard continued to add to her stat line with two more free throws at 3:51 to bubble the Mids' lead to nine, 28-19 before Tade came down the court the next time and knocked down two free throws of her own. Each squad made a single field goal over the final 2:38 of the half as the teams retired to their respective lockers with Navy ahead 30-23.

After teams combined for 20 points, 10 each, in the second quarter, they paralleled each other again in the third quarter with 14 a piece. Navy was more active earlier in the half, as it out-scored Army 6-2 to go up 36-25 following a steal and fast break layup by Barnett-Gay at 5:38. Tade put the Black Knights' offense on her back with a quick 5-0 individual burst to pull her squad within six by the 4:26 mark. That momentum was short-lived as Samson fired back with four of the Mids' next six points to build a then- game-high 12-point lead, 42-30. Over the final 2:21 of the stanza, Army shaved five points of its deficit to make it a 44-37 game through 30 minutes of action.

As the heavyweight battle moved onto the final quarter of play, Navy held its ground and had a counter for nearly every Army move. Smith opened the period with a layup on the Black Knights' first possession to cut it to five before Mesuch answered back with a three-pointer. An extremely crisp series of passes from Gibbons and Barnett-Gay opened a gap through the lane for Morgan Demos (Sr., Downers Grove, Ill.) to waltz in untouched for an easy two points and the Mids were back up 10, 49-39. After an exchange of baskets advanced the score to 51-41 at 4:19, Navy went for the knock out punch and got it down the stretch with a 7-0 run to break the game open to a 58-41 margin. Five points from Mesuch and another field goal by Almeida provided the scoring during this two-plus minute span. With the decision in hand, the Mids closed out the contest to a rousing applause from the fans at Alumni Hall and ended their seven-game losing streak to the Black Knights, 60-44.

"Hats off to our seniors. I had them out there at the end of the game for a reason," commented Taylor about the final seconds of the contest. "The resiliency that they have shown; they are the foundation and backbone of this program. Whether they play one minute or 40 minutes, we'll never be able to replace that group. They were the class that built this program. They were the team that was 1-29. They were the team that kept believing. They were the team that kept recruiting. They were the team that kept the vision alive. They are the reason that we are where we are today. We've recruited really well in the past couple of years, but we would not be here without them. Kelli Giuliani played 54 seconds today … we will not be able to replace her next year. The way she leads every single day; we do not win this game without Kelli Giuliani. Same thing with Maren Louridas; what amazing leaders! We are not where we out without their leadership."

The 44 points allowed marked Navy's best defensive effort of the season as its previous low was 47 versus DIII Christopher Newport and 51 against Bucknell.

For the game, Navy out-shot Army 43.4 percent (23-53) to 27.4 (17-62) from the field and 26.7 percent (4-15) to 23.5 (4-17) from three-point range. Though only taking seven shots, the Black Knights were more accurate from the foul line, 85.7 percent (6-7) versus a 66.7 mark (10-15) for the Mids.

Navy dominated the glass with a 21-rebound advantage, 49-28 on Saturday. The Mids were more active on the offensive end, 10-6, as well as on the defensive end, 39-22. The 49 rebounds are the most in a regulation-length game for Navy this season.

"If you win the rebounding battle, you have a pretty good shot at coming out with a win. 49-to-28, that right there is the game," exclaimed Taylor. "We have made a concerted effort in Patriot League action to crash the glass and play with pace. I think Army did a pretty good job of slowing us down and keep us from getting out the way we wanted to today, but we were able to find a way through an excellent defensive effort.

"Morgan Demos was awesome today. It might now show up in the stats, but what she did defensively was unbelievable. Having her, Kate and Quinn all healthy makes us extremely effective."

Defensively, Navy forced Army into six turnovers and was credited with four steals, including three by Barnett-Gay. In the post, Demos tied a career-high with three blocked shots. As a team, the Mids turned aside five Black Knight attempts.

Next up for Navy is a home tilt versus Boston University on Wednesday evening. Tip-off between the Mids and Terriers is set for 7 p.m. at Alumni Hall.