ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Coming off of a complete and dominant team performance on Wednesday evening at Bucknell, the Navy women's basketball team will look to repeat that effort and outcome on Saturday in its road showdown at Lafayette. In a matchup of two teams tied for second place in the Patriot League standings with identical 2-1 records, the Mids (8-6, 2-1 PL) will be aiming to extend their winning streak on the Leopards' (6-8, 2-1 PL) home court as Navy has secured consecutive victories at the Kirby Sports Center in 2024 and 2025. Tip-off on Saturday is set for 2 p.m. in Easton, Pennsylvania.

The Navy-Lafayette 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 Lafayette
The Mids and Leopards have met 86 times in a series that began on Feb. 16, 1980  ... All-time, Navy leads Lafayette, 57-29 with a 35-11 advantage in games played in Annapolis and a smaller 21-17 edge in matchups in Easton ... Over the past three seasons, the series has seen a 2-0 season sweep by Lafayette in 2023, a 3-0 season sweep by Navy in 2024 and a series split in 2025 ... The Mids' February 2024 win in Easton was the program's first at the Kirby Sports Center since the 2018 season ... In the last ten overall matchups of the series, each team has won five contests, with Lafayette securing a four-game streak over the 2022 and 2023 seasons followed by Navy taking four straight four meetings during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
    Last Five Games:
    Feb. 8, 2025 (H): Lafayette 61 - Navy 60
    Jan. 5, 2025 (A): Navy 71 - Lafayette 49
    March 9, 2024 (H): Navy 67 - Lafayette 45
    Feb. 28, 2024 (A): Navy 58 - Lafayette 49
    Jan. 13, 2024 (H): Navy 56 - Lafayette 47

Most Recent Navy-Lafayette Matchup ... February 8, 2025 in Annapolis
The Navy women's basketball team fell victim to a hot-shooting Lafayette squad that knocked down a season-high 60 percent of its three-point shots on Saturday afternoon and came away with a 61-60 victory. In a nip-and-tuck game, that had 11 lead changes and 10 ties, the Leopards (6-16, 3-8 PL) broke out to a 17-11 lead in the first quarter before the Mids (15-7, 7-4 PL) re-took short-lived leads in the third and fourth quarters. Three points by Tasha Chudy in the final possessions of the contest at Alumni Hall pushed Lafayette ahead for the one-point win on the road. Saturday's game was sponsored by First Command.

Zanai Barnett-Gay filled up the box score for the Mids on Saturday as she tied her career-high with 29 points on 13-23 shooting to go along with 13 rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists. Julianna Almeida provided solid secondary support with 11 points and six rebounds. In her third career start, Morgan Demos scored eight points and eight rebounds, while blocking a pair of shots.

The action opened evenly as both teams recorded seven points over the initial 5:15 of the first quarter. In a chain of play, that Taylor lamented about, Tasha Chudy grabbed an offensive rebound for Lafayette and immediately shot a pass out to Abby Antognoli, who swished a three-pointer from the wing at 4:08 to help the Leopards go ahead 10-7. That triple was quickly followed up with another three-pointer by Antognoli. Barnett-Gay short-circuited that 6-0 run and drew Navy back within four, 13-9. The Leopards netted four of the final six points of the quarter to take a 17-11 lead into the break. Lafayette grabbed five offensive rebounds and knocked down four three-pointers in the quarter.

The visitors extended their lead out to a game-high 10 points, 25-15 by the 5:55 juncture of the second quarter. The Mids' comeback effort kicked off on the ensuing possession as Mary Gibbons knocked down a pull-up jumper. Two more baskets, by Barnett-Gay and Demos, swiftly drew Navy back within four by the 4:14 mark. A three-pointer by Almeida at 1:27 cut the Mids' deficit to just two, 27-25. After Lafayette went 2-2 from the foul line in its final possession of the first half, Navy responded with one more long-range strike as Kyah Smith sank a three-pointer right as the quarter expired to make it 29-28 in favor of the Leopards.

The Mids re-took the lead for the first time since early in the first quarter when Demos converted both of her free throw attempts at 7:25 to make it 32-31. A layup by Demos on Navy's next possession advanced the score to 34-33 for the hosts. Another field goal, this one by Barnett-Gay, gave the Mids their largest lead of the game, 36-33. Lafayette dialed up the three-ball once again as Sauda Ntaconayigize pulled the Leopards even the next time down the court before a second trey in as many possessions flipped the score to 39-36. A 6-2 individual run by Barnett-Gay helped Navy edge back into the lead 42-41 by the 1:48 mark. The back-and-forth action continued down the stretch as Lafayette netted four of the final five points to hold a 45-43 lead through 30 minutes of play.

Barnett-Gay's strong second half carried into the fourth quarter as she notched her 19th and 20th points of the game with a jumper 10 seconds into the period. A 5-0 run by the Leopards darted the visitors into the lead before an immediate 6-0 rebuttal by the Mids swung the score back in favor of Navy, 51-50 by 6:33. A trading of baskets, first by Chudy and later by Barnett-Gay as part of an and-one conversion, made it a 54-52 with just over five minutes left in regulation. The fans at Alumni Hall were treated to a thrilling close to the contest as the score was tied at 54-54, 56-56 and 58-58 as the clock ticked under two and a half minutes. Chudy's career-best scoring performance saw the sophomore successfully record her seventh field goal of the game to give Lafayette a 60-58 lead with 2:14 left. A single free throw by Chudy with 42 seconds remaining increased her squad's advantage to 61-58. A driving layup by Almeida six seconds later drew Navy to its final score of 61-60 as both teams' final offensive possessions were stymied by strong defensive efforts.

For the game, Lafayette out-shot Navy, 40.4 percent (21-52) to 34.8 (24-69) from the field and 60.0 percent (9-15) to 13.0 (3-23) from three-point range. The Mids were efficient from the foul line knocking down 81.8 percent (9-11) versus a 71.4 (10-14) mark for the Leopards.

Navy was extra careful with its ballhandling as the Mids only turned the ball over three times. That total is the second lowest and program history and is the best mark during the DI era of the program as the Mids' record is two turnovers versus George Mason on Dec. 6, 1983.

Comparing the Teams

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Lafayette
Record / League-Only	8-6 / 2-1 PL	6-8 / 2-1 PL
Home / Away / Neutral Record	5-3 / 3-3	2-2 / 4-6
Points Per Game	69.3 PPG	62.8 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	64.6 PPG	63.9 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	40.3 %	40.7 %
3-Point Percentage	29.8 %	38.0 %
Free Throw Percentage	67.9 %	75.8 %
Rebounds Per Game	39.9 RPG	32.1 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	15.0 / 15.0	11.4 / 13.6

Individual Leaders

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Lafayette
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 16.6 ppg	Theresa Kiewiet, 17.6 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 8.0 rpg	Maddison Krug, 6.2 rpg
Assists Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay 4.0 apg	Talia Zurinskas, 3.2 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Kate Samson, 51.6 %	Haylie Adamski, 47.1 %
3-Point Percentage	Mary Gibbons, 40.3 %	H. Adamski, 43.4 %
Free Throw Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 78.8 %	T. Zurinskas, 75.5 %

Last Time Out -- Wednesday, January 7 at Bucknell in Lewisburg
The Navy women's basketball team came out on a mission on Wednesday night and passed their task with flying colors in a dominate 26-point road victory over Bucknell. After a subpar game on Saturday versus Holy Cross that lacked the team's normal gritty, passionate and energy-filled effort, the Mids (8-6, 2-1 PL) made it their objective to turn the page on that performance and impose their will and style on the Bison (4-10, 0-3 PL). They did just that and out-scored the hosts 45-16 over the second and third quarters to roll to a 77-51 win at Bucknell's Sojka Pavilion.

Additionally, Navy out-muscled and out-hustled Bucknell to the tune of a 23-rebound advantage in total caroms, 48-to-25 on Wednesday. On the strength of a 15-to-5 edge in offensive rebounds, the Mids cruised with 19 second chance points versus just four for the Bison.

Individually, Navy had all 14 of its active players appear in the contest with 10 making at least one basket and three others grabbing at least one rebound or steal. Zoe Mesuch led all players on Wednesday night with 15 points and three steals, while fellow plebe Quinn Boettinger added 13 points off the bench in just 13 minutes of action. Julianna Almeida spearheaded the Mids' second half effort with nine of her 12 total points. Though only netting 10 points, Zanai Barnett-Gay filled up the box score for Navy with game-highs of 13 rebounds and seven assists to go along with a +29 plus/minus statistic.  With her tenth and final point on Wednesday, Barnett-Gay moved into a tied with Jennifer Coleman for tenth place in the program's all-time scoring list with 1,368 career points.

The game opened evenly as defense ruled the first four minutes of action as Navy held a slight 5-4 lead, while shooting just 2-of-8 from the field, though restricting Bucknell to just a 1-of-5 mark of its own. A defensive rebound by Barnett-Gay and quick outlet up the wing to a wide-open Mary Gibbons for three built the Mids' lead up to four, 8-4 at 5:26. An 8-2 response by the Bison jolted the hosts into the lead, 12-10 by the 3:50 juncture of the quarter. The teams traded baskets down the stretch with each squad matching makes to allow Bucknell to hold an 18-17 advantage at the first quarter break. As a team, the Bison shot 7-of-14 from the floor, while the Mids were 7-of-20.

The Mids did just that to the tune of an 8-0 run that eventually extended out to a 17-2 run to start the second quarter. Holding Bucknell without a made basket until the 6:06 mark, Navy opened the second period with points on four straight possessions as Morgan Demos went back-to-back with layups at 9:52 and 9:32 before Barnett-Gay and Almeida made the Bison pay with second chance baskets. Boettinger played a leading roll in the second half of this long six-and-a-half-minute run as she made three layups in a matter of 56 seconds between 4:26 and 3:30. Up 34-20, the Mids kept their foot on the gas and built up a 38-24 lead going into halftime.

In total, Navy out-scored Bucknell, 21-6 in the second quarter and out-shot the Bison, 50.0 percent (10-20) to 18.8 (3-16). Seven different Mids scored during the period. Six points allowed tied a season-low for a Navy opponent in one quarter as the Mids held the Florida Gators to six points in the third quarter of their matchup on Nov. 16.

With Bucknell skidding and on the ropes after a trying second quarter, Navy immediately went in for the jugular and opened the third quarter with 13 unanswered points on 4-of-5 shooting, including three three-pointers. Almeida sparked this initial burst with a successful jumper on the Mids' first possession and a fast break trey following a Barnett-Gay rebounds and outlet pass. Three-pointers by Gibbons and Mesuch at 8:00 and 6:45, respectively, capped this run and left Navy up 27, 51-24. The Mids continued to meld hard-nosed defense with aggressive quick-strike offense as twice they went up by 29 points in the quarter, 55-26 at 4:21 and 66-33 with 15 seconds remaining in the period. A late Bucknell free throw closed the stanza with Navy up 28, 62-34.

As a team in the third, the Mids shot 63.6 percent (7-11) from the field, 66.7 percent from three (4-6) and 75.0 percent (6-8) from the free throw line, while holding the Bison to respectively values of 26.7 percent (4-15), 14.3 (1-7) and 50.0 (1-2) in the quarter.

With the result nearly wrapped up, Navy cruised in the fourth quarter with a 30-plus point lead from 6:26 through 2:30. A three-pointer by Mesuch, her third of the game, gave the Mids their first 30-point lead of 67-37 at 6:26 before Grace Minihane increased the Mids' advantage to a game-high 35 with her first collegiate field goal at 3:35, 75-40. Bucknell concluded the game on an 11-2 run over the final three-plus minutes to tighten the final differential to 26, 77-51.

The 26-point margin of victory is the second-most in program history in a win over Bucknell and Navy's first 20-plus point victory since Feb. 2, 2013 when it won by 21, 61-40. The all-time largest margin of victory for the Mids over the Bison is 30, 70-40 from Jan. 8, 2010.