ANNAPOLIS, Md. – On a day when emotions were running high with the spotlight shining on the Navy Women's Basketball Class of 2026 for Senior Day, Navy started out with its foot on the gas pedal and sped its way to its 11th straight win with a wire-to-wire victory over Colgate, 66-38 on Saturday afternoon. Energized by the senior quartet of Morgan Demos (Downers Grove, Ill.), Kelli Giuliani (Oakton, Va.), Maren Louridas (Delmar, N.Y.) and Kate Samson (Richmond, Va.) all starting together for the first time in their career, the Mids (18-6, 13-1 PL) opened the game with a 13-2 run over the Raiders (6-19, 2-12 PL) and never looked back as they held a double-digit advantage for the final 31 minutes of action much to the delight of the fans at Alumni Hall.

On a day that celebrated Navy's seniors, that class' selflessness was on full display as the quartet that has stayed the course from 2022-23's 1-29 season combined for 20 points on 10-of-15 shooting, 13 rebounds and five steals with no player seeing more than 17 minutes of playing time on Saturday. Demos, Samson and Louridas all scored six points, while Giuliani was an active distributor with a pair of assists. When it was time to hand the baton to Navy's future, Zoe Mesuch (Fr., Clintondale, N.Y.) provided the Mids with instant offense off the bench with a game-high 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting with four three-pointers and five rebounds in 23 minutes. Zanai Barnett-Gay (Jr., Glenn Dale, Md.) gave Navy two players in double figures as she finished with 12 points and a game-high seven rebounds. In total, 12 players made at least one basket.

"It's so hard to put this day into words," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "I'm so proud of this team. We're so close. Everyone wants to show up every day and be a part of this family. We're so lucky to have so many amazing human beings on this team. This is about more than basketball. You can't break these bonds.

"Four years ago we were 1-29. You had to keep believing. To see where these kids have gone from four years ago to the vision that we had talked about when we recruited them to where we are now is tremendous. We've still got of a lot of important basketball ahead for this class and team."

"This day means everything to our whole class and our whole team," exclaimed Giuliani. "You can see it on everyone's faces. Everyone has bought into this team and what we're trying to accomplish this season. It's incredible to watch this group grow and mature. We're not done, but this has been one heck of a day!"

Navy never trailed on Saturday as the seniors opened the game with six of the game's first eight points; two each from Samson, Demos and Louridas. Up 6-2 at 5:47, the Mids continued to put distance between themselves and the Raiders as Barnett-Gay notched an offensive rebound and putback at 4:49 before Mesuch sank her first two baskets one minute apart, first a jumper at 3:07 and later a fast break three-pointer at 2:07. With Navy's offense clicking, the hosts were able to lock in defensively as well, as Colgate went nearly seven minutes without a point before Amarah Streiff ended the Raiders' lull with a layup at 1:27 to make it 13-4. Mesuch's second three-pointer of the quarter helped push the Mids' lead back into double digits as the period closed with the score 16-4.

Defensively, Navy held Colgate to just 15.4 percent (2-13) shooting from the field in the frame. This is the third quarter over the last four games that the Mids have held a team to four or less points as the suffocated Lafayette to two points in the second quarter on February 4 before mirroring that output this past Wednesday in the first quarter versus Bucknell.

After shooting 38.9 percent (7-18) in the first quarter as part of their 12-point lead, the Mids zeroed in their shooting performance in the second stanza to the tune of 57.1 percent (8-14). That efficient output put further separation between Navy and Colgate as the Mids initially scored 11 of the first 13 points to go up 21, 27-6 by the 5:19 mark. Four points by Barnett-Gay and an exclamation point from Grace Minihane (Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo.), who nailed her first collegiate three-pointer highlighted this run. Following a Colgate basket to pull the Raiders within 19, a pair of Mesuch three-pointers sandwiched around a Samson layup gave Navy its largest lead of the first half, 27, 35-8 with 1:36 left in the quarter. A small 5-0 run by Colgate to conclude the quarter tightened the score to 35-13 at the half.

The Raiders were able to make some in-roads on the scoreboard in the middle portion of the third quarter as they rattled off eight straight points to make a 40-15 score slightly more manageable at 40-23 with 3:50 to go in the period. As quickly as those points disappeared from Navy's lead they came right back with an 8-0 rebuttal by the Mids between 3:00 and 1:39. Back-to-back baskets from Louridas off of Saran Moschella (Jr., Staten Island, N.Y.) assists kickstarted the run before Giuliani added her name to the scoring column with her first field goal of the game.

With the score 48-25 through three quarters, Navy sealed its program-record 11th straight Patriot League win with a 7-0 start to the fourth quarter. Lizzie Holder (Jr., Stillwater, Minn.) was the catalyst of this successful stretch with a pair of field goals. The Mids had 30-point leads over the Raiders four more times over the final 5:50 of the contest. Freshman Sidney Quinn (Verona, N.J.) had a hand in the third time that Navy went up 30 as she swished a three-pointer from the wing at 2:14 to make it 64-34.

In the 66-38 contest, Navy out-shot Colgate, 46.0 percent (29-63) to 28.1 (16-57) from the field and 33.3 percent (6-18) to 23.5 (4-17) from three-point range. In a game with only five combined foul shots, the Raiders were 2-2 from the charity stripe, while the Mids were 2-3.

Navy had a slight 38-37 advantage in rebounds for the game. Barnett-Gay led all players with seven caroms, while Demos finished one back with six rebounds.

The Mids were moving the ball with great success as they assisted on 20 of 29 made baskets on the day. Barnett-Gay had a game-high four helpers. Moschella tied her career-high with three assists.

Defensively, Navy forced Colgate into 20 turnovers and were credited with six steals. Barnett-Gay also led all players in that category with three thefts. As a team, Navy was able to flip those miscues into a 20-to-5 points off turnover statistical advantage.

"I pride myself on showing up every day for my teammates," said Giuliani. "When you have a group like this its hard not to show up. They make me want to come to practice. Everyone whether it's our coaches, our managers, our athletic trainer; everyone associated with this program makes you want to show up every day and work hard. This is a really special group and a special program. When you get that kind of buy-in you just want to work hard. It doesn't matter if you're on the court or not, everybody has a role. My role is to be as energetic as possible on the bench, be as loud as I can be and be the best teammate I can be. I love that; I truly love that role.

"We're a family. We drive each other crazy, but we love each other and are our biggest supporters."

Navy will now turn its attention to an important stretch of road games starting with a Wednesday night matchup at Lehigh. Tip-off at Stabler Arena is set for 6 p.m. Following that game, the Mids will head to West Point for a showdown with the Army Black Knights on Saturday morning.

"The momentum is growing every day," commented Taylor. "We haven't talked about a streak, we haven't talked about Army, we haven't talked about Lehigh; we're only focused on today. Everyone in this program has bought into that mindset. From our nutritional and athletic training staffs to our strength and conditioning to our coaches and players; everyone has bought in and is on the same page. When you have everyone on the same page from the coaching staff on down, we know what the right things are to focus on. We're all about getting better and playing to a standard. Regardless of the score or who is in the game, we have to play to our standard."