ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A critical two-game stretch of road contests lies ahead for the Navy women's basketball team this week with the opportunity to further cement its spot at the top of the Patriot League standings. First up for the Mids (18-6, 13-1 PL), winners of 11 straight games, is a showdown versus the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (13-11, 9-5 PL) on Wednesday night. Originally scheduled to go head-to-head in Annapolis on January 17, a rash of injuries for the Mountain Hawks resulted in Lehigh forfeiting that matchup and subsequently a league victory for the Mids. This first meeting between Navy and Lehigh is set for a 6 p.m. tip-off at the Mountain Hawks' Stabler Arena. Following Wednesday night's contest, the Mids will play another road game, this time at West Point with the 2026 Women's Basketball Star on the line versus Army on Saturday morning.

Wednesday's Navy-Lehigh 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 vs. Lehigh
The Mids and Mountain Hawks have met 73 times in a series that began on December 8, 1981 ... All-time, Lehigh leads Navy by five wins, 39-34 ... The tight series is also split near evenly among the venues as the Mountain Hawks are 22-15 at home versus an 19-17 advantage for the Mids in Annapolis ... Since the Mids joined the Patriot League in 1991-92, the series is slanted in Lehigh's favor, 37-29 ... Over the last ten matchups, Lehigh has a 9-1 advantage over Navy, with the Mountain Hawks sweeping the season series in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2025 ... A 62-46 victory by the Mids in the teams' matchup on Jan. 31, 2024 ended a nine-game losing streak in the series ...  Navy's last win at Lehigh's Stabler Arena came on Jan. 18, 2017 (a span of six straight losses)    
    Last Five Games:
    Feb. 12, 2025 (A): Lehigh 74 - Navy 56
    Jan. 29, 2025 (H): Lehigh 87 - Navy 66
    Jan. 31, 2024 (H): Navy 62 - Lehigh 46
    Jan. 17, 2024 (A): Lehigh 81 - Navy 65
    Feb. 15, 2023 (H): Lehigh 72 - Navy 38

Most Recent Navy-Lehigh Matchup ... February 12, 2025 in Bethlehem
History was achieved Wednesday night in Bethlehem when Zanai Barnett-Gay became the 23rd player in the existence of Navy women's basketball to reach the 1,000-point plateau with a layup early in the third quarter at Lehigh. Coming into the game with 979 career points, the sophomore guard was electric for the Mids (15-8, 7-5 PL) with 12 first half points and nine quick points within the first 2:35 of the third quarter. Barnett-Gay's strong third quarter was part of a fiery comeback by Navy that pulled the visitors even 53-53 before Lehigh (20-4, 11-1 PL), the first-place team in Patriot League, flexed its muscle in the fourth quarter and sealed the victory by a final score of 74-56 at Stabler Arena.

Barnett-Gay highlighted the Mids' individual effort on Wednesday night with 26 points on a crisp 10-16 shooting from the field and a 4-5 mark from three-point range to go along with three steals and two assists. Morgan Demos provided excellent secondary scoring with an efficient 8-10 showing from the field on her way to her first career double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. Off the bench, Saran Moschella scored eight points, including a pair of three-pointers.

The action on Wednesday night opened nearly even as it was 9-7 in favor of Lehigh by the 6:16 mark. Barnett-Gay was red hot from the start with all seven of her team's points on 3-4 shooting. Trailing 13-9 at 5:27, the duo of Barnett-Gay and Demos powered the Mids into a tie with back-to-back made field goals. Knotted with 4:41 left in the quarter, defense was the name of the game down the stretch as Navy was held scoreless as it went 0-7 from the field, while Lehigh was only able to muster two points on 1-4 shooting with three turnovers.

With the score 15-13 through 10 minutes of play, the Mountain Hawks continued to silence the Mids as the visitors went 0-4 to start the second quarter, though their defense was hanging tough. After Lehigh slowly edged out to an 18-13 lead, Mary Gibbons found Barnett-Gay for a three-pointer from the wing to quickly pull Navy back within two. From that juncture at 7:28, Lehigh rattled off eight unanswered points, that eventually expanded out to a 17-4 run. With her squad behind 35-20, Demos was a demon on the glass over the final 2:40 of the second quarter with a pair of offensive rebounds and put-back buckets to go along with another successful field goal. That 6-3 run by the Mids cut their deficit to 38-26 before Jessie Ozzauto added two points before the expiration of the half to send the Mountain Hawks into the locker room up 14. A 5-8 mark from three-point range by Lehigh aided its 25-13 second quarter effort.

Down, but not out, Navy came out of the halftime break on a mission. Barnett-Gay had the starring role of this quest and scored on four of the Mids' first five possessions. After netting 12 points in the first half on her hunt for 1,000 in her career, Barnett-Gay quickly achieved the milestone within the first 2:35 of the quarter. Following a pair of two-point baskets, she took a hand-off from Demos beyond the arc and casually nailed a three-pointer to make it a 41-33 game at 7:45. History was made just 20 seconds later when Toni Papahronis picked Maddie Albrecht's pocket for a steal and found Barnett-Gay for the fast break layup at 7:25. Her basket made her the 23rd player in program history with 1,000 points and tied Colleen Cassidy for the fastest to the milestone as they both reached it in just 53 career games. Cassidy scored her 1,000th point early in her junior season of 1980-81.

With the score 41-35, Lehigh re-engaged its dangerous offense with eight of the next 12 points to expand its lead back to double figures, 49-39, by the 3:46 mark. Following a trading of baskets, Moschella knocked down her first three-pointer of the day to make it a 51-45 game at 2:40. The three-ball continued to stimulate the Mids' comeback as in back-to-back possessions at 1:42 and 1:07, Barnett-Gay and Moschella found nothing, but net and like that the game was tied, 53-53. A late 4-0 run over the final 61 seconds helped the Mountain Hawks take a 57-53 lead into the break. As a team in the third quarter, Navy shot 10-15 from the field and 4-5 from three-point range as it outscored Lehigh in the sixth highest-scoring third quarter in program history, 27-17.

All the momentum, that the Mids had built up in the third quarter screeched to a halt in the fourth. The hard-charging upset-minded visitors were unable to find any rhythm offensively as they missed their first 11 shots of the quarter and turned the ball over seven times. With Navy's offense at bay, Lehigh pulled away over the course of the fourth quarter and won by an eventual score of 74-56.

For the game, Lehigh outshot Navy, 52.7 percent (29-55) to 36.1 (22-61) from the field, 33.3 percent (8-24) to 26.1 (6-23) from three-point range and 72.7 percent (8-11) to 60.0 (6-10) from the foul line.

Comparing the Teams

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Lehigh
Record / League-Only	18-6 / 13-1 PL	13-11 / 9-5 PL
Home / Away / Neutral Record	11-3 / 7-3	8-4 / 5-7
Points Per Game	70.4 PPG	66.0 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	59.5 PPG	65.8 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	42.0 %	42.7 %
3-Point Percentage	30.5 %	32.5 %
Free Throw Percentage	68.7 %	77.4 %
Rebounds Per Game	40.2 RPG	29.2 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	15.7 / 13.6	14.7 / 16.4

Individual Leaders

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Lehigh
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 16.8 ppg	Lily Fandre, 15.9 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 8.6 rpg	Leia Edwards, 7.7 rpg
Assists Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay 4.2 apg	Gracyn Lovette, 3.9 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Kate Samson, 53.0 %	Belle Bramer, 53.4 %
3-Point Percentage	Zoe Mesuch, 35.8 %	B. Bramer, 39.0 %
Free Throw Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 80.8 %	Whitney Lind, 81.1 %

Last Time Out -- Saturday, February 14 vs. Colgate in Annapolis
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, Kelli Giuliani, Maren Louridas and Kate Samson 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 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 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.

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, 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 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 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 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.