ANNAPOLIS, Md. - If the stakes weren't already high enough with a regular season road matchup versus its service academy rival Army ahead on Saturday, the Navy women's basketball team will be facing off with the Black Knights with the 2026 Women's Basketball Star and the chance to clinch the number one seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament on the line, all in front of a national tv audience. Coming into Saturday's contest as winners of 11 of their past 12 games, the Mids (18-7, 13-2 PL) will be looking to sweep the Black Knights (21-5, 12-3 PL) and secure the program's first Star since 2018. Additionally, a victory over Army would give Navy the number one seed and at a minimum the title of Patriot League Co-Regular Season Champions with two games left to play. Tip-off at Christl Arena on the grounds of the United States Military Academy is slated for 11 a.m. on Saturday with all of the action broadcast live on CBS Sports Network. That game is one of three Army-Navy competitions this weekend that are part of the 2025-26 Star Series presented by USAA.

Saturday's Navy-Army game will have live stats provided online, as well as be broadcast 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 86 times in a series that began on January 18, 1981  ... All-time, Army has a four-game edge, 45-41 ... 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 21-19 in favor of the Black Knights in Annapolis ... The Mids are mired in a five-game losing streak in contests played at Christl Arena with its most recent win coming on January 23, 2021 (63-49) ... Saturday's contest will be the 44th Star Game between the programs; all-time in Star-only contests, Army leads 27-16 ... Navy will be on the hunt for its first Star since the 2018 matchup that the Mids won 55-46 at West Point (0-6 since) ... Over the last 10 contests in the overall series, the Black Knights hold an 8-2 advantage as Army had won seven straight over Navy prior to their January meeting
    Last 5 Games:
    Jan. 24, 2026 (H): Navy 60 - Army 44
    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

Most Recent Navy-Army Matchup ... January 24, 2026 in Annapolis
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 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.

Playing in her first Army-Navy game, Zoe Mesuch 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 and Julianna Almeida gave Navy four players in double figures as they each finished with 10 points on Saturday.

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 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 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 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.

Comparing the Teams

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Army
Record / League-Only	18-7 / 13-2 PL	21-5 / 12-3 PL
Home / Away / Neutral Record	11-3 / 7-4	11-1 / 10-4
Points Per Game	70.2 PPG	66.0 PPG
Points Allowed Per Game	60.1 PPG	55.7 PPG
Field Goal Percentage	42.0 %	42.2 %
3-Point Percentage	30.1 %	33.5 %
Free Throw Percentage	68.4 %	74.8 %
Rebounds Per Game	39.8 RPG	32.9 RPG
Assists/Turnovers Per Game	15.6 / 13.7	15.3 / 12.9

Individual Leaders

(2025-26 Stats)	Navy	Army
Points Per Game	Zanai Barnett-Gay, 16.7 ppg	Kya Smith, 13.5 ppg
Rebounds Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay, 8.6 rpg	K. Smith, 9.6 rpg
Assists Per Game	Z. Barnett-Gay 4.3 apg	Brooke Wilson, 3.1 apg
Field Goal Percentage	Kate Samson, 54.7 %	K. Smith, 54.1 %
3-Point Percentage	Zoe Mesuch, 35.4 %	Reese Ericson, 42.1 %
Free Throw Percentage	Z. Barnett-Gay, 79.9 %	Camryn Tade, 83.7 %

Last Time Out -- Wednesday, January 18 at Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa.
Winners of 11 straight games, the Navy women's basketball team fell on the road Wednesday night at Lehigh University. Playing the Mountain Hawks (14-11, 10-5 PL) for the first time this season after Lehigh forfeited the scheduled January matchup between the two teams in Annapolis, the Mids (18-7, 13-2 PL) grabbed a short-lived lead in the first quarter before the hosts took control over the final 38 minutes of action at Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks used a 50.0 percent shooting performance and eight three-pointers to bolster their victorious effort.

Individually for Navy, Zanai Barnett-Gay filled up the box score on Wednesday night with 14 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals over 32 minutes of playing time. Kate Samson joined her in double figures with 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting in 14 minutes off the bench.

The action was fast-paced from the start as Navy scored on its first two possessions on layups by Morgan Demos and Mary Gibbons. With the score 4-3 at the 8:41 mark in favor of the Mids, the host Mountain Hawks responded with nine unanswered points over the next two minutes. Trailing 12-4 at 6:35, Navy started fighting back immediately as Barnett-Gay found Samson on an in-bounds pass for a wide-open jumper. That basket energized the Mids as they drew within three points, 15-12, over the next three-plus minutes. After a pair of field goals by the Mountain Hawks extended their lead back to seven, 19-12, with 2:16 left in the quarter, the Mids closed the period with six straight points, two from each of Julianna Almeida, Christina Liggio and Quinn Boettinger.

Coming out of the quarter break with one point separating the teams, Lehigh's lead fluctuated between one and three for the first five minutes of the second period as every basket had a rebuttal. Samson was the catalyst for Navy's offense during this stretch with a perfect 3-for-3 mark from the floor. With the score 25-24 at 5:34, the Mountain Hawks broke the game open with a 10-0 run over the next four possessions to go up by 11. Trailing 35-24 with 3:42 left in the stanza, the Mids scored six of the next eight points to pull back within seven before Gracyn Lovette crushed their hopes of going into the locker room down by single digits as she banked home a mid-court buzzer beater to make it a 40-30 game at the break.

The second half opened with more back-and-forth action as Zoe Mesuch led off play with a three-pointer on Navy's first possession before Alana Reddy had an immediate response with a three-pointer of her own just 14 seconds later. That was the conundrum for the Mids for most of their comeback attempt, getting multiple stops in a row, while trying to shave points off their deficit. The next two times Navy scored Lehigh had an answer to keep the game at a nine-point margin. A short 4-0 run courtesy of baskets by Barnett-Gay and Samson at 5:23 and 3:41 made it a 46-41 game. As quickly as those points were shaved off of the Mids' deficit, the Mountain Hawks added them right back on as they built back up an eight-point lead of 53-45 with 1:20 left in the stanza. A driving layup by Almeida and a pair of successful free throws by Liggio to close the quarter aided the visitors trail by just five, 54-49.

Navy's 19-point quarter was built on 50.0 percent (6-12) shooting from the field and a 6-of-8 mark from the foul line, while forcing Lehigh into five turnovers.

The Mids' valiant comeback effort continued into the fourth quarter as Almeida supported the cause with her first three-pointer of the day at 7:41. With the score 57-52, Lehigh increased its lead back out to eight in short order before Navy went on a 5-0 run between 6:18 and 5:51. Following a Barnett-Gay free throw, Lizzie Holder stole the ensuing in-bounds pass and converted that chance into two points with a fadeaway jumper before Liggio did the same thing and picked off an errant in-bounds pass and was fouled driving to the hoop; she went 2-for-2 from the foul line. After an exchange of baskets, the score moved ahead to 62-59 with 5:04 left in regulation. Unfortunately, that slim margin was as close as Navy would get for the remainder of the contest as Lehigh went 9-of-11 from the free throw in a parade of trips to the charity stripe, while it was only able to muster two successful field goals and one free throw to finalize the score at 75-64.
  
For the game, Lehigh out-shot Navy, 50.0 percent (24-48) to 42.1 (24-57) from the field, 38.1 percent (8-21) to 14.3 (2-14) from three-point range and 67.9 percent (19-28) to 63.6 (14-22) from the foul line.

The rebounding battle ended up knotted at 31-31. The Mids' effort was bolstered by 10 offensive rebounds. Barnett-Gay led all players with eight caroms.

Navy's ball-handling was paced by 11 combined assists between Barnett-Gay (6) and Almeida (5). In total, the Mids finished with 13 assists on 24 made baskets.

Defensively, Navy forced Lehigh into 17 turnovers and was credited with nine steals. Liggio grabbed a career-high three steals. The Mids' posts combined for three blocks as Demos, Samson and Boettinger all tallied one rejection.