HAMILTON, N.Y. – History was made in Hamilton on Saturday afternoon as the Navy women's basketball team clinched the program's first Patriot League Regular Season Championship since 2014 with a 73-63 road victory over Colgate. This feat was championed by a career-best scoring performance by junior standout Zanai Barnett-Gay, who netted 31 points and moved into fifth all-time in the program's career scoring category.

Needing 18 points to pass Adria Schneck ('97) and move into fifth place, Barnett-Gay (Glenn Dale, Md.) achieved that milestone by halftime as she had 19 of the Mids' 44 points as the visitors were up by 18 at the intermission at Cotterell Court. She added 12 more points in the second half as Navy cruised to the double-digit victory. In total, Barnett-Gay stuffed the box score with 31 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals in 36 minutes of action. With all 15 players seeing time on Saturday, 11 recorded points as Quinn Boettinger (Fr., Schwenksville, Pa.) posted the second most for the Mids with nine. Julianna Almeida (So., North Arlington, N.J.) and Morgan Demos (Sr., Downers Grove, Ill.) each added eight points a piece.

"I did not like how we came out at the start of the game, but after that initial timeout we settled in and played really good basketball in the first half on both sides," remarked Head Coach Tim Taylor. "Z was phenomenal early and really was hunting for her shots. I felt like we were really pushing the ball and looking for threes. It was something we wanted to do as we have been playing a little slower than we like the last few games. In the second half we missed some easy shots and Colgate got hot. They hit their first seven shots and some were tough, but a couple were because of miscommunication. We definitely have to clean that up.

"What can you say about Zanai's performance? She was incredibly efficient and dominant. She is the best player in the league on both sides of the ball. I was happy to see her break through that 30-point barrier. But to add five rebounds, five assists and five steals, that's phenomenal!"
 
The action started off slowly as the score crawled out to a small 5-4 lead for Colgate through four minutes of action. Four consecutive points by Boettinger between 5:34 and 5:07 shot Navy into the lead for the first time. The Mids' three-point lead was short-lived as Ella Meabon knocked down a three-pointer to draw the host team even 8-8 the next time down the court. Navy responded with five straight points in a matter of 69 seconds to go up 13-8 by the 3:27 mark of the first quarter. The see-sawing action continued as Colgate fired back with four consecutive points of its own. With the score 13-12 with 2:10 left, the Mids closed out the period with a 7-0 run to break open an eight-point lead by the end of the quarter. Layups by Barnett-Gay and Maren Louridas (Sr., Delmar, N.Y.) kickstarted this run before Almeida left the exclamation mark with a three-pointer with six seconds ticks on the clock.

Navy extended that scoring streak into the second quarter as Kate Samson (Sr., Richmond, Va.) registered a basket in the Mids' first possession. Down 10, 22-12, Colgate briefly made in-roads and cut its deficit to six by the 6:53 mark. The Mids didn't let the Raiders get any closer for the rest of the game as they immediately responded with six unanswered points to go up 28-16 with 5:21 left in the half. The teams traded baskets for the next two minutes as the score advanced to 34-22. Navy's field goals were of the three-point variety as Christina Liggio (Fr., Colts Neck, N.J.) and Barnett-Gay each found success from distance. Another strong close to a period helped the Mids blow the game open before the half as they scored 10 of the final 14 points to head into the locker room up 44-26. Five more points by Barnett-Gay and three-pointer from Zoe Mesuch (Fr., Clintondale, N.Y.) highlighted this stretch for Navy.

As a team, the Mids shot 8-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-9 from three-point range as they out-scored the Raiders, 24-14 in the quarter.

Colgate came out of the locker room looking to scrap its way back into the contest and opened the third quarter on a 15-6 run to pull within nine points, 50-41 by the 5:24 mark. Following a called timeout by Taylor, Barnett-Gay single-handedly put her squad back in front by double digits as she got downhill and sliced through the paint for driving layup. Almeida followed her lead and netted four straight points to push Navy back up by 14 within two minutes; she'd later extend the Mids' lead to 15, 59-44 with 50 seconds left in the quarter.

Significantly ahead through three quarters, Navy had little resistance putting away Colgate in the fourth quarter as the visitors consistently held their lead between 13 and 17 points for the first nine minutes of the fourth before Taye Matthews hit a three-pointer in the game's final possession to draw the Raiders within 10, 73-63. Barnett-Gay and Demos combined for 11 of the Mids' 14 fourth-quarter points as the duo went 4-of-6 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the foul line. Of note, Barnett-Gay's basket at 1:58 helped her break the 30-point scoring mark for the first time in her illustrious.  

For the game, Colgate out-shot Navy 50.9 percent (27-53) to 40.7 (24-59) from the floor and 27.3 percent (3-11) to 23.8 (5-21) from three-point range, while the Mids held a 74.1 percent (20-27) to 60.0 (6-10) advantage from the foul line.

The Raiders also won the rebounding battle on Saturday, 36-31, though the Mids were more active on the offensive glass with nine o-boards. Almeida led Navy with eight rebounds, including five on the offensive end.

The Mids were crisp with their ball movement with a 12-to-7 assist-to-turnover ratio. Barnett-Gay had a team-high five helpers.

Defensively, Navy forced Colgate into 18 turnovers and was credited with 10 steals. Barnett-Gay was active on that end of the court too with five steals. As a team, Navy turned those miscues into a 21-to-8 points off turnover edge.

"Everyone got to play and contribute which is always a good thing," commented Taylor. "Quinn gave us a good lift off the bench and I thought Julianna had some really good moments.

The Mids will conclude their regular season with a home bout on Wednesday night versus the Loyola Greyhounds. Tip-off at Alumni Hall is set for 7 p.m.

"After the game, I talked to our team about how focused we have been on just winning the day for practice and games and we have not really discussed what we have accomplished, but today I wanted them to reflect on it," said Taylor in closing. "We talked about hanging banners when they came here; they hung a WNIT one last year and now they have the Patriot League Regular Season Title, the most consecutive PL wins in program history and tied for the most league wins in a season.

"There is way more for us to accomplish, but I did want them to reflect a little, at least until we get home from Hamilton, then it's back to work."