WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Navy women's basketball team moved its way to the top of the program's record book on Saturday with its ninth-straight Patriot League victory coming courtesy of a dominant 86-58 result over American University. Undefeated since January 3, the Mids (16-6, 11-1 PL) blitzed the Eagles (6-17, 4-8 PL) coming out of halftime and turned a slight three-point lead into a 28-point blowout at AU's Bender Arena. Navy shot 56.7 percent in the second half and converted 10 American turnovers into a flawless 16-0 advantage in points off turnovers.

Individually, the Mids were led by Zanai Barnett-Gay's (Glenn Dale, Md.) third straight double-double as the junior standout went for 22 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals over 32 minutes of action. On their way to amassing 86 points, Navy had three more players in double digits with Zoe Mesuch (Fr., Clintondale, N.Y.) adding 13 points with Morgan Demos (Sr., Downers Grove, Ill.) and Julianna Almeida (So., North Arlington, N.J.) right behind with respective totals of 12 and 11 points. Additionally, Almeida notched her second double-double of the season with 11 rebounds.

"I'm really happy with this win from the standpoint that every single player who played today brought energy, effort and uplifted the team," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "We were able to play at a high-pace level because of that for the full 40 minutes. The offensive and defensive execution in the second half was outstanding. We were able to change up defenses a little to try and throw American off as they were really comfortable in the first half. I thought our kids did a good job with executing when we wanted different shots too. The impressive part of our offense in the second half was that we did not turn the ball over one time until we purposely took the shot clock violation at the end of the game.

"There were so many good individual performances today. I can't say enough about Zanai; what an all-around performance! She carried us in the first half with 16 points and then became a facilitator in the second half. Zoe was tremendous in the third quarter, scoring and breaking people down as she had 11 points in that stretch. Zanai and Julianna just dominated the boards today. Julianna high pointed so many rebounds and was battling throughout; I'm really proud of her. Demos was really good today too. The "three-headed dragon" as Kate [Samson] has labeled Demos, Quinn [Boettinger] and herself combined for 24 points, nine rebounds and four assists. That's a really nice day for our posts."

The action opened with a slight American feel to it as the hosts led 6-2 at 8:11 and later 12-11 at 5:38. Demos (6) and Barnett-Gay (5) combined for all 11 of the points for Navy during this initial run. Trailing by one, Barnett-Gay rattled off five straight points on consecutive possessions at 4:17 and 3:45 to put the Mids up 16-12. A 7-0 rebuttal by the Eagles swung the lead back in the hosts' favor by the 2:10 juncture. Navy scored four of the period's final six points to tighten the score to American 21, Navy 20.

The Eagles shot 55.6 percent (10-18) from the field, while the Mids knocked down 35.0 percent (7-20) of their attempts. Four free throws and a pair of three-pointers bolstered the visitors' cause.

Of note, Barnett-Gay surpassed the 1,500-point career scoring mark midway through the first quarter and moved into sixth place on the program's all-time scoring list moving ahead of Jade Geif's 1,501 points. Next up is Adria Schneck in fifth place with 1,578 points.

"We're all extremely excited about Zanai's 1,500-point milestone today," commented Taylor. "That's a testament to an incredible career and person. I'm so grateful to be able to coach her. We can't wait for what's next."

American continued to hold onto its lead for the first five minutes of the second quarter as it bubbled its advantage to five, 27-22 at 5:57 before Demos and Barnett-Gay combined to eliminate that lead with five points in back-to-back trips down the court. A jumper by Kate Samson (Sr., Richmond, Va.) with 4:08 remaining in the quarter pushed Navy back into the lead, 29-27. The Mids held a one-possession lead for the next three-plus minutes before an 'and-one' conversion by Lexi Salazar with 21 seconds left tied the game at 35-35. Unwilling to settle for a tied score going into the locker room at the half, Barnett-Gay nailed a three-pointer as time was expiring to make it 38-35.

Leading by a slim three-point margin at the break, Navy came out in the second half on a mission and recorded the first 11 points to go up 49-35 just 2:45 into the third quarter. Mesuch entered her name in the scoring column after being shut out in the first half with five quick points, including a three-pointer via a Barnett-Gay assist. After Laura Nogues halted the Mids' 11-0 run, Almeida immediately responded with a three-pointer of her own to make it 52-37 at 6:27. As a team, Navy opened the frame 5-5 from the field and 2-3 from the foul line. A small 5-0 retort by American drew the hosts within 10 points with 4:52 left in the period, but that would be as close as the Eagles would get for the remainder of the game as the Mids concluded the frame by scoring 14 of the final 16 points. Once again, Mesuch was the sparkplug of a substantial run as she registered six of Navy's points during this stretch.

For the quarter, Navy out-scored American, 28-9 and used six Eagle miscues to record 10 points off turnovers. The Mids were efficient in all facets of its offense with a 58.8 percent (10-17) shooting effort and a four-to-zero assist-to-turnover ratio.

Ahead 66-44 at the start of the fourth quarter, Navy was rarely challenged in the final period of play as the Mids emptied their bench and had 13 different players see time in the quarter to complete the 15-for-15 showing of participation on Saturday. A basket by AU's Molly Driscoll on the Eagles' first possession drew the hosts to within 20 before back-to-back three-pointers by Almeida and Maren Louridas (Sr., Delmar, N.Y.) bubbled the Mids' lead out to 26, 72-46 at 7:20. Navy continued to hold a 20-plus point lead for the remainder of the game as they re-reached that 26-point margin, 84-58 at 1:09 following a Nia Henley (So., Spotslyvania, Va.) jump shot. 17 seconds later, a steal by Sidney Quinn (Fr., Verona, N.J.) and fast break layup by Grace Minihane (Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) gave the Mids their final and largest lead of the day, 28, 86-58.
  
For the game, Navy out-shot American, 46.3 percent (31-67) to 39.7 (23-58) from the field and 33.3 percent (7-21) to 15.0 (3-20) from three-point range. The Eagles finished with a 75.0 percent (9-12) to 65.4 (17-26) advantage in foul shooting.

The Mids controlled the glass with a 43-33 final margin. Navy ended the contest with 12 offensive rebounds versus just five for American. Almeida and Barnett-Gay tied for the team lead with 11 caroms each. This marked the eighth time in nine games that Navy out-rebounded its opponent (in all eight instances by seven or more boards).

Navy's ball-handling was on point on Saturday with a 16-to-8 assist-to-turnover ratio, including just one turnover in the entire second half, a purposeful shot clock violation in the waning seconds of the contest. Barnett-Gay paced all players with five assists.

Defensively, the Mids forced the Eagles into 14 turnovers and were credited with 10 steals. Barnett-Gay (3), Henley (2) and Christina Liggio (Fr., Colts Neck, N.J.) (2) all finished with multiple steals.

Navy will now turn its attention to a Wednesday night home matchup versus Bucknell. Tip-off between the Mids and Bison is set for 7 p.m. at Alumni Hall.
 
**Note: This current PL-only win streak ties the 2013-14 and 2016-17 teams, who each won nine straight games