CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Taking part in the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT) for the first time in program history, the Navy women's basketball team came up short on the road Thursday night in its first-round matchup at Harvard by a score of 73-52. A 15-0 start to the game for the Crimson (19-11) built up a lead for the hosts that they would never surrender against a spirited Midshipmen (22-9) squad that came into Lavietes Pavilion looking to pull off the upset. Despite trailing by a significant margin early, Navy fought its way back into the contest right out of halftime and pulled within five points less than three minutes into the third quarter before Harvard re-ignited its potent offense and extended its lead back into double digits in a matter of four minutes.

Individually, Zanai Barnett-Gay (Jr., Glenn Dale, Md.) put a cap on her All-American season with team highs of 17 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists over 34 minutes of action on Thursday. She was the only Midshipmen in double figures in the contest as Quinn Boettinger (Fr., Schwenksville, Pa.) was the next highest scorer with seven points to go along with four rebounds and two steals in 14 minutes off the bench.

"Congratulations to Harvard, I hope they go on to win this tournament," remarked head coach Tim Taylor. "Carrie [Moore] is a dear friend of mine and she had them really well-prepared tonight. They got off to a great start. We dug ourselves a big hole. I felt that we had a really good start to the second half and got right back in it. Unfortunately, there was a play during that run that could have gone either way and it didn't go ours and instantly the momentum switched sides.

"We had some open shots that just didn't fall for us tonight. I'm super proud my kids and proud of their effort and heart. Zanai played like an All-American tonight. She tried to will us back into the game. She's special, not just as a player, but as a person and how she's lifted up this program."

Fresh off a lost in Ivy League Championship Final this past Saturday, Harvard came out of the blocks on a mission on Thursday night as the hosts jumped out to a 15-0 lead by the 5:43 mark of the first quarter. The Crimson made 7-of-9 shots and forced five Midshipmen turnovers over this emphatic open to the contest. A three-pointer by Barnett-Gay at 5:30 got Navy onto the scoreboard. The teams traded baskets over the next two minutes as Harvard continued to lead by 15, 20-5 with 3:33 to play in the first. After an Olivia Jones basket increased the Crimson's lead to a then- game-high of 17 points at 1:48, the Mids fought back with six points in quick succession, first another Barnett-Gay three-pointer followed by an 'and-one' conversion by Boettinger. With the score 22-11 with 55 seconds left in the frame, three points in Harvard's final two possessions gave the hosts a 14-point lead through one quarter of action.

An uncharacteristic seven turnovers by the Mids resulted in a significant 10-0 advantage for the Crimson in points off turnovers in the initial stanza. 

The second quarter opened much more evenly as both teams score six pointes over the first four minutes of play. Barnett-Gay continued to spearhead Navy's effort with a pair of baskets during this span helped her increase her personal statline to 10 points over 13 minutes of play. Following a Crimson field goal at 5:21 made it a 33-17 game, the Mids rattled off five unanswered points over the next three minutes to tighten it to an 11-point margin. An offensive rebound and putback by Saran Moschella (Jr., Staten Island, N.Y.) and an 'and-one' three-point play from Lizzie Holder (Jr., Stillwater, Minn.) provided Navy with the spark during this small run. The back-and-forth nature of the quarter continued as Harvard increased its lead by to 15 in less than minute before the Mids closed out the second quarter with four straight points to send the game into the halftime intermission with the Crimson ahead 38-27. Kate Samson (Sr., Richmond, Va.) put the exclamation point on this final run with an offensive rebound and jumper at the buzzer.

Ball-handling continued to play a leading role in the ebbs and flows of the game as Navy forced Harvard into eight turnovers in the second period and turned those extra opportunities into a 9-2 edge in points off turnovers for the frame.

Coming off that 4-0 close to the second quarter, an invigorated Midshipmen squad opened the second half with consecutive three-pointers by Barnett-Gay and Zoe Mesuch (Fr., Clintondale, N.Y.) to pull the visitors to within five points, 38-33, by the 7:37 juncture of the third quarter. A minute later, a controversial no-call with a significant amount of physicality on a layup attempt by Mary Gibbons (So., Holden, Mass.) torpedoed Navy's chances to draw even closer and seemingly re-ignited Harvard as the Crimson responded to this challenge with a 7-0 run to go back up 12, 45-33 at 4:46. Gibbons got her chance for redemption on the ensuing possession to pull her squad back within single digits courtesy of a corner three-pointer. A trading of baskets, a two for the Crimson's Abigail Wright and an 'and-one' three-point play for Barnett-Gay drew the Mids within eight, 47-39 with 4:04 left in the quarter. Unfortunately, that glimmer of hope was dashed as Harvard held Navy without a field goal for the rest of the quarter and closed out the frame on a 12-1 run.

Down 59-40 through three quarters of play and quickly down 21 after one trip down the court for the Crimson, the Mids valiantly tried to make in-roads on the host's significant lead, but were unable to get closer than 20 for the remainder of the game. Highlights for Navy over the final 10 minutes of play, included a 4-0 individual scoring run by Morgan Demos (Sr., Downers Grove, Ill.) between 5:06 and 4:12, an 'and-one' conversion by Nia Henley (So., Spotsylvania, Va.) at 1:38, the final points of team captain Maren Louridas' (Sr., Delmar, N.Y.) career with 52 seconds to go and a walk-off driving layup by Kelli Giuliani (Sr., Oakton, Va.) as time expired.

Giuliani's basket finalized the game at 73-52, but more importantly left an indelible mark on the box score as all four members of Navy's senior class had tallied points in their final collegiate appearance. The quartet of Demos, Giuliani, Louridas and Samson saw the growth of the program through its bleakest moments with a 1-29 record in 2022-23 to back-to-back postseason berths in 2024-25 and 2025-26 and the best Patriot League record in team history this year.

"It's going to be so hard to say goodbye to this senior class," remarked Taylor. "It's really going to be hard in August when we walk into the gym and they're not there. The joy and commitment that they have for their teammates, for the program and for basketball; they just show up wanting to work and get better every day. I see seniors around the country not wanting to play in the WBIT or WNIT and just walking away; there was never a question of what these seniors wanted for this program. We've played 31 games since August and when I watched them these last two days, the joy, laughter and fun that they all were still having, you can't ask for anything more as a coach. You can't ask for a better culture and you can't ask for a better group of kids.

"That moment with Kelli; the game couldn't have ended any better for us. We won't be able to replace Kelli. She is there every day for us. She is our voice at practice, in games, in huddles. For her to make that layup as time expired at the end of the game, that was a special moment. Words cannot express what these seniors have done for this program and the foundation that they've laid."

For the game, Harvard out-shot Navy, 43.3 percent (26-60) to 29.1 (16-55) from the field, 36.4 percent (8-22) to 20.8 (5-24) from three-point range and 76.5 percent (13-17) to 62.5 (15-24) from the foul line.

The Crimson also held a rebounding advantage on Thursday night with a 40-36 edge, though the Mids had more second chance opportunities with 13 offensive rebounds versus 10 for the hosts. Barnett-Gay paced Navy with five rebounds.

Defensively, Navy forced Harvard into 17 turnovers and was credited with nine steals. Barnett-Gay also led the Mids in that statistical category as well with four steals. As a team, Navy had four blocked shots with Samson recording two rejections in her final collegiate contest. She concludes her career with 117 blocked shots, a total that ranks fourth all-time in program history.

With Thursday night's outcome, Harvard will advance into the second round of the WBIT and host Eastern Kentucky on Sunday. The Colonels pulled off the upset in their matchup versus the regional bracket's top seed Utah, 72-58.

Navy's season comes to an end with a final record of 22-9 and the title of 2025-26 Patriot League Regular Season Champions. This season marked the third straight season that the Mids have increased their win total from one win in 2022-23 to 14 in 2023-24 to 19 in 2024-25 to this year's 22-win tally. That total is tied for fifth most in a single-season by a Navy team.

"This was a great year, but unfortunately, it didn't end the way that we wanted it to," said Taylor in closing. "We've got a lot to be proud of, but we still have a lot of work to do. This is not where we want the program to be, we have aspirations to be in the NCAA Tournament. We have a talented team coming back so we'll continue to put in the hard work in the offseason and get better. These types of experiences prepare us for the next step."