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2025-26 Women's Basketball Roster

Debbie Latta
© Claire Pelletier-Hoblock
BERT HINDMAN
© Claire Pelletier-Hoblock
Joey Sussman
© Claire Pelletier-Hoblock

4 Zanai Barnett-Gay

  • Class Junior
  • Position G
  • Height 5-8
  • Hometown Glenn Dale, Md.
  • High School Riverdale Baptist School

Biography

Career Honors
2025-26 USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Year Preseason Watch List
2025-26 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Watch List
2025-26 Patriot League Preseason Player and Defensive Player of the Year
2024-25 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year
2024-25 All-Patriot League First Team
2024-25 Patriot League All-Defensive Team
2024-25 All-ECAC Second Team
2024-25 USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Year Midseason Watch List
2023-24 Patriot League Rookie of the Year
2023-24 All-Patriot League First Team
2023-24 Patriot League All-Defensive Team
2023-24 Patriot League All-Rookie Team
2023-24 ECAC Rookie of the Year
Patriot League Academic Honor Roll (2025)
Patriot League Rookie of the Week (11/20/23; 11/27/23; 12/11/23; 1/2/24; 1/8/24; 2/5/24; 3/4/24)
Patriot League Player of the Week (11/27/23; 2/5/24; 11/18/24; 12/23/24; 1/6/25)
USBWA National Player of the Week (1 of 5 players) (1/14/25)
USBWA Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week (11/28/23)


2024-25 (Sophomore)
Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year ... back-to-back selection to the All-Patriot League First Team ... started all 31 games and recorded 10 or more points in 30 of them (her streak of 46 games to begin her career ended on Jan. 18 versus Bucknell with nine points) … scored 20 or more points in 13 different games with a season-high of 29 coming versus Lafayette on Feb. 8 ... broke the Mids’ sophomore scoring record with 589 points (19.0 ppg); now ranks second and third in Navy’s single-season scoring record books with 589 and 546 points, respectively … averaged 19.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.3 steals over 34.7 minutes per game … ranked first in steals, second in points and minutes, fourth in rebounds and seventh in assists in the Patriot League, while standing 32nd in scoring and 54th in steals per game nationally among DI players … became the 23rd player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone doing so on Feb. 12 at Lehigh; tied Colleen Cassidy for the fastest ever to do it at Navy … holds the outright Navy DI record, while Cassidy does the same for the DII record … went 16-17 from the foul line versus Radford on Nov. 17 on her way to shooting 80.5 percent from the charity stripe during the year … collected seven double-doubles on the season with a career-best 16 rebounds coming at Colgate on Jan. 15 to go along with 23 points … filled the box score at Lafayette on Jan. 5 with 20 points, six rebounds, a season-high seven assists and three steals … forced three or more steals in 14 different games with a season-high six coming versus Loyola on Jan. 11, additionally, she scored 28 points against the Greyhounds … named to the All-Patriot League First Team for the second straight year; only eight former Mids have ever garnered multiple All-PL First Team nods … chosen to the USBWA National Player of the Week Team on Jan. 14, as well as to the organization’s National Player of the Year Midseason Watch List.

2023-24 (Freshman)
Played in and started 30 games as a freshman shooting guard … strong from start-to-finish as she started with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds to go along with five steals versus Susquehanna on Nov. 8; had two double-doubles over first three games, finished with six double-doubles over the season … the fifth-highest scoring freshman in NCAA DI with 18.2 points per game; registered double-digits in all 30 games and 20 or more points in 12 separate occasions with a season-high of 29 coming against Binghamton on Nov. 21 (11-16 from the field; 7-9 from the foul line) … shattered the Navy freshman scoring record with 546 points; the second-most by any Midshipmen (previous freshman record was 414) … assisted on five or more baskets in five different games with a season-high of eight assists versus Quinnipiac on Nov. 25 … dominant defensive presence with 3.0 steals per game, the 12th-best average in NCAA DI; second among freshman … had five or more steals in six different games with a season-high six at Wagner on Nov. 30 … finished the season with averages of 18.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.0 steals over 34.6 minutes per game … played a season-high 43 minutes versus Mount St. Mary’s on Nov. 15; complete 40-minute games against Binghamton and Colgate on Feb. 3 … first-ever Navy freshman to garner an All-Patriot League First Team nod … first PL Rookie of the Year since 2011 … set a program-record with seven Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors, also the first Mid to ever sweep Player and Rookie of the Week honors (Nov. 27 and Feb. 5) … first-ever Mid to win USBWA Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week Award (Nov. 28).

High School
Finished her high school career with 2,038 cumulative points ... split her time in high school between CMIT North (freshman and sophomore) and Riverdale Baptist (junior and senior) ... earned All-Met Honorable Mention and Team MVP accolades after averaging 25 and 28 points per game, respectively her first two years in high school before transferring to Riverdale and claiming the school's Team MVP honors, as well as the Defensive Player of the Year awards ...  nominated for the McDonald's All-American Team during her senior year ... as a freshman in 2019-20, CMIT were the Prince George's County Private School champions before reaching the Maryland State Final Four the following year ... honed her skills on the club circuit with the Germantown Lady Panthers, she reached the UAA Elite Eight as a junior ... a two-sport standout, Barnett-Gay played softball as a pitcher and shortstop at CMIT North and Riverside Baptist and was a three-time Team MVP, while helping her squads to county and regional championships in 2020 and 2021  ... teammate of George Washington's Caia Loving ('26) and Kamari Sims ('27) at Riverdale Baptist

Personal
Daughter of Erica and Alfred DuBose, and Sacha Gay and Antoniette Spriggs ... comes from a long line of athletes as her mother Erica played basketball and softball at Virginia Union University, while her stepdad Alfred was a three-sport athlete (football, basketball, track) at VUU; uncles Simon and Gary Barnett also competed collegiately, Simon in basketball at Post University and Gary in football at West Virginia State ... uncle Bruce H. Curry graduated from the Naval Academy with the Class of 1981 and reached the rank of Captain in the U.S. Navy ... participated in the Peer Forward and National Honor Society programs, as well in the debate, chess and robotics clubs ... enjoys photography and cooking

Statistics

Season Statistics

Season Statistics

No statistics available for this season.

Career Statistics

There are no statistics available for this player.

Historical Player Information

  • 4

    2023-24Freshman

    G
    5'8"
    4
  • 4

    2024-25Sophomore

    G
    5'8"
    4
  • 4

    2025-26Junior

    G
    5'8"
    4