Navy Continues Homestand with Wednesday Tilt versus Dartmouth

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – An action-packed week continues for the Navy women’s basketball team with a Wednesday night matchup versus Dartmouth. Their third game in five days as part of a four-in-eight stretch, the Mids will be looking to get back to their winning ways after Toledo and George Mason put an end to their six-game winning streak to open the 2024-25 season this past weekend as part of the 2024 Navy Classic. Wednesday’s matchup at Alumni Hall is the culmination of a home-and-home series that began last December on Dartmouth’s campus in Hanover, New Hampshire. That contest was the first between the Mids (6-2) and Big Green (2-3) since 1981. Tip-off on Wednesday is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The Navy-Dartmouth game will have live stats provided online, as well as be broadcast on the ESPN+ platform. ESPN+ is a subscription-based streaming service that requires patrons to sign-up for monthly or yearly plans prior to tuning into the contest. An audio-only portion of the contests will also be available via WNAV: over the radio waves on 99.9 FM or 1430 AM, online at WNAV.com or through the iHeart and Audacy platforms. 

Navy vs. Dartmouth / Ivy League

The team’s 2023 meeting was the first matchup between the two programs in their current DI model … Prior to last December 8, it was over 32 years since the Mids and Big Green had met on the hardwood … In three games of the Navy-Dartmouth all-time series, the home team has won all three matchups with the Big Green holding a 2-1 edge; Navy 71-69 over Dartmouth on December 11, 1979 in Annapolis and Dartmouth holding home-court advantage on January 17, 1981, 72-60 and again in 2023, 65-52 … Of note, the first Army-Navy women’s basketball matchup occurred on January 18, 1981 on day two of the 1981 Burger King-Dartmouth Invitational … All-time versus Ivy League foes, Navy is 23-22 … Navy and Yale have faced off the most in the Mids’ series against the Ivy League; Navy is 4-7 mark over 11 contests … Yale (11 games: 4-7 record), Penn (10: 5-5), Princeton (9: 5-4) and Columbia (5: 4-1) are the only Ivy League programs that Navy has played more than three times.

Most Recent Navy-Dartmouth Matchup; December 8, 2023 in Hanover, N.H.

Navy nearly picked up its first road win of the season on Friday as it led Dartmouth by six through three quarters before a dominant response by the Big Green (3-4) over the final 10 minutes resulted in a 65-52 loss for the Mids (3-6) at Leede Arena. The matchup was the first between Navy and Dartmouth since January of 1981. Zanai Barnett-Gay led all scorers on Friday with 19 points on 8-19 shooting to go along with co-team-highs of three assists and three steals. Sydne Watts gave Navy two scorers in double figures as she finished with 11 points, including a pair of three-pointers. In her first start of the season, team captain Morganne Andrews posted a well-rounded statline of eight points, nine rebounds and three steals.

 

Navy started out the contest on the road crisply as the Mids jumped out to 10-2 lead over the first 4:07 of play. Using all of its weapons, Navy received baskets from four different players during this initial run. Dartmouth fought back from this early challenge and scored the next five points to draw within three. A floating jumper in the lane by Kyah Smith put an end to that streak as she put the Mids back up by five, 12-7 at 2:24. Both teams were fairly even over the final two minutes of play in the first quarter and the teams retired to the bench with Navy ahead, 16-10.

As the Mids struggled with their shot early on, the host Big Green opened the second quarter scoring nine of the first 12 points to tie the game, 19-19 at 2:42. With her team o-fer from three-point range to start the contest, Barnett-Gay found success from beyond the arc on the ensuing possession and Navy quickly went back up by three, 22-19. Similar to the final minutes of the first period, the teams mirrored each other down the stretch as Andrews answered at Dartmouth basket at 1:35 and Watts sank a three-pointer at 0:56 to push Navy back up three to end the half, 27-24.

The Mids extended their lead out to seven with three of the first four baskets of the third quarter. Barnett-Gay bolstered this early run with two layups built from steals by Andrews at 6:30 and 5:22, respectively. With the score 33-26, Dartmouth responded with an 11-6 run to pull within two by the 1:28 mark. Navy’s talented freshmen backcourt shined over the final 88 seconds as Smith knocked down a pull-up jumper before Barnett-Gay grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast to beat the buzzer and make it a 43-37 game through three quarters of play.

Trailing by six, Dartmouth kicked off the fourth quarter with a 4-5 showing from the field, including back-to-back three-pointers by Nina Minicozzi to take its first lead of the game, 47-43 at 6:24. A pair of free throws by Barnett-Gay got Navy into the scoring column and pulled the visitors back to within two. Those free throws were only augmented by a Watts free throw at 3:53 as the Mids were held without a field goal until 2:11 when Maren Louridas sank a three-pointer. With the Big Green leading 56-49, they sewed up the victory with a 7-8 effort at the foul line late to walk away with a 65-52 decision. As a team, Navy shot just 14.3 percent (2-14) from the field in the fourth quarter and 50.0 percent (3-6) from the foul line, while Dartmouth countered by hitting 57.1 percent (8-14) of its shots and 76.9 percent (10-13) of its attempts from the charity stripe.

For the game, the Big Green outshot the Mids in all three categories: 40.7 percent (24-59) to 34.9 (22-63) from the field, 31.3 percent (5-16) to 18.2 (4-22) from three-point range and 70.6 percent (12-17) to 40.0 (4-10) from the foul line.

Comparing the Teams

Individual Leaders

Last Time Out — Sunday vs. George Mason in Annapolis
The Navy women’s basketball team concluded the two-day 2024 Navy Classic with an 85-63 loss to George Mason on Sunday. Tied at 35-35 mid-way through the second quarter, the Patriots (7-1) rattled off 14 of the final 16 points of the half to take a lead over the Mids (6-2) that would never be within 10 for the duration of the game at Alumni Hall. Zanai Barnett-Gay spearheaded Navy’s individual performance on Sunday as she posted a season-high 24 points to go along with five rebounds and two steals over 35 minutes of action. Kyah Smith backed up her classmate’s effort with 16 points and four rebounds off the bench.

The action began with Navy jumping out to an early 5-4 lead as Kate Samson and Maren Louridas recorded baskets on two of the Mids’ first three possessions with Louridas knocking down a three-pointer at 8:45. From that juncture, George Mason scored the next 10 points to go ahead 14-5 at 5:49. A three-pointer, this time from Smith at 4:37 ended that run and drew the Mids back within six points. A second trey from Smith a little over two minutes later helped Navy get even closer, 19-14. Trailing 23-15 with 77 seconds left in the quarter, a triple from Mary Gibbons and jumper at the buzzer by Smith pulled the Mids to within three, 23-20 at the conclusion of the period.

The teams traded makes for most of the first three minutes of the second quarter as the score advanced to 31-28. A three-pointer at 6:17 by Louridas made it 33-31 George Mason before back-to-back baskets from Barnett-Gay evened the score at 35-35 by the 4:59 point. Coming out of the ensuing media timeout, the Patriots closed out the quarter with a dominant stretch of play that saw them record 14 of the final 16 points with half of their points coming at the foul line, courtesy of a 7-8 mark. George Mason took a 49-37 lead into the locker room on the strength of a 20-2 advantage in points off turnovers in the first half as Navy turned the ball over 14 times over the opening 20 minutes.

The Mids slowly shaved points off its deficit in the third quarter as a Barnett-Gay jumper made it 53-43 at 6:38. Unfortunately for Navy, George Mason had another loud response with a 12-5 run to dart out to a 65-48 advantage. A 5-5 showing at the foul line in the final 44 seconds, three free throws from Gibbons and two more from Barnett-Gay, tightened the game to 65-53 at the end of the third stanza.

A quick start to the fourth quarter by the Patriots sealed up their road victory as they scored nine of the initial 11 points in the period to increase its lead up to 19, 74-55, 3:02 in. George Mason kept its foot on the pedal and outscored Navy, 20-10 in the fourth to win its seventh game of the season, 85-63

For the game, George Mason out-shot Navy, 40.3 percent (29-72) to 34.4 (22-64) from the field, 42.9 percent (9-21) to 28.6 (6-21) from three-point range and 81.8 percent (18-22) to 13-17 (76.5) from the foul line.

Parking / Shuttle

Fans are reminded that the general public does not have access to drive their vehicles on to the U.S. Naval Academy. Fans may park at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for a fee and take a shuttle that will run every 10 minutes starting one hour before the game and will continue running until one hour after the game is completed. Fans 18 and over need a government-issued photo ID. Enter Gate 5 off Taylor Ave. to park at the stadium.