Navy Midshipmen NCAA Tournament Hopes End in Patriot League Quarterfinals

The Navy Midshipmen women’s basketball team will now wait to see if gets an invitation to a non-NCAA postseason tournament.

Matt Postins | Mar 11, 2025

Nov 28, 2020; Annapolis, Maryland, USA; A general view of the Navy Midshipmen logo on a water tower near the stadium is seen before the game between the Navy Midshipmen and the Memphis Tigers at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. / Scott Taetsch-Imagn Images

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Navy Midshipmen

The Navy Midshipmen saw their hopes of the NCAA Tournament end on Monday with a 66-52 loss to Holy Cross in the Patriot League women’s basketball tournament quarterfinals on Monday.

The Midshipmen (18-11) missed out on their chance to play in the NCAA Tournament, which is a berth that goes to the PL tournament championship. Navy could play in either the WBIT or the WNIT, if invited. Those invitations are made after the NCAA Tournament field is set next Sunday.

Holy Cross (19-11) took control of the game in the first quarter, as the Crusaders took a 15-6 lead after the first 10 minutes. By halftime, Holy Cross had a 29-18 lead.

Navy did make a run at Holy Cross in the third quarter, outscoring the Crusaders, 21-16, to cut the lead to 45-39 going into the fourth quarter. But the Crusaders pulled away with a 21-point fourth quarter.

Zanai Barnett-Gay led Navy with 19 points. She also had five rebounds and five assists. Juliana Almeida added 17 points along with seven rebounds. Toni Papahronis added eight points, six rebounds and three assists.

Lindsay Berger led Holy Cross with 19 points and eight rebounds.

Before the game, Navy presented sophomore guard Zanai Barnett-Gay with her Patriot League defensive player of the year award and freshman Juliana Almeida with her Patriot League rookie of the year award.

Barnett-Gay (18.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 3.1 apg, 2.4 spg in the regular season) led the PL and was in the Top 50 nationally with 69 steals. She helped Navy to 8.17 steals per game, second-most in the league and had six steals in a game earlier this campaign. In two seasons at Navy she has 158 steals.

Almeida (9.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.5 apg, 0 .51 spg) led Navy in 3-point percentage (.395) and made 29 of her 32 threes this season in League play. She was selected the league’s rookie of the week four times.

Patriot League 2025 women’s basketball tournament

First Round - Saturday

No. 7 Lafayette 87, No. 10 American 53

No. 9 seed at No. 8 Boston U 75, Loyola (MD) 51

Quarterfinal Round - Monday

No. 1 Lehigh 62, No. 8 Boston U 44

No. 2 Army West Point 55, No. 7 Lafayette 40

No. 6 Bucknell 63, No. 3 Colgate 58

No. 5 Holy Cross 66, No. 4 Navy 52

Semifinal Round - Thursday | Hosted by Higher Seed

No. 5 Holy Cross vs No. 1 Lehigh, 6 p.m., Bethlehem, Pa.

No. 6 Bucknell vs No. 2 Army West Point, 6 p.m., West Point, N.Y.

Patriot League Championship Game - Sunday | Hosted by Higher Seed

Winner goes to NCAA Tournament

Patriot League 2025 women’s basketball tournament

First Round - Saturday

Quarterfinal Round - Monday

Semifinal Round - Thursday | Hosted by Higher Seed

Patriot League Championship Game - Sunday | Hosted by Higher Seed

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