March 21, 2025
Postseason WNIT | 3/21/2025 1:01:08 PM
When it comes to basketball at the nation’s service academies, sizzling highlight videos and top-of-the-page headlines can be hard to find.
But paying respect is just as important as paying attention.
For the 2025 Postseason WNIT, the women’s teams from Army West Point, Navy and Air Force all made the 48-team field; Army came through with a 21-point comeback Thursday in Round 1 for its first-ever D-I postseason victory. Saturday, it’ll be Navy’s turn as the Mids (19-11) play at Old Dominion (17-15) in their first postseason game since 2018.
Navy will hit the floor fortified by the work already put into the 2024-25 campaign, which of course includes the demands and tempo of their military training. The Mids can’t rely on high-profile portal transfers or JUCO imports (anyone who would come to Annapolis has to fulfill a four-year commitment), so a cluster of injuries to the frontcourt threatened to expose a lack of depth.
But the Mids dug deep and have enjoyed a remarkable season.
“We lost our three top post players through the season; a North Carolina or Virigina might be able to overcome that with all-Americans behind you,” said Navy coach Tim Taylor. “We wouldn’t have that kind of depth. But we had kids step up and play fabulous. You have to let kids grow into it; we’ve been rebuilding this program, and we had some freshmen get thrown into the fire right away. They’ve continued to grow … you just can’t rush experience, and they’ve gotten more comfortable.”
Doubt the athleticism of the Mids at your own peril – it’s a group that loves to run, shoot and pester on defense (forcing 17 turnovers per game). With a terrific recruiting class in the wings, a lot of young players got important minutes this season, with the team averaging six more points per game than last year.
Sophomore guard Zanai Barnett-Gay has followed up a strong freshman run by earning defensive player of the year honors in the Patriot League; it’s also her second nod as a PL first-team honoree. Averaging 18.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game with 69 steals (all team highs) and playing 34 minutes per contest suggests she’s the type of athlete who thrives with each added ask to her assignments.
“I’ve coached a lot of elite kids, and they all have the same trait – they’re competitive,” Taylor said. “They want to win, and she’s elevated her game all around, percentages are up, and still has a long way to go. She plays so hard and can score at all three levels and can wreck a game defensively as well.
“What most people don’t realize is what these kids have to do, and we have to mitigate some of that with our practices. We had one kid who walked 15,000 steps before we played a game one day. It’s kind of crazy what they have to do. Obligations come with being leaders in their brigade, not just the academics, which of course are very intense. There’s so much on their plate, and it becomes a time-management challenge.”
The roster also features freshman Julianna Almeida, who worked more in the background at the start of the season, but started taking more shots in league play and ended up as the PL’s Rookie of the Year. Fellow freshman Mary Gibbons shoots 36 percent from 3-point range.
Piling up all these fresh accomplishments is made even more impressive with a quick look at what Navy went through in 2022-23, when Taylor was put through every test imaginable thanks to a 1-29 record.
“People talk about how the turnaround happened last year mid-season (14-17 overall), but I tell them the turnaround actually came in the 1-29 season,” Taylor said. “We were essentially playing with four walk-ons, had a bunch of injuries, were down seven or eight kids at different times, but they never quit. We were in a lot of games; had those been 32-minute games like high school we’d have had a pretty solid record.
“They stayed positive and believed in the vision; it was our first recruiting class and they saw where we were trying to go. They never wavered, showed up every day, and that’s what laid the foundation for the turnaround. They were connected to each other and were great about recruiting other players. My job during that time was to give them some hope every day and tell them better things are coming.”
A four-game losing streak when injuries severely disrupted Navy’s approach was a bit sobering, but the Mids closed with four straight victories before the Patriot League tournament.
“We had to reinvent ourselves a bit (with injuries) and had a point guard playing the 5,” Taylor added. “We showed our resilience; we lost three games of those games on last-second shots. We kept focusing on getting better, not worrying about the past, and we were able to turn it around.
“We’ll need to rebound (against Old Dominion), be who we are and be aggressive, stay together over 40 minutes and make some shots, which is what every coach tells you.”
TAYLOR ON THE WNIT – “I can’t even tell you what it means to the program. We’re grateful and thankful that the WNIT sponsors opportunities for all these teams, to be able to play and get better and springboard the program. For us, two years ago we are 1-29, and now we get to play in late March. It’s shown their progress and belief in themselves, that rewards can happen. It helps in the recruiting process; this will help us immensely on many levels that most people will never realize.”