Barnett-Gay named top rookie in Patriot League
Standout freshman also named to all-defensive, All-Patriot League teams
Zanai Barnett-Gay basically became the best player on the Navy women’s basketball team during her first game as a freshman.
Barnett-Gay scored 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and snagged five steals — all team-highs — to lead Navy to a 78-37 rout of Division III Susquehanna University. That dynamic performance was the start of a spectacular plebe campaign that has earned the Riverdale Baptist product multiple postseason honors.
On Friday, Barnett-Gay was named Patriot League Rookie of the Year — the first for Navy women’s basketball since forward Jade Geif earned the honor for the 2010-11 season.
Barnett-Gay was also named first team All-Patriot League, becoming just the 14th Navy women’s basketball player to achieve that status. The Glenn Dale resident was also chosen to the Patriot League All-Defensive
team.
Barnett-Gay led Navy in scoring and rebounding, averaging 18.3 points and 6.4 boards. She also led the Midshipmen in steals (84) and ranked second in assists (85).
Along the way, BarnettGay set the Navy freshman scoring record with 512 points. She ranks fourth nationally among freshmen for scoring average.
Barnett-Gay led Navy in scoring in 21 games and reached double figures in all 28 games that she played. She led the Patriot League with 3.0 steals per game and is the seventh player in program history to earn a spot on the All-Defensive team.
Barnett-Gay was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week seven times, which ranks second in conference history.
Fellow freshman guard Kyah Smith joined BarnettGay on the All-Rookie team, marking the first time since 2000-01 (Courtney Davidson,
Maile Shimoda) the Mids had two representatives.
Smith appeared in all 29 games with 20 starts and led Navy with 98 assists. She ranked second on the squad in scoring (12.9) and third in steals (24). The Richmond, Virginia, native was Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Jan. 15.