Minato Leads Women’s Basketball Past Bucknell

Saturday, January 30

West Point, N.Y.

1 PM

Army West Point

17-2, 8-1PL

Bucknell

14-6, 8-1PL

Bucknell

Army West Point

Minato Leads Women’s Basketball Past Bucknell

January 30, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Senior Kelsey Minato scored 12 of her 26 points during the fourth quarter to send the Army West Point women's basketball team to a 68-63 Patriot League victory over Bucknell on Saturday afternoon at Christl Arena.

Army wins its seventh straight to improve to 17-2 overall and 8-1 in the league, while Bucknell, which had eight consecutive wins coming in, drops to 14-6 and 8-1. After the result, the Black Knights and the Bison are now tied atop the Patriot League.

Minato shot 9-of-19 from the field and made 7-of-8 attempts at the foul line, but shot 4-of-6 overall and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter. Minato also added four rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Senior Jean Parker tallied 12 points, five boards and three assists while shooting 3-of-6 from deep.

Senior Brianna Johnson made three three-pointers to finish with nine points, and sophomore Aliyah Murray recorded six points off the bench.

Sune Swart posted 18 points and six rebounds off the bench for Bucknell, while Jacquie Klotz registered 13 points and nine boards. Kaitlyn Slagus scored 10 points and controlled seven rebounds.

The hosts controlled a 7-6 lead after the opening 3:03 of the first quarter before Army used a 6-1 run to move out to a 13-7 advantage with 4:05 to play in the first.

The Black Knights maintained their six-point lead to go up 17-11, but Swart netted four straight for the Bison to bring the visitors back to within two, 17-15.

Sophomore Destinee Morris knocked in a three-pointer with 49 seconds left in the opening period and Murray registered her second steal of the afternoon on Bucknell's ensuing possession before finishing the fast-break lay-up, as Army extended its lead to seven, 22-15, to close out the first quarter.

Swart brought the Bison back to within five, 22-17, with a lay-in 1:02 into the second frame, and three players contributed to a 12-2 Army run over the next 4:41 and made the score 34-19. Parker hit two three-pointers, while Minato also buried a triple during the stretch. Senior Aimee Oertner closed out the run with a jumper from the free-throw line.

Bucknell answered with 11 unanswered points over the final 3:46 of the half, during a run that included six points from Klotz, to make the score 34-30, in favor of Army, at the break.

Slagus scored four straight points to begin the second half to extend Bucknell's run to 15-0 and tie the game up at 34-34 before the Bison netted four more points to cap a 19-0 run and lead 38-34 with 6:54 left in the third quarter.

Minato made a long jumper at the third period's 6:39 mark to give Army its first points in 7:37 and Parker knocked in a three 57 seconds later to bring the Black Knights back to within a point, 40-39.

Army came back to make the score 41-41 with a jumper from sophomore Janae McNeal with 4:21 on the clock, but the Bison netted the next four to stretch back out to a four-point advantage, 45-41.

Johnson hit her second triple of the contest to put Army up, 46-45, with 2:33 to play in the third period, and Bucknell scored two of the final three points of the frame, as the game stood tied, 47-47, heading into the fourth quarter.

The Black Knights began the fourth period on a 9-2 run to climb out to a 56-49 lead 2:03 into the frame. Johnson capped the run with a three-pointer, as one of three Army players to score during the stretch.

Bucknell trimmed its deficit back to a point after a pair of free-throws from Swart brought the game to 62-61 with 2:54 remaining. Minato and Parker converted consecutive baskets to boost the lead back to five, but Tyler Craig sank a jumper at the 1:03 mark to make the score 66-63.

Oertner came up with one of her four blocks on the afternoon on a lay-up attempt from Claire DeBoer with five seconds to play before Minato hit a pair of free-throws with just under three ticks remaining to close out the win.

"This game played out to be as good a game as everybody anticipated," said head coach Dave Magarity. "For us, this is a character win because of the way we competed and weathered tough storms. We knew going into the second half that our ability to stay out of foul trouble would be critical. Bucknell came in with a great game plan, from the beginning, they attacked us. After a tough third quarter, we stepped up and made big plays in the fourth quarter. Obviously that defense stop at the end was huge."

The Black Knights finish out their homestand on Wednesday, Feb. 3, when they host Lafayette at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES: Army wins its seventh straight to match its longest winning streak of the season … the Black Knights improve to 25-33 all-time versus Bucknell … the victory marks Army's 18th consecutive home win in the regular season, dating back to a 67-53 win over Holy Cross on Jan. 14, 2015 … Minato extended her double-digit scoring streak to 99 games, which leads the nation among active players … Minato increased her team scoring record to 2,259 career points … she moves to within 66 points of tying Kevin Houston's (USMA '87) Academy scoring record of 2,325 … Magarity moves to within one win of reaching 500 victories for his career, with a current mark of 499-441 over his 32-plus seasons.