Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
8-2
St. Thomas Aquinas
5-6
Women's Basketball Tops STAC in Final Nonconference Test
December 20, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Army improves to 8-2 with the victory, while St. Thomas Aquinas drops to 5-6.
Junior Kelsey Minato netted a game-high 21 points to reach 1,344 for her career and pass Laurie Goetz (USMA '87) for seventh on Army's career scoring list. After setting a team record with seven three-pointers against Central Connecticut State on Dec. 13, junior Jean Parker went 5-of-6 from deep and 6-of-8 overall, to finish with 17 points.
Senior Olivia Schretzman registered eight points and nine rebounds, junior Aimee Oertner totaled nine points and senior Jordan Elliott posted four points and career highs of seven boards and 10 assists.
St. Thomas Aquinas senior Sabrina Eggink scored a team-high 11 points while grabbing five boards and freshman Jenna Erickson tallied eight points.
Both sides scored seven points in the first 4:41 of the opening half before the Black Knights outscored the Spartans, 24-13, over the final 14:52 to hold a 31-20 advantage heading into the break. Army hit four of its eight three-pointers in the first period, including three from Parker.
St. Thomas Aquinas led, 5-2, after the first 3:17 before the teams battled to ties of 5-5 and 7-7 during the next 1:25. The visitors pulled back to within two points on two separate occasions, but Army hit four of its final six shots to close out a 17-8 run in the final 10:58 of the period. The Black Knights' defense came up with four steals in the period, including thefts from Minato and senior Jordan Elliott that led to fast-break lay-ups down the stretch.
Army began the second half with a 9-4 run that extended its lead to 16 with 15:46 remaining in the second half. Following a jumper from St. Thomas Aquinas junior Alyson Brennan at the 15:19 mark, the Black Knights closed the contest on a 30-19 run that lasted the final 15:03.
Army received points from seven scorers during the run to include 14 from Minato, who shot 5-for-7 in the second half alone, to finish 8-of-15 for the afternoon. The Black Knights went 11-for-20 from the field during the closing run, and finished 27-for-52 (51.9 percent) in the contest to mark their second straight 50-percent shooting game and their fifth of the season.
“I thought St. Thomas Aquinas did a really good job at keeping us off balance in the first half,” said Army head coach Dave Magarity. “They put pressure on our ball handlers and it took us a whole half to adjust. I felt we needed to play a little faster-paced, but, luckily, we made shots in the second half. Jean (Parker) has put together two really good games for us and Kelsey (Minato) had another solid game today.”
Army begins its 18-game Patriot League schedule on New Year's Eve, when the Black Knights travel to Lafayette for a 2 p.m. contest.
GAME NOTES: Army improves to 3-0 all-time versus St. Thomas Aquinas … Kelsey Minato reached 1,344 career points to surpass Laurie Goetz (USMA '87) for seventh on the team's all-time scoring list … Minato reached the 20-point mark for the sixth time this season and for the 32nd time in her career, while scoring in double figures for the 59th straight game … Jean Parker went 5-of-6 from three-point range after shooting 7-of-8 for deep in Army's last game at Central Connecticut State … freshman Janae McNeal netted a season-best three points and matched her season high with two rebounds … classmate Destinee Morris hit a three for her first career points, while Daizjah Morris matched her season best with two points … sophomore Alex Elzinga made her season debut in the win … Jordan Elliott made her third start of the season … Army shot over 50 percent (51.9) for the second game in a row and for the fifth time this season.
