Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
8-3,0-1
Lafayette
8-4,1-0
Army Slips to Lafayette in PL Opener
December 31, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Army (8-3, 0-1 PL) received a season-high 37 points from junior Kelsey Minato, who extended her league-leading double-digit scoring streak to 60 games. Classmate Aimee Oertner added 13 points and five rebounds, while senior Olivia Schretzman contributed six points and six boards.
Lafayette (8-4, 1-0 PL) was led by senior Linnel Macklin, who finished with 16 points. Classmate Emily Homan and junior Jamie O'Hare each tallied 15 points, while Homan also corralled eight rebounds.
Lafayette took an early 11-6 lead after shooting 3-for-5 from beyond the arc during the game's first 4:54. Army received its first six points from the interior, with Oertner and Schretzman accounting for four points and two points, respectively.
Following an Oertner lay-in with 14:38 remaining in the half, both teams went scoreless over the next 2:58 before Minato hit a free-throw to bring the Black Knights to within four. The hosts extended their lead to seven, 18-11, during the next 3:49 before Minato answered with a personal 13-2 run that lasted 4:12 and gave the Black Knights their first advantage, 24-20. Minato began the run with an old-fashioned three-point play to kick off a stretch of 10 unanswered points before extending the run to 13-2.
Lafayette outscored Army, 5-4, over the closing 3:20 of the first period as the Black Knights entered the break leading, 28-25.
Oertner netted four points during a 6-2 run out of the half to build Army's lead to seven before Lafayette responded with seven unanswered points to even the score at 34-34. Minato helped the Black Knights regain the lead with five points during a 7-2 run that included a steal that led to a fast-break lay-up at the 13:34 mark.
The Leopards went back ahead thanks to a 6-0 run that included four points from senior Maddie Peabody. Minato's three-pointer with 10:57 to play put Army back in front by two before the hosts converted eight straight free throws to grab a 50-44 advantage at the 9:24 mark.
Lafayette built its lead to nine, 61-52 by the 4:50 mark, in large part to its performance at the free-throw line. The Leopards shot 26-for-29 from the charity stripe on the afternoon, including a 21-for-23 showing in the second half alone.
"What really bothered us in this game was their pressure," said Army head coach Dave Magarity. "We made some careless mistakes and the game got away from us. I thought we did some good things in the first half, coming back from a seven-point deficit to take the lead. And in the second half, I thought we did some good things too."
The hosts maintained the lead for the remainder of the contest, allowing the Black Knights to come only as close as six points down the stretch.
Army is back at Christl Arena on Saturday, Jan. 3 for a Patriot League contest versus Loyola at 1 p.m.
GAME NOTES: Army moves to 33-24 in its all-time series against Lafayette ... Lafayette's win snapped a seven-game losing streak in the series, with the Leopards' last victory coming on Jan. 26, 2011 ... the Black Knights slip to 17-8 in Patriot League openers and 8-1 under ninth-year head coach Dave Magarity ... Kelsey Minato netted a season-high 37 points to hit double digits for the 60th straight game.
