Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
15-5, 7-3PL
Loyola Maryland
6-15, 4-6PL
Women's Basketball Wins Sixth Straight, Tops Loyola, 62-53
January 31, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Army (15-5, 7-3 Patriot League), which won its sixth game in a row to mark its longest winning streak of the season, received a game-high-tying 20 points from junior Kelsey Minato, while senior Olivia Schretzman added 12 points and nine rebounds. Junior Aimee Oertner posted eight points, seven boards and a career-high-tying six blocks and freshmen Daizjah Morris and Destinee Morris each contributed seven points.
Loyola (6-15, 4-6) was led by junior Colleen Marshall, who totaled 20 points, and sophomore Lauren Daugherty, who finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Minato scored five straight points to cap a 9-0 run by the Black Knights during the opening 2:52, but the Greyhounds responded with seven unanswered points to cut the gap to two. Army extended its lead to three over the next 3:07 until scoring four consecutive points to take a 21-14 advantage at the 9:16 mark.
Loyola used an 11-5 run to climb back to within a point, 26-25, before extending that run to 15-7 to give the Greyhounds their first lead of the game, 29-28, with 1:01 to play in the opening half. Oertner knocked in a pair of free throws at the 36-second mark and the Black Knights held Loyola scoreless on its ensuing possession, as Army entered the half with a 30-29 lead.
The Black Knights registered four steals in the opening half and turned three of them into buckets on the other end. Army finished the contest with five thefts.
Marshall converted an old-fashioned three-point play to begin the second half and give a Loyola a two-point advantage before a Minato three on Army's ensuing possession put the Black Knights back in front.
Daugherty hit a three-pointer at the 15:18 mark to begin a 5-0 run that gave the hosts a 39-34 lead before Schretzman netted the final three points of a 5-0 Army run to knot the game for the third time, 39-39, with 13:12 to play.
The game remained deadlocked until Destinee Morris scored five consecutive points to cap a 10-2 Army run that put the Black Knights up 56-48 with 5:06 remaining. The Greyhounds hit three of their next four free throws to cut Army's lead back to five before lay-ups from Oertner and Schretzman built Army's advantage to nine with 46 ticks left.
Loyola came back to within eight points, but couldn't climb any closer as Army held on for the nine-point win.
Army briefly returns to Christl Arena, where it will host Lehigh on Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. before hitting the road for games against Navy (Feb. 7), Holy Cross (Feb. 11) and Bucknell (Feb. 15).
GAME NOTES: Army moves to 5-4 all-time versus Loyola ... the Black Knights extend their winning streak to a season-long six games ... with the victory, Army matches its longest road winning streak of the season, with three consecutive wins away from Christl Arena ... Kelsey Minato reached double figures to extend her Patriot League-record double-digit scoring streak to 69 games.
