Women’s Basketball Gets Past Quinnipiac, 67-57

Sunday, November 15

West Point, N.Y.

4 PM

Army West Point

2-0

Quinnipiac

0-1

Quinnipiac

Army West Point

Women’s Basketball Gets Past Quinnipiac, 67-57

November 15, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point women's basketball team won its second game in three days to begin the 2015-16 season, as the Black Knights defeated Quinnipiac, 67-57, on Sunday afternoon at Christl Arena.

Army improves to 2-0 on the year, while Quinnipiac opens its campaign 0-1.

Senior Kelsey Minato netted a game-high 26 points to lead three double-digit scorers for the Black Knights as classmate Brianna Johnson finished with a career-best 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting and Aimee Oertner added 10 points.

Minato totaled a team-leading seven rebounds, while Johnson collected five boards and recorded three steals. Senior Jean Parker finished with five points and six assists on the afternoon and freshman Madison Hovren registered five points and three assists, which all came in the second half.

Sarah Shewan and Brittany Martin paced the Bobcats with 18 points and 16 points, respectively, while Shewan also added seven rebounds. Paula Strautmane pulled in a game-high 10 rebounds for the visitors.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game," said 10th-year head coach Dave Magarity. "Our turnovers were a little bit of an issue and that's just not characteristic of us. We were never really able to stretch it out and that's a credit to Quinnipiac."

Minato and Oertner each made a pair of foul shots as the Black Knights went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line to begin a 6-0 run during the game's first 3:27. Army's defense held Quinnipiac shooters without a field goal on their first 17 attempts, but the Bobcats also converted their first four foul shots to pull back to within two, at 6-4, with 3:33 remaining in the opening period.

Johnson buried a three-pointer at the 2:09 mark of the frame to build Army's lead to 9-4 before the Black Knights hit three free-throws and the Bobcats made one as the first period ended with the hosts leading 12-5.

Quinnipiac found its shooting rhythm early in the second period, hitting three of its first five shots to pull to within five, 20-15, at the 4:54 mark. Johnson made her second triple of the game 33 seconds later to push Army's advantage to eight before the Bobcats netted 11 unanswered points over a 2:28 span to take a 26-23 lead for their first of the afternoon.

Johnson converted a mid-range jumper with 1:07 left in the first half to pull the Black Knights back to within a point and Parker sank two free-throws with 18 ticks left to send Army into the locker room with a narrow 27-26 advantage.

The Bobcats scored first to start the second half as the teams exchanged one-point leads four times during the beginning of the third period before Minato converted a pair of free-throws to put Army on top, 33-30, at the 8:02 mark.

Like it did to start the game, Army's defense drew a pair of quick offensive fouls in the first 2:25 of the third frame to allow the hosts to extend their lead to 35-30.

Quinnipiac took off on an 8-3 run during the next 2:44 to pull even before Edel Thornton went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to give the visitors a 39-38 lead with 3:09 left in the third.

A pair of free-throws by Minato extended the Black Knights' lead back to one before Martin hit the first of three straight foul shots for the Bobcats to give the visitors a 42-40 advantage with 2:00 to play in the third frame.

A fast-break lay-up off a steal from Johnson capped a 6-0 Army run at the 50-second mark and Quinnipiac scored the final four points of the quarter to send the game to a 46-46 tie heading into the final period.

Adily Martucci knocked in a three eight seconds into the fourth quarter to put the visitors up by three points before Oertner, Johnson and Minato scored consecutively for the Black Knights to send Army to a 52-49 advantage.

Quinnipiac came back to knot the game at 52-52 before Minato made a jumper with 3:09 to play to cap a 5-0 Army run. The Bobcats answered with a three-pointer by Shewan to cut the Black Knights' lead back to two and Hovren hit a lay-in at the other end to put Army back up four.

Johnson registered her third steal of game before converting a three-pointer to make the score 62-55 with 2:08 on the clock. Minato and Oertner combined to score Army's final five points as the Black Knights closed out the 10-point victory.

"I'm really proud of the way we finished," Magarity shared. "Kelsey had a great night offensively, but Bri Johnson was the difference in the game. The contributions off the bench from Maddie Hovren, Janae McNeal and Daizjah Morris, defensively, were terrific and that really got us back into the game."

Army is back at Christl Arena to close out its season-opening three-game homestand on Thursday when it hosts Central Connecticut State at 5 p.m.

GAME NOTES: Army takes its first victory in its all-time series versus Quinnipiac, improving to 1-5 in the rivalry … Minato extended her Patriot League-record double-digit scoring streak to 82 contests … Minato's 54 points through two games are her most-ever to begin a season … Johnson finished with a career-best 15 points after matching her career high of 13 against Quinnipiac last season … freshman Izzy McMahon made her career debut off the bench.