Defense Keys Women’s Basketball’s Win Over Lehigh

Wednesday, December 30

West Point, N.Y.

7 PM

Army West Point

10-1, 1-0

Lehigh

7-5, 0-1

Lehigh

Army West Point

Defense Keys Women’s Basketball’s Win Over Lehigh

December 30, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point women's basketball team forced 24 turnovers and finished with 13 steals en route to a 63-39 victory over Lehigh to open its Patriot League schedule on Wednesday evening at Christl Arena.

Army, which is receiving a vote in the USA Today Coaches Poll this week, wins its seventh straight to improve to 10-1 overall and 1-0 in the league, while Lehigh slips to 7-5 and 0-1.

Sophomore Janae McNeal made her sixth start of the season and led all scorers, finishing with a career-high 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Senior Kelsey Minato scored 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting, while also adding a season-high seven assists, a career-best six steals and six rebounds.

Senior Aimee Oertner finished two points short of a double-double, with eight points and 10 boards, while also contributing four blocks. Classmate Jean Parker shot 2-of-3 from deep and netted eight points to go along with seven rebounds.

Quinci Mann paced Lehigh with 13 points, while Lexi Martins notched 10 points and eight rebounds. Kerry Kinek added eight points and eight boards.

"I'm so proud of the way our kids played and the way they bought into the game plan," said head coach Dave Magarity. "Our kids went out and did everything we asked of them. We've challenged our team to become better defensively. The one thing we have to be able to do is score consistently to get into our pressure and we've been able to do that."

Army forced three Lehigh turnovers in the game's opening 2:49, with two resulting in steals by Minato. Both teams struggled to shoot the ball early, as the Black Knights and the Mountain Hawks combined for just five field goals in the first quarter. Army shot 2-of-13 from the field during the frame, while Lehigh hit 3-of-15 attempts.

The Black Knights scored the final two points of the first period to cut their deficit to one, 9-8, by the start of the second quarter before building their run to 15-4 to close out the first half.

Army netted 10 unanswered points during the first 5:19 of the second period to stretch its run to 12-0. Oertner scored the first six points of the run, including a lay-up at the end of the opening frame, while McNeal, Minato and sophomore Lena' Hicks all contributed two points.

Both teams saw improvements in shooting to begin the second half, with Army shooting 6-of-7 during the first 4:25 of the third period and Lehigh converting 5-of-9 from the floor. The Black Knights shot 63.0 percent (17-of-27) during the second half alone and finished the game at 44.6 percent (25-of-56).

The hosts extended their eight-point halftime lead to 13, 30-17, following a jumper by McNeal that capped a 9-4 Black Knight run with 7:00 to play in the third frame.

Martins buried a triple with 3:23 on the clock in the third quarter to pull the Mountain Hawks back to within 10 points, 36-26, but senior Jean Parker knocked in a pair of three-pointers in the period's remaining 2:11, as the Black Knights held a 46-29 advantage after three.

Army used a 14-4 run to begin the fourth quarter and increased its margin to 27 points, 60-33, by the 2:50 mark of the final frame. Four Black Knights scored during the stretch, including McNeal, who led the way with seven of the 14 points.

Army registered three steals in each of the first three quarters before finishing with four in the final period.

The Black Knights begin a two-game road trip this weekend when they head to Lewisburg, Pa., to face Bucknell on Saturday, Jan. 2 at 2 p.m.

GAME NOTES: Army improves to 29-30 all-time versus Lehigh … the victory moved the Black Knights to 7-0 at home this season and marked Army's 14th straight regular-season win at Christl Arena … Army finished with 13 steals to mark its third consecutive game with double-digit steals and its fourth of the season … seven different players recorded a steal for the Black Knights … McNeal netted a career-best 20 points … Minato came away with a career-high six steals and moved her team scoring record to 2,061 career points … freshman Jess Lewis netted a career-best three points … Army limited Lehigh to a season-high 39 points after the Mountain Hawks entered the game with a Patriot League-leading 71.3 points per game.