Women’s Basketball Shoots Past UAlbany, 65-62

Saturday, December 5

West Point, N.Y.

3 PM

Army West Point

6-1

Albany

5-2

Albany

Army West Point

Women’s Basketball Shoots Past UAlbany, 65-62

December 05, 2015 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point women's basketball team rebounded from a 12-point deficit early in the third period and came away with a 65-62 victory over UAlbany on Saturday afternoon at Christl Arena.

Army battled back from a double-digit deficit in the third quarter for the second game in a row after it trailed by 11 in its win at Yale on Dec. 3. The victory sends the Black Knights to 6-1 on the season, while the Great Danes, who are receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll, drop to 5-2.

Both teams shot at least 50 percent, with Army finishing with a season-best 50 percent (23-of-46) and UAlbany shooting 52.1 percent (25-of-48). The Black Knights also made 11 three-pointers, going 11-for-17 from deep.

Senior Jean Parker was one of four Army scorers in double figures and led the hosts with a season-best 20 points. Parker was a perfect 6-of-6 from beyond the arc and also added four rebounds. Classmate Kelsey Minato registered 16 points and four assists, while sophomore Janae McNeal netted 10 points after scoring 11 at Yale.

Freshman Madison Hovren totaled 10 points and four boards off the bench and sophomore Daizjah Morris finished with five points and a career-high seven assists.

Albany was paced by Shereesha Richards, who finished with 28 points and six rebounds, while Imani Tate contributed 12 points. Erin Coughlin made three three-pointers to finish with nine points.

"I want to compliment Albany, they're a terrific team," said head coach Dave Magarity. "They dominated us in a lot of different categories early. If we didn't change things up at halftime, this could have been a really bad loss. I'm thrilled with how our team responded to the challenge. We had tremendous balance scoring. They were tracking Kelsey the whole game, and she's going to get that for the rest of the season, but we had four players in double figures. Kelsey made great plays and Jean had another great night. I can't say enough about our team performance."

Army opened up to a 5-2 lead, following buckets from Parker and McNeal, before UAlbany scored the next six points to move out to an 8-5 advantage by the 4:25 mark of the opening period.

Each team netted two more points before both sides traded four consecutive three-pointers, with Coughlin hitting both triples for the Great Danes and Morris and Minato making long-range shots for the hosts. Minato was fouled on her three-pointer at the 54-second mark of the first quarter and converted the ensuing free-throw to make the score 16-14, in favor of the visitors.

Both teams scored a two-point basket in the first 1:13 of the second frame and Richards, who scored nine points in the second period, hit a lay-up to give UAlbany a 22-16 lead with 7:29 remaining in the half.

Parker knocked in a three 28 seconds later to trim Army's deficit back to three before the Great Danes closed the quarter with an 8-0 run that spanned the final 6:29 of half and left the visitors with a 30-19 halftime cushion.

Minato and Parker both hit three-pointers early in the second half, while McNeal and freshman Madison Hovren contributed to a 9-0 Army run by converting back-to-back lay-ins and making the score 34-29 at the third quarter's 6:51 mark.

Sophomore Lena' Hicks capped the Black Knights' run with a close-range jumper with 5:38 on the clock and Veronika Lavergne ended UAlbany's scoring drought and increased the Great Danes' lead to five, 36-31.

Four straight points by McNeal brought Army back to within one before a steal from McNeal resulted in a short jumper by Minato to give the hosts a 37-36 lead at the 3:53 mark. Four more points by Minato gave the Black Knights a 41-36 advantage, but the Great Danes used a 9-3 run over the final 2:48 of the third period to control a 45-44 lead. Army outscored UAlbany, 25-15, during the third frame.

The Black Knights used a 15-6 scoring streak to take back the lead and move out to its largest advantage of the afternoon, 59-51, with 2:50 remaining in the contest. Four different Black Knights scored during the stretch, including Parker, who made three of her six triples during a 2:42 span.

Coughlin made a three-pointer with 1:21 on the clock to cut Army's lead back down to five, 61-56, and Richards made it a five-point game again after sinking a pair of free-throws with 37 seconds to play. McNeal knocked in two foul shots to increase the Black Knights' advantage to seven points and UAlbany scored the final four points of the contest.

The Black Knights begin a two-game road trip on Tuesday, Dec. 8, when they face St. Francis Brooklyn at 7 p.m. in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y.

GAME NOTES: Four Army players scored at least 10 points in a game for the first time since the Patriot League semifinal win over American on March 10, 2014 … Army increases its series lead to 6-4 against UAlbany … Parker finished with a season-best 20 points … Parker's six three-pointers are one shy of her career high ... Parker's 6-of-6 three-point shooting game are the most threes without a miss in Army history … the Black Knights' 12-point deficit marks its largest in a win since trailing by 14 in a 61-55 victory over St. Francis Brooklyn on Dec. 8, 2014 … Morris notched a career-best seven assists … Minato, who extended her Army scoring record to 1,967, was presented with a commemorative basketball by the previous record holder, Katie Macfarlane (USMA '04; 1,941 career points) prior to the game after establishing the team's scoring record at Yale on Dec. 3.