Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
20-6, 12-4
American
19-8, 14-2
Army Mounts Late Charge in Eventual Setback at American
February 21, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Army slips to 20-6 overall and 12-4 in the Patriot League after seeing its 11-game winning streak come to an end, while American improves to 19-8 and 14-2. The Black Knights stand second in the conference and have already locked up a top-two finish in the regular season.
Junior Kelsey Minato led the Black Knights with 19 points, while also adding seven boards, and senior Olivia Schretzman tallied five points and nine boards.
American took an early 8-2 lead after the first 2:29 of the contest as the Eagles made four of their first five attempts from the floor. Army came back to an 8-6 deficit with four straight points before the hosts responded with a 7-0 run that extended their lead to nine, 15-6, with 14:16 remaining in the period.
The Black Knights trimmed their deficit back to five as Minato contributed five points to a 7-3 scoring spurt and made the score 18-13. American freshman Emily Kinneston made a jumper at the 12:14 mark to put the Eagles back up by seven and both teams went 0-for-5 from the field during the next 3:29.
Freshman Janae McNeal snapped Army's scoring drought with a lay-in that came with 8:34 on the clock before American scoring seven of the final 11 points of the first half to take a 27-19 advantage into the break.
Army forced turnovers on five of American's first six possessions and turned those miscues into four points, including three from junior Jean Parker, to make the score 29-23. Minato buried a jumper 5:02 into the second half to cap an 8-2 Black Knight run to open the period and close the deficit to two 29-27.
American built its lead back to eight with six unanswered points before the teams traded lay-ups to keep the margin at eight, 37-29. Freshman Destinee Morris hit a pair of free throws after coming up with a steal to cap a 7-1 run and bring the Black Knights back to within two, 38-36, with 2:55 left, but senior Shaquilla Curtis hit a triple with 1:12 to play to extend American's lead back to five.
The Black Knights missed on their ensuing possession, but Desitinee Morris came up with a steal that resulted in a Minato lay-in before Army forced another turnover on American's next possession. Daizjah Morris drew a foul and went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to make the score 43-42 with 12.5 seconds remaining.
Sophomore Ari Booth converted two free throws after Army fouled to stop the clock and put the Eagles back up by three, 45-42. Army took its final timeout with 8.3 left and had a chance to tie at the buzzer, but missed a three-point attempt as time expired.
Army is back at Christl Arena to begin a two-game homestand to finish out the regular season, when the Black Knights host Boston University on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES: Saturday's game snapped a five-game winning streak for Army against American, as the Black Knights slip to 14-18 all-time versus the Eagles … Kelsey Minato made one three-pointer to reach 203 for her career and move into sole possession of first place in team history, breaking a tie with Jen Hansen (USMA '07) … Minato scored in double figures to move her Patriot League-record double-digit scoring streak to 75 games.
