Black Knights Drop Contest to William & Mary

Sunday, November 27

Williamsburg, VA

1:00 PM

Army West Point

1-5,0-0Patriot

William & Mary

3-2,0-0CAA

Army West Point

William & Mary

Black Knights Drop Contest to William & Mary

November 27, 2022 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

WILLIAMSBURG, Pa. - The Army West Point women's basketball team (1-5, 0-0 PL) fell to William and Mary (3-2, 0-0 CAA), 69-66, Sunday afternoon. Army's Lauren Lithgow led the Black Knights with a career high of 22 points. Army had three cadet-athletes with double digit points; Lauren Lithgow led the team with 22 points, Sabria Hunter followed with 16, and Sam McNaughton had 11 points.

How It Happened

The Black Knights struck first with a with a three-point shot from Lithgow. The Tribe's Riley Casey immediately fired back with a three-pointer of her own. With a 9-8 lead, Kamryn Hall connected with Hunter for a fast break layup giving Army a three-point lead. Immediately following, William and Mary turned over the ball and Hunter again took advantage with a layup, extending the Black Knights lead to five. With scoring going back and forth, William & Mary took the lead, but Army's McNaughton scored a jumper, with 1:33 left on the clock, putting the Black Knights within two.

In the second quarter, Army came out strong with a jump shot from Vasana Kearney making the score even at 19 a piece. Lithgow followed suit answering back with another three-point bucket giving the Black Knights a 22-19 lead. With 5:47 left in the second quarter, Sam McNaughton landed another three-point basket. Soon thereafter, the Tribe's Rebekah Frisby-Smith made two of her free throw attempts and Casey made a layup, cutting Army's lead to two. However, with an assist from Sam McNaughton, Lithgow again banked another three-point shot. The Black Knights had a lead of seven with the help of a layup from Madison Linden. William and Mary again responded with two layups, one from Caitlin Wingertzhan and another from Casey, keeping the Tribe within three-points going into halftime.

Army started the second half strong with Lithgow firing off a three-point shot. Immediately William and Mary's Casey answered back with a three of her own. Again, Lithgow answered with a three pointer, keeping Army's lead to six points. Hunter added to the lead with a layup, going on a 5-0 run. The Black Knights held onto their eight-point lead with Reese Ericson making a jumper in response to Lanni Brown. The Tribe cut Army's lead to five points. With four seconds left on the clock, William and Mary's Alexa Mikeska scored with a layup.

Entering the fourth quarter, William and Mary continued building on their progress in the third quarter, with Casey making a jumper, again cutting the lead down to two points. Ericson responded with a shot of her own, keeping the Tribe's deficit to five points. William and Mary continued to fight and cut down the lead with the help of a jumper from Wingertzhan and a three-point bucket from Casey, getting them again within two points. With 4:18 left on the clock, the Tribe got within one point with a layup by Bre Bellamy. William and Mary again took the lead for the first time since the first quarter with a layup from Sydney Wagner. With the score going back and forth, Hall tied everything up 64-64. Casey answered with a layup of her own, again giving William and Mary a two-point lead. Advancing to a four-point lead, with 16 seconds left in regulation, Lauren Lithgow fought back, getting the Black Knights within two points with a jump shot. Ultimately, William and Mary defeated the Black Knights 69-66 after the Tribe made one of two free throws with eight seconds left on the clock.

Inside the Box

Lauren Lithgow had a career high and led the team with 22 points. Lithgow also finished the afternoon with 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block.
Senior Sabria Hunter concluded the afternoon with 16 points and 14 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season.
Sam McNaughton finished the afternoon with 11 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal.
Lithgow went 6-10 from the arc and was two short of breaking the program record for single game 3-point field goals (Kelsey Minato 2014-15).
Army was 7-9 from the charity line.

Coach's Corner
"I thought our team competed hard, I'm really proud of our women's grit, unfortunately we did not get it done in the fourth quarter, giving up 29 points and then some missed defensive assignments. But we won the rebounding battle. Unfortunately we did not win the turnover battle. That lead change hurt us in the fourth when they took the lead. I didn't think that we had great mental toughness down the stretch, we weren't able to execute in key moments, something that we are still struggling with. But seeing three players score the ball, obviously Lo (Lauren Lithgow) shot the ball really well for us, we could have used one more timeout down the stretch. I thought our women competed and that's the most connected we've looked on both sides of the ball against a very good William and Mary team." - Head Coach Missy Traversi

Up Next
The Black Knights return home to Christl Arena to face Sacred Heart University on Thursday, December 1 at 4 p.m.

For complete coverage of Army West Point women's basketball, follow the Black Knights on Twitter @ArmyWP_WBB, on Instagram @armywestpointwbb, and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.