Army West Point Athletics
Wednesday, December 31
West Point, N.Y.
1 p.m.
Army West Point
9-3,0-1Patriot
66
vs
77
Lehigh
5-7,1-0Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
15
23
18
21
77
Army West Point
12
11
24
19
66
Women’s Basketball Falls to Lehigh in Conference Opener
December 31, 2025 | Women's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. – In a rematch of the 2025 Patriot League Tournament championship game, Lehigh took down Army 77-66 at Christl Arena in the conference opener on Wednesday afternoon.
Army (9-3, 0-1) struggled shooting the ball, while Lehigh (5-7, 1-0) had a remarkable shooting game – which included a 9-18 mark from distance). It's the first home loss in the Katie Kuester era for Army, who opened the season 5-0 in its friendly confines.
The Black Knights battled back in the third and fourth quarters after falling behind by 18 at the break but were unable to get over the final hump in the last four minutes of regulation.
The two sides came out strong in the first quarter and brought a 10-10 tie into the first media timeout after a clutch corner three by Camryn Tade. The offensives slowed down coming out of the break and Lehigh ended the quarter on a 5-2 run to lead 15-12 after the opening period of play.
Army opened the game making four its first five attempts but ended the first quarter going 1-9. Lehigh wasn't much cleaner offensively, going 6-15 from the floor.
Lehigh's cold shooting didn't last long though, as the Mountain Hawks erupted for 23 second-quarter points on 6-7 shooting, going a perfect 3-3 from three and 8-10 from the free-throw line. Army couldn't get much going in the period as it shot 25 percent and 0-5 from distance. The Mountain Hawks led 24-17 with 5:55 to play before half and proceeded to go on a 9-2 run to extend its lead to 14.
Army was unable to pick up any ground and found itself down 38-23 at halftime. The 15-point deficit is the largest after 20 minutes this season for the Black Knights.
At the break, Army was 9-30 from the field and 1-8 from three. Lehigh was 12-22 and 6-10 from distance. A key reason for the early deficit for Army was 10 first-half turnovers.
The third quarter was Army's best stretch on both sides of the ball all afternoon, as the Black Knights won the quarter 24-18. A Kya Smith layup capped off a 6-0 run for Army to open the quarter, bringing the Lehigh lead back to single digits.
Lehigh answered back but Army continued to respond. However, the Black Knights weren't able to string together many stops in the period despite knocking down buckets on the other end of the court. Tade buried a floater off the glass with time winding down in the period to keep Army within single digits going into the final quarter of 2025.
Army continued its improved offense in the fourth quarter but was unable to make up the necessary ground to stage the second-half comeback.
By The Numbers
Following her impressive 27-point, 22-rebound performance on Monday, Smith once again led the way for Army with 18 points and 13 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season. Taylor Wilson had a team-high 20 points, which is her second 20-point game this season and of her career. Tade also added 16 points for the Black Knights.
As a team, Army finished the game with a 40.0 percent shooting clip but went 3-16 from the field. The Black Knights were 19-23 from the charity stripe. On the other end of the court, Lehigh shot 52.4 percent from the field and 24-27 from the line.
Whitney Lind and Lily Fandre each had 18 points to lead the Mountain Hawks.
Despite the loss, Army outscored Lehigh in points in the paint (32-26) and second chance points (12-5). The Black Knights also won the rebounding battle 32-23. Lehigh led in bench points 21-10.
Up Next
The Black Knights ring in 2026 with their first road contest of the conference schedule on Saturday, as it travels to Hamilton, N.Y., to take on Colgate. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
Game 12 Notables
• Wednesday marked the first home loss of the season for Army and the first of the Katie Kuester era. The Black Knights had won their first five home games this season.
• Kya Smith recorded her second double-double in as many games, putting together an 18-point, 13-rebound performance.
• Taylor Wilson led all scorers with 20 points. It's the second time this season and in her career she has scored 20 points in a game (vs. Pace).
• Camryn Tade also joined Wilson and Smith in double digits with 16 points.
• Army struggled shooting the ball, knocking down 40.0 percent of its shots and just 18.8 percent of threes.
• Army had another strong performance at the free-throw line, going 19-23.
• Kya Smith had a career-high six assists.
• Army won the rebounding battle 32-23.
• Army is 38-42 all-time against Lehigh, with the Mountain Hawks winning the last eight matchups.
Army (9-3, 0-1) struggled shooting the ball, while Lehigh (5-7, 1-0) had a remarkable shooting game – which included a 9-18 mark from distance). It's the first home loss in the Katie Kuester era for Army, who opened the season 5-0 in its friendly confines.
The Black Knights battled back in the third and fourth quarters after falling behind by 18 at the break but were unable to get over the final hump in the last four minutes of regulation.
The two sides came out strong in the first quarter and brought a 10-10 tie into the first media timeout after a clutch corner three by Camryn Tade. The offensives slowed down coming out of the break and Lehigh ended the quarter on a 5-2 run to lead 15-12 after the opening period of play.
Army opened the game making four its first five attempts but ended the first quarter going 1-9. Lehigh wasn't much cleaner offensively, going 6-15 from the floor.
Lehigh's cold shooting didn't last long though, as the Mountain Hawks erupted for 23 second-quarter points on 6-7 shooting, going a perfect 3-3 from three and 8-10 from the free-throw line. Army couldn't get much going in the period as it shot 25 percent and 0-5 from distance. The Mountain Hawks led 24-17 with 5:55 to play before half and proceeded to go on a 9-2 run to extend its lead to 14.
Army was unable to pick up any ground and found itself down 38-23 at halftime. The 15-point deficit is the largest after 20 minutes this season for the Black Knights.
At the break, Army was 9-30 from the field and 1-8 from three. Lehigh was 12-22 and 6-10 from distance. A key reason for the early deficit for Army was 10 first-half turnovers.
The third quarter was Army's best stretch on both sides of the ball all afternoon, as the Black Knights won the quarter 24-18. A Kya Smith layup capped off a 6-0 run for Army to open the quarter, bringing the Lehigh lead back to single digits.
Lehigh answered back but Army continued to respond. However, the Black Knights weren't able to string together many stops in the period despite knocking down buckets on the other end of the court. Tade buried a floater off the glass with time winding down in the period to keep Army within single digits going into the final quarter of 2025.
Army continued its improved offense in the fourth quarter but was unable to make up the necessary ground to stage the second-half comeback.
By The Numbers
Following her impressive 27-point, 22-rebound performance on Monday, Smith once again led the way for Army with 18 points and 13 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season. Taylor Wilson had a team-high 20 points, which is her second 20-point game this season and of her career. Tade also added 16 points for the Black Knights.
As a team, Army finished the game with a 40.0 percent shooting clip but went 3-16 from the field. The Black Knights were 19-23 from the charity stripe. On the other end of the court, Lehigh shot 52.4 percent from the field and 24-27 from the line.
Whitney Lind and Lily Fandre each had 18 points to lead the Mountain Hawks.
Despite the loss, Army outscored Lehigh in points in the paint (32-26) and second chance points (12-5). The Black Knights also won the rebounding battle 32-23. Lehigh led in bench points 21-10.
Up Next
The Black Knights ring in 2026 with their first road contest of the conference schedule on Saturday, as it travels to Hamilton, N.Y., to take on Colgate. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
Game 12 Notables
• Wednesday marked the first home loss of the season for Army and the first of the Katie Kuester era. The Black Knights had won their first five home games this season.
• Kya Smith recorded her second double-double in as many games, putting together an 18-point, 13-rebound performance.
• Taylor Wilson led all scorers with 20 points. It's the second time this season and in her career she has scored 20 points in a game (vs. Pace).
• Camryn Tade also joined Wilson and Smith in double digits with 16 points.
• Army struggled shooting the ball, knocking down 40.0 percent of its shots and just 18.8 percent of threes.
• Army had another strong performance at the free-throw line, going 19-23.
• Kya Smith had a career-high six assists.
• Army won the rebounding battle 32-23.
• Army is 38-42 all-time against Lehigh, with the Mountain Hawks winning the last eight matchups.
Team Stats
Lehigh
ARM
FG%
.524
.400
3FG%
.500
.188
FT%
.889
.826
RB
23
32
TO
16
15
STL
9
7
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
16
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Women's BasketballGuard/Forward
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Saturday, December 08