Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
26-7,14-4Patriot
La Salle
19-14,10-8Atlantic 10
Women’s Basketball Dominates La Salle, Punches Ticket to Great Eight
March 25, 2026 | Women's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. – It was all Army from the very start on Wednesday night at Christl Arena, as the Black Knights dominated La Salle 74-63 in the WNIT Super 16 to secure a spot in the Great Eight.
Army (26-7) never trailed and led by as much as 26 in one of its most dominant offensive performances of the season. With the victory, Army becomes the first Patriot League team to make it to the WNIT Great Eight.
A number of Black Knights stepped up in big ways, but arguably none bigger than Fiona Hastick. The junior captain missed all of the non-conference season following a preseason injury and hadn't hit her form until Wednesday night, when she dropped 13 points in a season-high 27 minutes. Also impressing on the offensive side of things was Reese Ericson, who had a team-high 19 points. Kya Smith and Camryn Tade each added 16.
The Black Knights finished the game shooting 56.3 percent from the field, which was the second best mark of the year. Army was also 10-19 from distance for a season-best 52.6 percent.
Entering this season's WNIT, Army had just one Division I postseason win.
How it Happened
The Black Knights got off to a hot start and never looked back. Leading 7-6 with just over two minutes into action, Army went on a 9-0 run to boost its lead to ten. Camryn Tade hit a huge three with under a minute to go into the quarter to push the lead to 11 and Army's advantage was double-digits the rest of the night.
The opening frame was one of Army's best quarters of the season, as it made nine of its 13 attempts for a 69.2 percent clip. The Black Knights were also a perfect 4-4 from three. Ericson had nine points.
At the second quarter media timeout, Army continued to roll offensively and had its lead up to 18 – 36-18. After a Hastick three with with 3:34, Army's advantage was up to 19. The junior had six points in the period on a pair of threes.
After a rough opening quarter, La Salle started to find some offensive rhythm in the second period, as it shot 42.9 percent. However, the Explorers still had little to no answer for the Black Knights offense, as Army shot 58.3 percent in the frame to lead 45-29 at half.
Tade led the way with a game-high 13 points at the break. Ericson (11) and Hastick (10) were also in double figures. The Black Knights shot 64.0 percent in the opening 20 minutes, which marked its best shooting percentage in a half this season.
Things tightened up a little bit in the third quarter, as Army won the period 16-15. With just under three minutes left in the frame, Ericson and Tade knocked down back-to-back threes to push the Army lead to 26, its largest of the night.
La Salle closed the third on a 10-1 run to give Army a 61-44 lead going into the final quarter.
The Explorers played there best basketball late, outscoring the Black Knights 19-13 to conclude its season. Smith had eight of her 16 points in the fourth quarter, while Tade and Ericson each added three.
By the Numbers
Army finished the night dominating in nearly every category. The Black Knights outscored the Explorers in bench points (19-4) and fast break points (15-7). Army also forced the Explorers into 17 turnovers. Smith and Ericson each had three steals.
In the assist game, La Salle had just nine all night, while Army had 19. Ericson, Smith and Brooke Wilson had five each to lead the way.
Smith and Tade each had six rebounds, as Army won the rebounding battle 31-29.
Both teams largest scoring runs came in fourth quarter, as the Black Knights went on a 10-0 run with just over half the quarter to play. La Salle followed with a 9-0 run of its own.
The Black Knights led for 38:54, while La Salle never found itself ahead.
Quotable – Head Coach Katie Kuester
"I am so proud of our girls. I think our start, we really emphasized having a big start tonight. I think that first quarter showed a lot. We just kept coming at them. I thought we had a great start, a great middle, maybe a shaky end, but when you have those two portions so heavily in our favor, you're allow for lapses here and there. Having that cushion is huge. So proud of Fiona Hastick. It's been a long time coming for her to try and get her legs under her and get a feel for the game, especially learning a new system offensively and defensively… Just proud of our team collectively and what we showed. We showed we want to be here and that we belong here."
Up Next
The Black Knights will play the winner of the Marshall vs. Youngstown State game on Friday. Date, time and location of Army's Great Eight matchup will be determined later. Information regarding that game will be available on goarmywestpoint.com.
Game 33 Notables
• Army had its second-best shooting performance of the season, putting together a clip of 56.3 percent.
• Army was 10-19 (52.6 percent) from distance, which was its best 3-point shooting game of the season.
• Reese Ericson had a team-high 19 points on 7-12 shooting, including 5-9 from three.
• Also scoring in double-digits for Army was Camryn Tade and Kya Smith with 16, while Fiona Hastick had a season-best 13.
• Army shot 64 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, which is the best shooting half by Army this season.
• Army is now the first Patriot League team to make the Great Eight of the WNIT.
• The Black Knights are now 1-0 all-time against La Salle.
