Women’s Basketball Extends Streak, Tops Lafayette

Wednesday, February 3

West Point, N.Y.

7 PM

Army West Point

18-2, 9-1PL

Lafayette

4-16, 2-8PL

Lafayette

Army West Point

Women’s Basketball Extends Streak, Tops Lafayette

February 03, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point women's basketball team built its winning streak to a season-best eight games during an 84-57 Patriot League win over Lafayette on a historic Wednesday night at Christl Arena. Tenth-year head coach Dave Magarity secured the 500th victory of his career following the victory.

Army improves to 18-2 overall and 9-1 in the league, while Lafayette slips to 4-16 and 2-8.

Senior Kelsey Minato led all scorers with 33 points and shot 11-of-16 from the floor, to include 6-of-8 from three-point range, after beginning the game 6-of-6 from deep. Classmate Aimee Oertner finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, and sophomore Janae McNeal scored 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting and added career highs of seven rebounds and seven assists.

Jamie O'Hare paced Lafayette with 19 points, while Maia Hood totaled a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Ashley Lutz also tallied a double-double after notching 12 points and 13 boards.

Magarity becomes the 54th active college coach in the Division I ranks, men's or women's, to reach the 500-win milestone.

"The fact that I was able to reach 500 this year was special to me," Magarity said. "Throughout my career, I've been blessed with some really great players, going back to my career at St. Francis (Pa.) and obviously my 18 years at Marist. These 10 years have been extra special to me. It's really nice to have done this with this class, because this has been, in my mind, the most special class I've coached."

Minato made her first six attempts from beyond the arc as Army built an early 20-6 advantage after the game's first 8:20. Minato netted nine straight points to give the Black Knights a 9-0 start before hitting two more triples to bring the score to 15-2 by the 4:17 mark of the opening period.

Minato hit her sixth three-pointer with 1:40 left in the first frame to boost her team's advantage to 14, 20-6. Defensively, Army held Lafayette 0-of-9 from the field to begin the game and came away with five steals in the first half before finishing the night with 11.

The Black Knights used a 17-6 run over the next 6:06 to build their advantage to 25, 37-12. Oertner shot 4-of-5 during the stretch to contribute 10 of the 17 points, as Army ended the run with eight unanswered points.

Army went on to lead by as many as 27 and did not allow Lafayette to close the gap to fewer than 22 points, as the Black Knights took a 47-24 advantage into the locker room.

The Leopards began the third quarter on a 19-8 scoring advantage, which included a 10-of-11 showing from the foul line, to cut their deficit to 12 points, 55-43, by the period's 2:38 mark. Hood tallied four free-throws during the stretch before finishing with six points in the third quarter.

The Black Knights scored seven of the game's nine points during the final 2:21 of the third frame, including four points from Minato and three from senior Jean Parker.

Army kept a lead of at least 14 points throughout the fourth quarter and finished the game on an 11-4 run.

"I have to credit our kids for getting Kelsey the ball early in the game," Magarity said. "Overall, we played a solid game, but when we have a lead like that, we have to learn how to maintain that. We have done that for most of the year, but the second half of the year, these teams know what you're doing."

Army is on the road for four of its next five games, including back-to-back road contests, beginning with a trip to Loyola on Saturday, Feb. 6 for a 2 p.m. matchup against the Greyhounds.

GAME NOTES: Army wins its eighth game in a row to mark its longest winning streak of the season … the Black Knights win their third straight over Lafayette to improve to 36-24 in the all-time series … Magarity earns his 500th career win, becoming the 54th active college basketball coach to reach the mark … now in his 33rd season as head coach, Magarity's career record is 500-441 … Army's 18-2 start marks its best in team history … Minato extended her double-digit scoring streak to 100 games, which leads the nation among active players … Minato increased her team scoring record to 2,292 career points … she moves to within 34 points of passing Kevin Houston's (USMA '87) Academy scoring record of 2,325 … Army wore white uniforms with a pink trim in conjunction with the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association's national "Play 4Kay" initiative in support of women's cancer awareness … the Black Knights will wear pink uniforms throughout the month of February … the team also had teal shoelaces in support of the "It's On Us" campaign, which supports the prevention of sexual assault.