Black Knights Fall in Home Opener to St. John’s

WEST POINT – The Army West Point women’s basketball team opened the home slate against St. John’s and came up short by a 60-49 score on Friday night.

The Black Knights were led by team captain Jess Lewis who scored 16 points and was 3-for-4 from beyond-the-arc. Madison Hovren finished with her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

St. John’s saw Akina Wellere score a game-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. The Red Storm shot 40 percent from the floor and outscored the Black Knights, 34-12, in the paint and 24-4 in points off turnovers.

The Black Knights jumped out to an early lead at 10-5 thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by Jess Lewis.

Army was able to hang onto a 18-16 lead after the first 10 minutes and shot 66 percent from the field in the opening quarter.

Lewis led the way with eight of the 18 points scored in the frame.

The Red Storm took its first lead with 8:45 left in the second with a Wellere layup to make it 21-20 visitors.

The Black Knights managed four points the rest of the quarter, while the Red Storm added nine more and led 30-24 at the half. Tiana England for St. John’s had three points during the run and Wellere added two.

Army got two within three points early in the third with a trey from Libby Tacka to make it 30-27, but St. John’s answered with a 12-5 run and opened up a 10-point lead at 42-32 at the 2:11 mark.

The Black Knights tried to chip away with Hovren hitting a layup to cut the lead to eight at 42-34, but the Red Storm held a 48-36 lead after three quarters with Wellere closing out the frame with two more points coming with seven seconds left.

Lewis got Army jump started in the final quarter with five-straight points, including her fourth 3-pointer of the night to cut the lead to 50-41 at the 7:05 mark.

However, Alisha Kebbe dropped a three of her own to push the lead back to 12 points at 53-41 on the next possession.

The Black Knights mounted one more charge with Morgann Yancey hitting a three with under two minutes to go, but Army ran out of time and the Red Storm took home the 60-49 victory.

The Black Knights welcome service-academy rival Air Force on Nov. 21 for a 5 p.m. tip-off at Christl Arena.