Smith and Hardy Propel Army to Conference Win

BALTIMORE, MD – The Army West Point women’s basketball team (4-9, 1-2 PL) won their first conference game Wednesday night as they defeated Loyola (6-8, 1-2 PL) 55-45.

Freshman Kya Smith and Junior Trinity Hardy led the way in scoring and rebounds. Smith tallied her third double-double of the season boasting a team-leading 14 points and 16 rebounds, while also adding 2 blocks on the defensive end. Hardy also filled out the stat sheet as she dropped 12 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals.

Army came out ready to play scoring 17 first-quarter points. Senior captain Lauren Lithgow was two for three behind the arc through the first ten minutes to lead the way with six points. Kya Smith added five. A large factor in the first quarter was Army winning the turnover battle as the Black Knights had zero giveaways. As a team they saw shots drop early, shooting 50% from the field and 66.7% from three, and headed into the second quarter with a five-point lead.

The Black Knights dropped another 17 points in the second quarter while holding Loyola under ten as the Greyhounds put up nine points. Sophomore Reese Ericson led the team with six points as she made two threes and tallied an assist before the break to help Army carry a 13-point lead into halftime.

Army had a sluggish start to the second half as the Greyhounds outscored the Black Knights by three in the third quarter. Shooting 66.7% from the field helped Army take a ten-point lead into the final ten minutes. Newcomer Soleil Montrose stepped up and Hardy added some buckets to help propel Army to the ten-point road victory to get their first Patriot League win of the year.