Army Black Knights Dominate American, 86-56

WEST POINT – The Army West Point women’s basketball team saw smooth sailing all afternoon, as it defeated American 86-56 in one of its best offensive showings of the season on Saturday at Christl Arena.

Army (20-5, 11-3) was in total control from the get-go and have now reached 20 wins in a season for the second consecutive year – and for the first time under Katie Kuester. The Black Knights 86 points tied its season high, which was set in the first game of the season against Pace. American (6-19, 4-10) trailed for 39:13n and never held a lead.

Camryn Tade (22 points) and Reese Ericson (21 points) led the offensive charge for the Black Knights, who made 13 threes on a 52.0 percent shooting clip. Kya Smith also had a strong game, posting her ninth double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

With the win, Army has clinched a top four seed in the Patriot League Women’s Basketball Championship and is guaranteed to host a quarterfinal game on Monday, March 9 at Christl Arena.

Ericson got the Black Knights going early, knocking down a pair of triples in the opening two minutes to give Army a fast 6-0 lead. At the opening media timeout, Ericson had nine points and helped the Black Knights build up a 13-4 advantage.

The senior guard picked up right where she left off coming out of the break and buried her fourth three to give Army its first double-digit lead of the game at 16-5. The Black Knights, who have had some slow starts recently, took a comfortable 20-11 lead into the second period of action.

The Black Knights went 8-17 from the field in the period and 4-8 from distance, with Ericson having all four makes. The Eagles were 5-14.

Army’s strong offense continued, as the Black Knights went 4-5 from the field to open the second quarter and push their lead to 13 with 5:49 before halftime. The lead only continued to grow, and Army took a 35-20 lead into halftime. The two teams went scoreless over the last 1:35 of the quarter.

Like it has all season, the Army defense came to play in the opening 20 minutes, holding the Eagles to 34.8 percent shooting. On the other side, the Army was sitting at 42.4 percent in the first half. Ericson was the only player in double digits at the break with 15. Smith was right behind her with eight.

American opened the third quarter playing a bit crisper offensively and were able to cut Army’s lead to 11 with 6:37 left in the period. The Black Knights quickly put to bed any thought of a comeback though, responding with a 17-4 run to push its lead 24.

Both teams traded baskets to close out the quarter and Army led 61-39 after 30 minutes.
The fourth period was all Army, as it got out to its biggest lead of the game – 33 – with 1:23 left to play.

Tade was crucial for the strong second half by the Black Knights, scoring 20 points in the second half. It’s the most points scored in a half by an Army player this season.