The women’s basketball team tackled a tough postseason opponent on Monday night, taking on three-seeded Army West Point and falling 65-57 in a back-and-forth affair.
After clinching a top-six seed to avoid the play-in game, the Leopards (7-11 Patriot League, 11-19 overall) looked to advance to the Patriot League semifinal for the first time since 2009.
“We definitely battled better than the past two times we’ve played them,” said sophomore guard Talia Zurinskas, with the Leopards losing by double-digits in the two previous contests against Army (14-4 Patriot League, 24-6 overall). “We didn’t get pushed around as much, and we really came ready to go.”
Junior guard Teresa Kiewiet started the spark for the Maroon and White, getting to her patented mid-range jumper for a pair of buckets. But it was the bench that carried the flame in the first quarter, with junior forward Tasha Chudy and junior guard Rosie Scognamiglio getting on the scoreboard.
The Leopards’ offense continued to click, as senior guard Sauda Ntaconayigize cashed in on a pair of triples in the second quarter, but foul trouble quickly became the name of the game as both squads saw key starters rack up fouls in a free-throw-heavy contest.
“When we were getting penetration and getting all the way to the rim, they were being really aggressive, so we were able to get to the line when we went up strong,” Kiewiet said.
After a series of lead changes, the Maroon and White entered halftime with a 33-32 lead. While Army remained consistent offensively, the Leopards sputtered, scoring just six points in the third quarter.
“They present a different challenge than most of the teams in the Patriot League, where they don’t really gap defensively, they stay out on our shooters and force us to play the one-on-one game,” Kiewiet said. “We weren’t really able to get threes in transition like we’re typically used to.”
Entering the final frame down 46-39, Kiewiet drew a pair of fouls attacking the basket, Army missed a series of open looks and Ntaconayigize knocked down a pull-up 3-pointer in transition, knotting the game at 46 apiece.
“The 3-pointer in general is what I do,” said Ntaconayigize, the sole Leopard to connect from downtown in the contest.
Kiewiet converted on four more free throws and scored in the low post to take a 52-51 lead with just over four minutes remaining. However, the Maroon and White went scoreless for the next few minutes, struggling to find open looks, while the Black Knights continued crashing the glass, getting offensive rebound after offensive rebound.
With Army up 61-55 in the final minute, the Leopards were forced to play the foul game in hopes of a miracle, but Army held strong to close out the 65-57 win. The Black Knights racked up 21 offensive rebounds to the Leopards’ four, a similar story to last season’s quarterfinal loss to Army, where the Black Knights tallied 23 offensive rebounds to eliminate the Leopards.
“The game kind of came down to those second-chance opportunities,” Chudy said. “We were working as hard as we can, but they’re a very athletic team.”
Junior Black Knights forward Kya Smith tallied 21 points and 21 rebounds, eight of which were offensive, to lead the charge against the Maroon and White.
Despite the quarterfinal loss, the Leopards will return most of their roster next season, with only Ntaconayigize graduating out of the team’s seven-man playoff rotation.
“None of us have really been in this type of moment before,” Zurinskas said. “This is really gonna help us prevail in the future.”