March 2, 2006
WEST POINT, N.Y. - No. 1 Army extended its home winning streak to 10 games as the Black Knights rolled past No. 8 Lafayette, 74-55, in the quarterfinal of the Patriot League Tournament on Thursday night at Christl Arena. Army (18-10) advances to the tournament semifinal for just the eighth time in 16 years, and the first time since the 2003 Patriot League Tournament. Lafayette ends its season 8-20 overall.
In the first quarterfinal at Christl Arena, No. 5 Colgate defeated No. 4 Navy, 60-55. Megan Ballard led the Raiders with 17 points, while Navy put four players in double figures. Betsy Burnett and Kate Hobbs both ended their seasons with double-doubles. Burnett had 10 points and 10 boards, while Hobbs grabbed 16 rebounds and added 14 points.
Army scored on the opening possession as Jen Hansen connected on a three-point basket just 21 seconds into the contest, setting the tone for the Black Knights. Patriot League "Player of the Year" Cara Enright scored 11 points during the first five minutes, in which six points came from behind the arc, helping Army to a 19-9 advantage at the 14:58 mark.
A 13-2 Black Knight spurt made the margin 32-11 with 10:23 remaining in the half. Patriot League "Rookie of the Year" Alex McGuire and Ashley Magnani each chipped in four points during the run. Lafayette trimmed the margin to 32-15 less than a minute later, before Enright would again nail a three-pointer. Enright's bucket started a 10-2 Army run as it took its largest lead of the first stanza with 4:40 left to play, 42-17.
Lafayette was able to cut the deficit to 44-31 with 1:45 to play in the half as Kristin Doherty connected on three three-pointers. But, Army had the final basket of the half as Enright stayed perfect from the floor (6-6) with a basket from beyond the arc as the buzzer sounded making the halftime score 47-31.
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Enright led all scorers at the half with 18 points. Army shot 61.5 percent from the field in the first stanza on 16-of-26 shooting. The Black Knights were also 6-of-9 (66.7%) from the three-point line,
Lafayette began the second half with its sharp three-point shooting, narrowing the margin to 51-39 at the 15:17 mark. Army answered quickly with nine straight points to regain its 21-point advantage, 60-39, with 12:31 to play in the contest. During the run, Hansen connected on Army's seventh three-point basket of the night, tying a season-high.
The closest the Leopards would come within the rest of the game was 14 points, 62-48, at the 7:19 mark as the Black Knights rolled to the 74-55 victory.
Enright finished with a game-high 22 points, while Hansen was the other Black Knight in double figures with 10 points. Megan Evans was the leader on the boards with six rebounds.
Top-seeded Army will face No. 5 Colgate in the semifinal game on Saturday, March 4, at 1 p.m. at Christl Arena. The contest will be televised live on CSTV and will be shown again on Sunday, March 5, at 10 a.m.
