Passive second half leads to loss for women’s basketball at Army

The Boston University women’s basketball team traveled to West Point, New York on Wednesday and faced the United States Military Academy in both teams’ penultimate regular season game.

BU (5-23, 2-15 Patriot League) fell to Army (21-6, 13-4 Patriot League) 64-50 in the contest.  The Black Knights came into the game with just American University above them in Patriot League standings. Both Army and American have already clinched home games in the Patriot League quarterfinals. The last time BU and Army faced, on Jan. 29, BU lost 65-40.

BU went into halftime down 35-33 after gaining a 19-17 lead at the 10:37 mark. The Terriers stayed with the Black Knights until the 5:29 mark of the first half when Army guard Kelsey Minato sunk a 3-pointer. She had 26 points on the night on 9-for-15 shooting. Minato leads the Patriot League in scoring, averaging 22.3 points per game. Minato is also second in Patriot League standings for 3-point field goals, having collected 66 so far this year.

Though Minato carried the majority of scoring responsibility for Army, the Terriers received offensive contributions from multiple players. Senior forward Mollie McKendrick helped stretch the defense and was successful both inside and outside the paint. McKendrick shot 58.3 percent from the field and scored 15 points for BU. On the season, McKendrick averages 9.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

“Mollie did a good job scoring, and I thought in particular she was good in supportive ball screen defense tonight,” said BU coach Katy Steding in an email after the game.

Sophomore forward Meghan Green, a steady contributor for the Terriers this season, also added nine points. Green remains ninth in the Patriot League in scoring and rebounding, averaging 12.1 points per game along with 6.7 rebounds per game. Junior guard Clodagh Scannell and freshman forward Kara Sheftic added seven each, while redshirt junior guard Troi Melton earned six points.

While BU remained competitive in the first half, the second half was a different story as the Black Knights took control of the game. Army extended its pressure into the full court during the first half, and BU was able to take advantage, earning two more fast break points than Army in the half. However, Army prevented BU from doing the same in the second half.

Army outscored BU 29-17 in the second half, in part to strong 3-point scoring. The Black Knights shot 7-for-14 from beyond the arc, and though BU shot 50 percent from long range the last time both teams faced, BU was just 1-for-7 Wednesday night. Army’s field goal percentage also improved to 50 percent in the second half.

At the beginning of the second half, the Black Knights had an 18-1 run that extended their lead beyond the point of return for the Terriers. BU was unable to get the lead down below fifteen points until 3:31 left in the game.

“They ramped up pressure, and we wilted. We had a tough time executing looks and hitting shots in the second half,” Steding said.

Army had 15 turnovers, just one fewer than BU, yet turnovers seemed to plague BU more toward the game’s end.

“I think that generally speaking, we cannot expect to win games when we are playing hard for 20 minutes and then give a very inconsistent effort for 20 minutes,” Steding said. “We were aggressive in first and then passive in the second.”

When asked what she needs her team to improve on this week, Steding said finishing shots and offensive rebounding will both be areas of focus as the team prepares for its final regular season game Saturday against the College of the Holy Cross.