Despite a competitive effort, the AU women’s basketball team fell to the United States Military Academy in a hard-fought contest between the two conference rivals Feb. 22 in West Point, NY.
Throughout the game, neither team gain a substantial lead. Both teams dominated offensively in the first half as both shot above 40 percent from the field.
Eagles (19-8, 12-4 PL) junior forward Arron Zimmerman drained a jump shot and followed up with a three-pointer, giving AU a 19-16 lead with 10:05 remaining in the first half. However, the Black Knights (19-7, 11-4 PL) scored on their next two possession to settle the score at 20-19.
AU built a four-point lead with half time approaching as Army responded with senior forward Jen Hazlett’s three. This allowed Army to pull away within a point and make the score 33-32 at the half.
At the start of the second half, Army pulled away with a 46-38 lead thanks to a layup from Danielle Failor, forcing the Eagles to call a timeout.
The Eagles could not close the gap until Zimmerman hit two three-pointers less than a minute apart, pulling AU within two with 1:27 left in regulation. Senior guard Alexis Dobbs hit another three and two foul shots in the closing minutes, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Black Knights as AU fell short by a score of 64-60.
As a team, the Eagles shot 37 percent from the field compared to Army’s 40 percent. Despite this, many of the Eagles had strong individual offensive performances, particularly Zimmerman. She dominated with 20 points, scoring a third of the team’s total points. Zimmerman also contributed two rebounds and the team’s lone block. Dobbs led the team in rebounds with six and also scored 17. Junior forward Jen Dumiak contributed 10 points and two rebounds.
On the defensive side of the court, the Eagles struggled to hold their own with Army. The Eagles were outrebounded by Army 40-28 and had a difficult time scoring due to Army’s tough defense.
The Eagles committed fewer turnovers than the Black Knights with nine compared to 12 for Army.
AU will play Navy Feb. 26 in its last conference home game before the Patriot League Tournament.
