Box Score
NEW YORK – Facing its second nationally
ranked opponent of the season, the Army women’s basketball
team took center stage at Madison Square Garden to take on No.
14/13 Rutgers in the first game of the third annual Maggie
Dixon Classic. On an emotional day that celebrates the memory
of former Army head coach Maggie Dixon, the Black Knights saw
their four-game win streak come to an end in a 59-38 setback
against the Scarlet Knights.
Senior G Alex
McGuire led Army with 16 points, while sophomore F Erin
Anthony followed with 10 points and a team-high five
rebounds. Rutgers’ G Epiphany Prince topped all players with
25 points. C Kia Vaughn and G Brittany Ray added 12 points
apiece, while Ray added a game-high eight rebounds and three
steals.
"I thought that we did some good things defensively today,"
said head coach Dave Magarity. "It's just tough for us to
match-up with a team like Rutgers. I thought Alex (McGuire)
had a solid afternoon. We just have take advantage of when
we're open and shoot the ball. Rutgers is just a tremendous
team with great size and really talented guards. We'll take
away a lot of learning points from this game."
The Scarlet Knights pounded the ball inside early and
often, getting Vaughn the ball on three straight possessions
before Army was able to get on the board. Rutgers continued to
prevent Army from getting is offense going, establishing a
12-2 lead just under seven minutes into the contest.
McGuire’s pair of free throws (9:13) and three-pointer at
the 7:29 mark capped a quick 7-3 Army run and made it a 17-10
game. Rutgers answered, however, with a Prince three-pointer
with 7:53 to go. Army reenergized and netted eight points in
the final two minutes, including a pair of McGuire triples, to
enter the break trailing by a 33-21 margin.
Neither team scored for the first three-plus minutes of the
second half. Prince got Rutgers moving with a triple from the
left baseline and a Ray free throw seconds later allowed the
Scarlet Knights to take their largest lead of the game, 37-21,
with 16 minutes to play. Army, meanwhile, endured over a
six-minute drought to start the second half. McGuire’s jumper
with 13:39 remaining put the Black Knights on the board, while
sophomore G Jessie
Coiffard’s three-pointer from the top of the key
(12:21) cut the deficit to 41-26.
The Black Knights sliced the deficit to 12, 48-36,
following an Anthony putback with just under four minutes on
the clock. From there, the Black Knights were unable to get
any closer as Rutgers took advantage of its size and trips to
the free throw line down the stretch.
Aside from McGuire and Anthony, Army’s scoring came from
senior F Megan
Evans (four points), sophomore G Nalini
Hawkins (four points), Coiffard (three points) and
senior G/F Courtney
Wright (one point).
Army breaks for the next week for final exams and resumes
play on Saturday, Dec. 20, to take on Presbyterian. A 1 p.m.
tip at Christl Arena is scheduled.
Game Notes: The annual Maggie Dixon
Classic is played to honor the memory of former Army head
coach Maggie Dixon ... Dixon led Army to its only Patriot
League title in 2005-06, but passed suddenly on April 6, 2006,
after suffering a heart arrhythmia ... this year’s senior
class was represent the last Army players that played under
Dixon ... No. 1/1 Connecticut defeated Penn State, 77-63, in
the second game of the women’s basketball doubleheader at The
Garden ... 9,417 spectators attended the event, which also
featured a special video presentation and singing of “From a
Distance” in Dixon’s honor in between contests ... Alex
McGuire and Erin
Anthony extended their double-digit scoring streaks to
10 and five games, respectively ... Rutgers has now won all
four meetings against Army all-time ... Army also fell to
nationally ranked Ohio State on Nov. 16 of this
year.
