Wildcats Battle Hard but Edged by Army West Point, 60-59

Saturday, December 7

Durham, N.H.

1 PM

University of New Hampshire

5-5,0-0America East

Army West Point

7-1,0-0Patriot

Army West Point

New Hampshire

Avery O'Connor scored a season-high 11 points

Photo by: Stu Horne

12/7/2024 3:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

DURHAM, N.H. – The University of New Hampshire women's basketball team lost a hard-fought battle against Army West Point, 60-59, on Saturday afternoon at Lundholm Gym.

Sophomore guard Eva DeChent (Westchester, N.Y.) led the Wildcats with 26 points, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

The 'Cats fall to 5-5 on the season, while the Black Knights improve to 7-1.

Up Next

UNH travels to face the University of Pittsburgh on Dec. 19 at 2:30 p.m.

first quarter

The Black Knights opened with four consecutive 3-pointers to take a 12-2 lead, prompting a UNH timeout at the 7:25 mark.
Army extended its lead to 20-4 before a pull-up jumper from DeChent followed by an Avery O'Connor (Dedham, Mass) 3-pointer ignited the UNH offense.
UNH closed the quarter on a 6-0 run, with four points from sophomore Sharmela Reid (Montreal, Quebec) narrowing the gap to 21-13.
Junior Diana Eliasson (Stockholm, Sweden) added a late bucket, bringing the score to 21-15 at the end of the first.

second quarter

·      Army started the second quarter with a 7-2 run, pushing its lead to 28-17 at the under-five media timeout.
·      The Black Knights hit a tough bucket at the buzzer, making it 31-20 at the half.
·      DeChent accounted for all five of UNH's points in the second quarter.

third quarter

· UNH stormed out of halftime with a 13-0 run, including nine points from DeChent, to take its first lead (33-31) at the 5:08 mark.
· The teams traded baskets the remainder of the quarter, finishing tied at 41-41.

fourth quarter

·      Army took a 47-44 lead, but DeChent responded with four straight points to put UNH ahead by one at the 6:36 mark.
·      The Black Knights hit back-to-back 3 pointers and converted two free throws, building a 58-52 lead with 3:50 to play.
·      O'Connor knocked down her third 3-pointer to bring the Wildcats within one (58-57) with two minutes remaining.
·      Senior Clara Gomez (Barcelona, Spain) hit a jumper in the paint off a DeChent assist, giving UNH a 59-58 lead with 25 seconds left.
·      Army drew a foul and sank both free throws to regain the lead at 60-59 with 17.7 seconds remaining.
·      UNH's final possession came up empty as Army escaped with the win.

Unh notebook

·      DeChent recorded her 10th consecutive double-digit scoring game to open the season.
·      O'Connor set season highs with 11 points and three 3-pointers (3-for-6).
·      Junior Lucia Melero Sabat (Barcelona, Spain) contributed six points, a game-high seven rebounds, and a blocked shot.

inside the numbers

·      UNH shot .435 (20-for-46) from the field and .364 (4-for-11) from downtown, while Army shot .377 (20-for-53) from the field and .333 (9-for-27) from three.
·      The Wildcats outrebounded the Black Knights 31-29.
·      There were eight ties and eight lead changes throughout the game.