WEST POINT – A surefire way to trigger an attack is to hit the 3-ball.
Army averaged seven trebles per game last season but opened the new campaign by tying a school record with 15 as the Black Knights beat Emmanuel 77-58 on Monday night.
“It was definitely a good way to start the season,” said senior captain Sabria Hunter.
“We’ve done a lot of work this offseason, on and off the pitch,” rookie fullback Reese Ericson said. “So finally it all came together, it was really nice to see.”
Army dropped 45 points from beyond the arc, 20 from inside and another 12 from the foul line. Still, coach Missy Traversi would like to see a closer inside-outside balance, using the all-league striker Hunter a bit more.
Hunter had a brilliant stat line: six shots for nine, 14 rebounds, 18 points, four steals and three assists.
“She really did it all and that’s what she needs to do,” Traversi said. “She has to impose her will and I thought she was great tonight.”
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The long ball was flying though: 12 attempts in each of the first two quarters and 10 in each of the last two. Former Oregon club teammates and freshmen Ericson and Charlotte Richman had 18 and 9 points, respectively. Ericson sank four threes, Richman three, junior Lauren Lithgow five and rookie Julianna Laguna two.
“I like how free we were in terms of shooting behind the arc,” Traversi said. “I thought we let the ball fly and that’s a big part of our attack.”
Army led by one, 16-15, after the first quarter, but took a 38-25 lead by half. The Black Knights finished the Saints 20-10 in the final quarter.
“I thought we had good energy sometimes,” Richman said. “We came out a bit slow in the first quarter. … Just holding them to 10 points in the fourth quarter, I think we really like having it picked up.”
The sparse crowd was calmed when senior Army striker Kamryn Hall went down with an apparent knee injury in the second half. She was helped off the field, trying not to use the leg, and went straight to the training area. Hall missed the entire 2020-21 season due to injury.
Emmanuel got 10 points from Yannie Chan, Kiera Eubanks and Angelina Giordano. The Saints shot 34.5% from the field.
The Army travels to Binghamton on Thursday and Texas A&M on Sunday.
kmcmillan@th-record.com
Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
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