2013 Patriot League Regular-Season Champions 2009-10 Without a single senior on the roster, a young and inexperienced Army team pulled out a fourthplace finish in the Patriot League in 2009-10. The Black Knights needed a key win at Bucknell in the final game of the regular season to clinch the No. 4 seed in the Patriot League Tournament. They left Lewisburg, Pa., with just that in the form of a 49-37 triumph. Despite enduring its first losing season in head coach Dave Magarity’s tenure at Army, the Black Knights tied Holy Cross and Colgate for fourth in the final Patriot League standings (5-9).
Hardwood History
Throughout the non-conference slate, Army took on a pair of nationally ranked opponents in No. 16 Oklahoma and No. 24 Georgia Tech. Playing on their home court, the Black Knights managed to hold a 29-23 halftime lead over the Sooners but could not hang on in what turned out to be a respectable 5946 defeat. For the second year in a row, junior F Erin Anthony led the Patriot League in rebounding (10.4 per game), while finishing second in scoring (16.1 points per game). The postseason accolades poured on for the Allentown, Pa., native as she was named first team All-Patriot League, first team All-Met Basketball Writer’s Association, Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year (second year in a row) and a CoSIDA/ ESPN The Magazine First Team All-American. The Black Knights drew No. 5 Holy Cross in the Patriot League Tournament, a team they swept during the regular season, at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass. While Anthony scored her 1,000th career point during the contest, Army came out on the short end of a 57-53 decision in the quarterfinal match-up. 2010-11 Army relied on the experience of four starting seniors to guide it through a 2010-11 season that saw the Black Knights finish in a tie for fourth place in the final Patriot League standings and record a 13-16 record.
The Black Knights reeled off a six-game win streak to start the New Year, won their first four Patriot League games and reclaimed the Army-Navy “Trophy” to highlight the 2010-11 campaign. The Black Knights drew the fifth seed in the Patriot League Tournament and bowed to Bucknell for the third time in the quarterfinals. As expected, Army leaned heavily on senior F Erin Anthony for the season’s entirety. The Allentown, Pa., native finished her decorated career as Army’s fourth all-time leading scorer and second all-time leading rebounder. She joins Katie Macfarlane ’04 as the only two players in program history to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Anthony also became the Black Knights’ all-time leader in blocked shots (234) in her final season. A first team All-Patriot League performer, Anthony garnered a fourth Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year award and was named an Academic AllAmerican for the second time. She was also one of 10 national finalists for the prestegious Lowes Senior CLASS Award. Army also bid farewell to starters Nalini Hawkins, Jessie Coiffard and Laura Baranek. Hawkins finished her career with 944 career points. 2011-12 Army went 14-16 and 8-6 in Patriot League contests, but despite the somewhat lackluster record, Army grew in leaps and bounds during a season that many predicted would find the Black Knights in the bottom half of the conference. Army was picked to finish seventh in the conference’s preseason poll after losing four starters from the 2010-11 squad, but ended in a tie for third with rival Navy at regular-season’s end. With 18.9 points per game, Anna Simmers averaged the highest scoring output against league foes since 2003-04, garnering All-Patriot League first-team honors. Combined with secondteam member Jen Hazlett, the pair formed the conference’s highest-scoring duo since 2002-03. Hazlett chipped in 13.1 points per league game to rank sixth in the conference.
Head coach Dave Magarity, who won his 100th game at the Academy to become just the third coach in program history to reach triple-digit victories, was tabbed Patriot League Coach of the Year for the first time in his career. Anna Simmers, Army’s leading scorer for two consecutive seasons, was voted the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the All-Patriot League first team. Freshman sensation Kelsey Minato made league history by becoming the first to be named both Player and Rookie of the Year in the same season. Minato, who was the conference’s leading scorer in league games, was also a unanimous All-Rookie Team choice and All-Patriot League first-team selection. Classmate Aimee Oertner was also a unanimous All-Rookie pick. Army set program records for lowest defensive scoring average, finishing the season ranked seventh in the country, as well as least amount of turnovers per game, which ranked 17th nationally. The Black Knights held two Patriot League foes below 40 points for the first time in history. Army won both the Gold and Silver Stars in the same season for the first time since 2009. Despite the successes, Army’s stay in the Patriot League Tournament came to an abrupt end as the top-seeded Black Knights were ousted by No. 8 Colgate at West Point in the quarterfinals. By virtue of winning the conference’s regular-season title, Army earned an automatic bid into the WNIT for the first time in program history. Despite leading for the majority of the first half, the Black Knights fell at Fordham in the first round, 55-46. At season’s end, Minato picked up another honor as the lone freshman to earn All-Met honors. Minato, who set an Army record for most Patriot League Rookie of the Week citations, became the sixth Black Knight to garner All-Met recognition as she was voted to the second team.
Hazlett was one of Army’s most balanced players during her sophomore campaign, averaging a team-best 7.5 rebounds per contest and racking up six double-doubles to lead the squad. In addition, her 30-point scoring performance against Colgate was the most by a Black Knight since 2005. Freshman Olivia Schretzman collected All-Rookie honors, marking the first time since 2007-08 the Black Knights nabbed a trio of certificates. Head coach Dave Magarity reached a personal milestone by earning his 400th career win and finished the year one win shy of the century mark for victories at Army.
Erin Anthony ‘11 is the only three-time Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year in conference history.
2012-13 The 2012-13 was one for the record book as Army went 22-8, including 11-3 in Patriot League play to claim a share of the regular-season conference title along with Navy, despite a season sweep of the Midshipmen. A young Army squad, which had just one senior play significant minutes and one junior on the roster, made Patriot League history as the Black Knights swept all four year-ending major awards.
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Kelsey Minato ‘16 became the first in Patriot League history to be voted both Player and Rookie of the Year in the same season.