La Salle’s season ends with a 74-63 loss to Army in the WNIT
Leading scorer Aryss Macktoon was limited to four points on 2-for 12 shooting and La Salle struggled to keep up with Army's pace.
A historic season for La Salle women’s basketball ended in West Point on Wednesday when the Explorers fell to Army 74-63 in the Super 16 round of the WNIT.
The Explorers (19-14) ended a 34-year WNIT appearance drought after clinching their first winning campaign since the 2022-23 season. The catalyst for La Salle’s winning ways had been Aryss Macktoon, the team’s leading scorer.
Evidently, the Black Knights (26-7) watched her tape — limiting Macktoon to four points on 2-for-12 shooting from the floor. As La Salle’s leading scorer failed to find the bucket, points came easily for the Black Knights, who never trailed. They shot 10-for-19 from beyond the arc against an Explorers team that was the best at defending the three in the Atlantic 10 this season.
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With the win, the Black Knights became the first team in Patriot League history to make the WNIT’s Great 8. Army will face the winner of Marshall and Youngstown State, who play Friday.
Freshman forward Kiara Williams led the Explorers with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Next to her in the stat sheet was redshirt junior guard Ashleigh Connor, who scored 19 points but turned the ball over a game-high seven times.
For Army, four players scored in double-figures led by senior guard Reese Ericson’s 19 points. Kya Smith added 16 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
The Explorers struggled to match Army’s pace and trailed 45-29 at the half.
The start of the second half proved more of the same, with the Black Knights amassing a 60-34 lead after the first eight minutes. The Explorers did show a bit of fight, putting together a 15-3 spanning the final moments of the third quarter and into the fourth. Eventually though, the Black Knights found their momentum again.