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Call it that Old Smithfield Magic.
For the second time in Missy Traversi's four-year term as head coach at Army, the Black Knights turned a road contest at Bryant on its ear to prove victorious. And this one had historical significance to it.
The Black Knights (25-7) used a 33-11 scoring run over the final 12 1/2 minutes to post a stunning 59-58 victory over the Bulldogs in the opening round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) - it is the first time Army has won a Division I postseason contest after three previous NCAA tourney and two WNIT setbacks in program history.
The prize is a second-round contest with Rutgers (11-19), which tied for 15th in the Big 10 Conference. The pair of Knights will clash in the round of 32 at 2 p.m. in Piscataway, N.J.
Trailing since the end of the first quarter, sophomore Fiona Hastick capped a team and personal 8-0 run with a free throw with 48 seconds left to put Army up 59-58. During the closing moments, Bryant missed three opportunities to pull ahead.
"Holy hell!,'' exclaimed Traversi moments after the game concluded. "What a team. What a fight. That was arguably one of our worst three quarters of basketball, and we came out on top.''
Traversi said "a light went on'' when the coaches turned to a smaller lineup. "I thought that caused them (Bryant) havoc. ... Funny thing about basketball: you make a plan and it doesn't work; you've got to throw it out and do something else.''
Half of Hastick's eight field goals came beyond the arc and she finished with 22 points (that's twice her average). "When she's got her offense going, we're formidable,'' Traversi said. Soleil Montrose had 12 off the bench and Trinity Hardy had 10. Reese Ericson was held to five.
Hastick had a 20-point outing at Lafayette on Jan. 15. Her only other 20-point effort was 24 against Holy Cross on Feb. 17, 2024.
Army shot just 32.4 percent for the contest but only after hitting 12 of its final 24 shot attempts during the decisive run, fueled by five 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Bryant managed to hit only three of 12 shots over the final 13-plus minutes, turning the ball over 11 times during the stretch - Army scored 27 points off 23 Bryant turnovers.
"We just talked about how we wanted to feel at the end of this game,'' Traversi said. "We were not happy with the product we were putting on the floor. But I think the difference maker, again, goes to that small lineup that we went to. ... We converted steals into scores, which we were struggling with all game.''
For Bryant (17-15) of America East, Mia Mancini scored 23 points (though she missed two shots in the closing minute), Mimi Rubino had 13 and Nia Scott 12. The Bulldogs shot 47.8 percent despite the cold close.
In December 2021, Army trailed by 11 (34-23) with 22 minutes to play and closed with an astounding 24-point victory (74-50) over the Bulldogs.
Army's 2005-06 team won the Patriot League, and lost to Tennessee in the NCAA tourney in Maggie Dixon's lone season as coach. Dave Magarity and All-American Kelsey Minato went to four consecutive postseason tourneys but lost them all: 2013 WNIT at Fordham; 2014 NCAA at Maryland; 2015 WNIT at St. John's; and, 2016 NCAA at Syracuse.
[email protected]
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
Round one - March 20
Army 59, at Bryant 58
Campbell 57, at Coastal Carolina 55
at Duquesne 70, Longwood 68
at Massachusetts 86, Stonehill 40
at Western Illinois 89, Lipscomb 74
at Abilene Christian 86, Northwestern State 59
at Texas Southern 54, Saint Mary's 50
at Texas Arlington 78, Incarnate Word 52
at Lindenwood 76, Tulsa 60
New Mexico State 54, at Pacific 49
Round one - Friday, March 21
Siena at Howard, 7 p.m. (winner vs. College of Charleston)
Alabama Birmingham at Illinois Chicago, 8 p.m. (winner vs. Butler)
Utah Valley at Air Force, 8:30 p.m. (winner vs. Washington State)
Round one - Saturday, March 22
Navy at Old Dominion, 2 p.m. (winner vs. Purdue Fort Wayne)
Alabama A&M at Chattanooga, 2 p.m. (winner vs. Troy)
Coppin State at Colgate, 5 p.m. (winner vs. Cleveland State)
Round two - Sunday, March 23
Army at Rutgers, 2 p.m.
Campbell at Southern Indiana, 7 p.m.
Duquesne at Miami Ohio, 1 p.m.
Massachusetts at Buffalo, 2 p.m.
Western Illinois at Illinois State, 3 p.m.
Lindenwood at Tarleton State, 3 p.m.
Second round - Monday, March 24
Texas Arlington at North Texas, 7 p.m.
Texas Southern at Louisiana Tech, 7:30 p.m.
Abilene Christian at Central Arkansas, 7:30 p.m.
New Mexico State at North Dakota State, 8 p.m.
Round two - March 23-25
Super 16 - March 26-28
Great Eight - March 29-31
Fab Four - April 1-2
Championship - April 5, 3 p.m. (CBSSN)
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army beats Bryant in WNIT first round 2025
Continue reading...
For the second time in Missy Traversi's four-year term as head coach at Army, the Black Knights turned a road contest at Bryant on its ear to prove victorious. And this one had historical significance to it.
The Black Knights (25-7) used a 33-11 scoring run over the final 12 1/2 minutes to post a stunning 59-58 victory over the Bulldogs in the opening round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) - it is the first time Army has won a Division I postseason contest after three previous NCAA tourney and two WNIT setbacks in program history.
The prize is a second-round contest with Rutgers (11-19), which tied for 15th in the Big 10 Conference. The pair of Knights will clash in the round of 32 at 2 p.m. in Piscataway, N.J.
Trailing since the end of the first quarter, sophomore Fiona Hastick capped a team and personal 8-0 run with a free throw with 48 seconds left to put Army up 59-58. During the closing moments, Bryant missed three opportunities to pull ahead.
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"Holy hell!,'' exclaimed Traversi moments after the game concluded. "What a team. What a fight. That was arguably one of our worst three quarters of basketball, and we came out on top.''
Traversi said "a light went on'' when the coaches turned to a smaller lineup. "I thought that caused them (Bryant) havoc. ... Funny thing about basketball: you make a plan and it doesn't work; you've got to throw it out and do something else.''
Half of Hastick's eight field goals came beyond the arc and she finished with 22 points (that's twice her average). "When she's got her offense going, we're formidable,'' Traversi said. Soleil Montrose had 12 off the bench and Trinity Hardy had 10. Reese Ericson was held to five.
Hastick had a 20-point outing at Lafayette on Jan. 15. Her only other 20-point effort was 24 against Holy Cross on Feb. 17, 2024.
Army shot just 32.4 percent for the contest but only after hitting 12 of its final 24 shot attempts during the decisive run, fueled by five 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Bryant managed to hit only three of 12 shots over the final 13-plus minutes, turning the ball over 11 times during the stretch - Army scored 27 points off 23 Bryant turnovers.
"We just talked about how we wanted to feel at the end of this game,'' Traversi said. "We were not happy with the product we were putting on the floor. But I think the difference maker, again, goes to that small lineup that we went to. ... We converted steals into scores, which we were struggling with all game.''
For Bryant (17-15) of America East, Mia Mancini scored 23 points (though she missed two shots in the closing minute), Mimi Rubino had 13 and Nia Scott 12. The Bulldogs shot 47.8 percent despite the cold close.
In December 2021, Army trailed by 11 (34-23) with 22 minutes to play and closed with an astounding 24-point victory (74-50) over the Bulldogs.
Army's 2005-06 team won the Patriot League, and lost to Tennessee in the NCAA tourney in Maggie Dixon's lone season as coach. Dave Magarity and All-American Kelsey Minato went to four consecutive postseason tourneys but lost them all: 2013 WNIT at Fordham; 2014 NCAA at Maryland; 2015 WNIT at St. John's; and, 2016 NCAA at Syracuse.
[email protected]
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
2025 WNIT schedule
Round one - March 20
Army 59, at Bryant 58
Campbell 57, at Coastal Carolina 55
at Duquesne 70, Longwood 68
at Massachusetts 86, Stonehill 40
at Western Illinois 89, Lipscomb 74
at Abilene Christian 86, Northwestern State 59
at Texas Southern 54, Saint Mary's 50
at Texas Arlington 78, Incarnate Word 52
at Lindenwood 76, Tulsa 60
New Mexico State 54, at Pacific 49
Round one - Friday, March 21
Siena at Howard, 7 p.m. (winner vs. College of Charleston)
Alabama Birmingham at Illinois Chicago, 8 p.m. (winner vs. Butler)
Utah Valley at Air Force, 8:30 p.m. (winner vs. Washington State)
Round one - Saturday, March 22
Navy at Old Dominion, 2 p.m. (winner vs. Purdue Fort Wayne)
Alabama A&M at Chattanooga, 2 p.m. (winner vs. Troy)
Coppin State at Colgate, 5 p.m. (winner vs. Cleveland State)
Round two - Sunday, March 23
Army at Rutgers, 2 p.m.
Campbell at Southern Indiana, 7 p.m.
Duquesne at Miami Ohio, 1 p.m.
Massachusetts at Buffalo, 2 p.m.
Western Illinois at Illinois State, 3 p.m.
Lindenwood at Tarleton State, 3 p.m.
Second round - Monday, March 24
Texas Arlington at North Texas, 7 p.m.
Texas Southern at Louisiana Tech, 7:30 p.m.
Abilene Christian at Central Arkansas, 7:30 p.m.
New Mexico State at North Dakota State, 8 p.m.
Round two - March 23-25
Super 16 - March 26-28
Great Eight - March 29-31
Fab Four - April 1-2
Championship - April 5, 3 p.m. (CBSSN)
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Army beats Bryant in WNIT first round 2025
Continue reading...
