NEW HAVEN, Conn. (Dec. 3, 2015) -- U.S. Military Academy at West Point Senior, Cadet Kelsey Minato scored 20 points in the second half to finish with a game-high 27 and help the Army West Point women's basketball team erase an 11-point deficit to come away with a 65-61 win over Yale at the Lee Amphitheater in New Haven Connecticut, Dec. 3.

Minato became the program's all-time leading scorer, finishing the evening with 1,951 career points. Army picks up its first road win to improve to 5-1 on the season, while Yale drops to 5-4.

Minato surpassed the previous standard of 1,941 points set by Army Hall-of-Famer Katie Macfarlane (USMA '04) in 2004. Minato shot 16-of-18 from the foul line and added a season-best six assists, while sophomore Cadet Janae McNeal totaled career bests of 11 points and six boards.

"This achievement is not an individual achievement, it's a team achievement," Minato said. "I've been very fortunate to have a coach like Coach Magarity and to have teammates that really do a good job of finding me in the offense and getting me good passes. I'm very fortunate and very lucky. It is a team achievement, but it feels nice."

Senior Cadet Aimee Oertner finished with her second double-double of the year, totaling 10 points and 10 rebounds and sophomore Cadet Daizjah Morris chipped in eight points off the bench.

Nyasha Sarju paced Yale with 23 points, while Whitney Wyckoff posted 13 points and eight rebounds. Tamara Simpson finished with nine points and seven boards.

Yale opened up a 10-4 lead with 1:46 left in the first period before outscoring Army, 6-5, in the remainder of the quarter to hold a 16-9 advantage after one.

"Tonight was a career night for Kelsey, but was also a typical performance for her," said head coach Dave Magarity. "(Coaching Kelsey) has been one of the great experiences of my career. Watching her growing and watching her blossom, not only as a player but as a person, has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career."

The Black Knights cut the gap to three points on a pair of occasions in the opening quarter, doing so for the final time after a Morris three with 1:24 on the clock to make the score 10-7. The hosts scored twice in the last 42 seconds of the quarter to control the seven-point lead after one.

Army netted the first five points of the second period as part of a 7-3 run to start the quarter, after a triple by Minato and a pair of lay-ins from Oertner. Yale went off on an 8-0 run to make the score 27-16 by the 2:40 mark. Included in the scoring spurt was an old-fashioned three-point play from Lena Munzer that brought the score to 24-16 with 5:15 to play in the second.

Minato hit four free-throws to over the next 24 seconds to begin a 6-1 run by the Black Knights that brought the visitors back to a six-point deficit, 28-22, with 1:28 left in the first half. Wyckoff scored the final four points of the period, on a three-pointer and a free-throw, as Yale entered the break with a 10-point advantage, 32-22.

Minato buried a three-pointer 2:14 into the second half as Army scored the first four points of the period to trim its deficit to six. Oertner hit a jumper from the free-throw stripe to extend the Black Knight run to 6-0 before Simpson converted a fast-break lay-up that was the result of the Bulldogs finding a seam in Army's press to bring the score to 34-28.

Yale tallied nine of the next 11 points to extend its lead to 11, 41-30, before Minato knocked in two foul shots to kick start a 9-0 run that made the score 41-39 at the 2:37 mark of the third quarter. Army went 6-of-6 from the charity stripe during the stretch, including a 4-of-4 showing from Minato and a 2-of-2 performance from McNeal.

Minato converted a driving lay-up with 27 ticks on the clock in the period to net her 18th point of the evening and become Army's career scoring leader with 1,942 points. Her jumper made the score 44-44 and Oertner made a lay-in as time expired in the quarter to give the Black Knights a 46-45 advantage for their first lead since the 9:31 mark of the opening frame.

Army increased its lead to three points after a basket by McNeal that came 2:06 into the fourth period before the teams battled to knot the score up at 53-53 with 4:04 to play. McNeal came up with two offensive rebounds, with one resulting in the lay-in and the other turning into a pair of free-throws.

Minato made her third three-pointer of the contest to extend Army's lead to five, 58-53, with 3:03 left to play before freshman Cadet Madison Hovren sunk a pair of foul shots 35 seconds later to put the Black Knights in front by seven.

Sarju scored four points during a 6-1 Yale run that lasted 1:32 and brought the score to 61-59, in favor of the visitors. Following a pair of fouls by the Bulldogs to stop the clock, at the 18-second mark and the eight-second mark, respectively, Minato made all four of her free-throws to put Army up by the four-point margin that would stand as final.

Army is back at Christl Arena on Dec. 5, when it hosts UAlbany at 3 p.m.

Related Links:

Army West Point Athletics website

U.S. Army Garrison West Point website

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Cadet Kelsey Minato talks about her record breaking achievement