Reese Ericson’s final Army-Navy regular-season basketball game wasn’t a goodbye to Army’s rival.
Ericson’s potential, game-tying 3-pointer may have fallen short at the buzzer. But, the result – a 54-51 Navy win – wasn’t deterring Army’s only senior from letting it be known that the Black Knights want one more shot at the Mids.
During the postgame, Ericson shared with Navy coach Tim Taylor that she, “will see him again.”
“We’ll be back,” Ericson said in Army’s postgame press conference. Army lost to Navy 60-44 on Jan. 24 in Annapolis. “We showed that we could play with them and what it takes to win and we’ll be back. I’m not done with my Army-Navy.”
The battle for first place in Patriot League lived up to the expectations. The teams were separated by no more than six points in the second half.
Navy (19-7, 14-2 conference) clinched the Patriot League regular-season title and the Star with the victory. Army (21-6, 12-4) dropped into a second-place tie with Holy Cross. Two league games remain.
“I know what we have on this roster and I know we are a championship team,” Army first-year coach Katie Kuester said. “I feel in my soul that we are going to have to go through them in order to do that.”
Ericson, who had defeated Navy at home in her first three seasons, hit her fourth 3-pointer to bring Army within three points with 14 seconds left. She was contacted by a Navy defender and could have easily been awarded an additional free throw but no call was whistled. Army tied up Navy forcing a possession arrow for the Black Knights with 11 seconds left. Navy fouled Army twice before Ericson’s missed 3-pointer from the left wing as time expired.
“I wouldn’t want anyone else to take that last shot, other than her,” Kuester said. “I thought it was a good solid look.”
Ericson finished with a team-high 13 points. She now has 84 3-pointers on the season and 266 in her career.
Camryn Tade added 11 points and Brooke Wilson had 10 points for the Black Knights, which led 16-7 in the first quarter. Kya Smith, Army’s leading scorer, was scoreless in 29 minutes.
Navy freshman guard Zoe Mesuch, who starred at nearby Wallkill High School, had a team-high 14 points, including two critical baskets in crunch time.
