Women’s Basketball Downs Loyola Maryland, 61-48

Wednesday, February 18

West Point, N.Y.

6 p.m.

Army West Point

21-5,12-3Patriot

Loyola Maryland

11-15,7-8Patriot

Loyola Maryland

Army West Point

Women’s Basketball Downs Loyola Maryland, 61-48

February 18, 2026 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – For the fifth straight game, the Army West Point women's basketball team came out on top, defeating Loyola Maryland 61-48 in Christl Arena on Wednesday night.

Army (21-5, 12-3) played stout defense and smart offense for 40 minutes, leaving Loyola Maryland (11-15, 7-8) little room to find success. As a result, Army led for over 36 minutes and picked up its seventh double-digit conference victory.

A massive key to the Black Knights success was its ball control, as they turned it over just eight times. It marks the third time in the last four games that Army has eight or fewer turnovers.

Freshman forward Reganne Reardon was the star of the show, as the Chicago native scored a career-high 16 points on 6-12 shooting.

With the win, Head Coach Katie Kuester is now tied for second for the most wins by a head coach in their first year with Army (21). Harold Johnson also won 21 games in his first season as a head coach (1980-81). Dave Magarity won 24 games in his inaugural season in 2006-07.

How it Happened
Led by Brooke Wilson, the Black Knights got off to a great start in the opening quarter. The sophomore guard buried a pair of threes to open the scoring and was responsible for Army's first nine points of the game. Despite Wilson's hot start, both teams were sluggish in the opening 10 minutes as Army took a 13-8 lead into the second quarter. The two sides combined to shoot 7-24 in the period.

The second quarter was a much different story, as the two teams combined for 36 points. Camryn Tade opened the second period with a three to push the Army lead to eight, and Kya Smith extended it to 10 with a layup off a beautiful pass from Fiona Hastick. The Smith bucket forced Loyola Maryland to burn its first timeout of the game.

Army continued to drive up its advantage, which was capitalized by a Reardon 3-point play in the paint to put the Black Knights ahead 25-11. With Loyola Maryland on the brink of collapsing, the Greyhounds went on a 9-2 run to make it a seven points game with less than two minutes before halftime. Loyola Maryland was able to hit a clutch mid-range jumper just before the horn to keep its deficit at 32-25 at half.

Loyola Maryland had a very efficient second period, going 7-12 from the field. The Black Knights weren't as efficient but still shot over 40 percent to keep a strong lead going into the final two periods of play. Brooke Wilson had a team-high nine points through 20 minutes, while Smtih was right behind her at eight.

Army's best offensive output came in the third period, as the Black Knights scored 22 points on 72.7 percent shooting. It wasn't all smooth sailing in the period for Army, though, as the Greyhounds carried over its good shooting from the second quarter into the opening possessions and were able to cut Army's lead all the way down to three with 7:46 to play in the third.

The Black Knights were able to pad their lead a little bit as the quarter progressed and took a 44-36 lead into the media timeout. Army continued to add to its advantage over the final 3:09 of the frame, outscoring Loyola Maryland 10-4 to close out the period. Reese Ericson and Reardon each had six points for Army, as the Black Knights made 8-11 shots. The Greyhounds were 6-12.

Defense was the story in the fourth quarter, as each team scored less than eight points. Army was 3-10 to close out the game but held Loyola Maryland to an even worse 2-11. The Black Knights led never fell into single digits in the closing quarter.

By the Numbers
In addition to Reardon's strong 16 points, Smith added 14 and Tade had 10. Lex Therien had 16 points to lead Loyola Maryland.

Army finished the night shooting 42.3 percent from the field, 30 percent from distance and 73.3 percent from the line. While it wasn't the cleanest offensive showing, the defense continued to be dominant. Loyola Maryland sat exactly at 40 percent, while going 3-13 from deep. Army entered the game with the top scoring defense in the Patriot League.

Smith had five assists to lead Army, who finished with 14 apples. Players joining Smith with multiple assists were Brooke Wilson (3), Ericson (2) and Soleil Montrose (2). The Black Knight defense forced Loyola Maryland into 15 turnovers, as five Army players recorded at least one steal.

In the board battle, Army was outrebounded 30-27. Smith and Taylor Wilson had eight each. Wilson also added two blocks down low.

Army had the advantage in points off turnovers (13-6), second chance points (5-0) and bench points (18-9). Loyola Maryland led in paint points, 30-28.

Quotable – Head Coach Katie Kuester
"We say all the time, shot attempts over turnovers. We've really bought into that. I think our ball control in general – we value the basketball. On the flip side with the assists, we enjoy finding each other and putting each other in successful situations. We take a lot of pride in taking care of that ball when we can."

Up Next
First place will be on the line on Saturday, as Army welcomes Navy into Christl Arena for a nationally televised battle between the top two teams in the Patriot League. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. on CBS Sports Network and The Varsity Network. In addition, the game will serve as the annual Star Game, which is part of the Army-Navy Star Series Presented by USAA.

Game 26 Notables
• Reganne Reardon had a career-high 16 points on 6-12 shooting. It was tied for a game-high in points.
• Also joining Reardon in double-digits was Kya Smith with 14 points and Camryn Tade with 10 points.
• Brooke Wilson opened the scoring for Army with nine straight points in the first quarter.
• The Black Knights shot 42.3 percent from the field. Army is 15-1 (9-1) this season when shooting 40 percent or better.
• The Army defense held Loyola Maryland to 40.0 percent shooting. The Black Knights are 19-1 (10-1) when its opponents shoot less than 50 percent from the field.
• Army moves to 22-9 all-time against Loyola Maryland and has won the last eight matchups. The win also marks Army's fourth series sweep of the season in conference play.
• Katie Kuester's 21 wins this year are tied for the second-most by a first-year head coach in program history. Harold Johnson won 21 in 1980-81, while Dave Magarity holds the record at 24 in 2006-07.