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Eagles' Defense Smothers Army in 49-41 AU Win
Hunt, Schuyler combine for 29 points

Junior forward Chanel Hunt scored15 points and added nine boards and seven steals in a 49-41 win over Army Thursday night.

Feb. 26, 2004 | Boxscore

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The American University women’s basketball team used its defense to smother Army, holding the Black Knights to the fourth-lowest output in recent school history and forcing 34 Army turnovers, and got just enough offense out of Chanel Hunt (Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft) and Kaitlin Schuyler (Baltimore, Md./Mercy) to win, 49-41, Thursday at Christl Arena.

AU trailed 37-33 with 9:20 remaining in the game, after Army’s Megan Flynt hit her third three-pointer of the second half. However, AU stepped up its defense and held the Black Knights scoreless for nearly five minutes while the Eagles scored 10 points to take a 43-37 lead with just less than five minutes left. Army got no closer than five the rest of the way. Schuyler and Hunt combined to go four-for-four from the line over the last minute of the game to ice it for the Eagles.

Army held a 13-11 advantage at the 11:22 mark of the first half, but the Eagles’ defense stiffened. AU did not allow the Black Knights to score over the next eight minutes, while the Eagles built up an 11-point lead with 3:34 left in the half. Army’s Lindsay Brent finally broke the scoreless streak, but AU went into the locker room with a 28-18 lead. The Eagles forced 17 turnovers and allowed the Black Knights to shoot just 35 percent in the opening period. American also took advantage of nine offensive boards in the first half that led to 11 second-chance points.

Hunt led AU with a game-high 15 points, nine boards and seven steals. Schuyler chipped in 14 points, including four three-pointers, and three steals. Schuyler is now just 10 three-pointers away from tying the school record for most three-point field goals in a career. As a team, American nabbed 20 steals, tied for the seventh-most in school history.

Flynt led Army with 11 points. AU held Katie Macfarlane, the Patriot League’s preseason Player of the Year and Army’s leading scorer entering the contest at more than 19 points per game, to just seven points.

American, which improves to 14-12 overall and 9-4 in the Patriot League, will play its last regular-season game on Saturday, Feb. 28, at Lafayette. Game time is set for 1 p.m.