Media Information
Teams: American (14-7, 7-0 PL) vs. Lehigh (19-3, 6-1
PL)
Date & Time: Saturday, February 6, 2010, 7:00 p.m.
Location: Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, Pa.
Web Broadcast: Patriot League All*Access
Click
Here for Full Game Notes
The American University women's basketball team will travel to Bethlehem, Pa., to take on defending Patriot League champion Lehigh on Saturday night at 7 p.m. The Eagles are shooting for their ninth straight victory and an 8-0 conference start.
Halfway through the Patriot League schedule, American (14-7, 7-0 PL) sits one game ahead of Lehigh (19-3, 6-1 PL). The two teams have separated themselves in the standings from the rest of the pack, as Navy, Army and Bucknell currently sit in a third-place tie at 3-4 in conference play. Colgate, Holy Cross and Lafayette are each 2-5 in the league.
The Eagles lead the conference in scoring offense (65.0 ppg), scoring defense (50.0 ppg) and scoring margin (+15.0 ppg) in their league games.
Part of the reason for American's success in Patriot League play is due to its care for the basketball. American is tops in the Patriot League in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.3. No other conference team has higher than a 0.9 ratio in conference play. Sophomore Ebony Edwards leads the PL in the statistics with a remarkable 6.0 assist-to-turnover ratio (24 assists, four turnovers) in conference action. The Eagles have turned the ball over less than 10 times in each of their previous three games.
Junior Michelle Kirk paces the Eagles with a 19.3 scoring average this season, which is the highest in the conference. She scored her 1,000th career point in American's last Saturday, a 53-31 victory over Lafayette. The Leopards' 31 points marked the fewest points the Eagles have given up in a single-game since 1978-79.
Lehigh comes into Saturday's game riding a 29-game home winning streak. The Mountain Hawks have won six straight games since dropping the league opener to American on January 9, a thrilling 69-65 overtime victory for the Eagles. Kirk led all scorers in the game with a career-high 32 points on 10-of-21 shooting from the floor.
The Eagles lead the all-time series against Lehigh, 15-8, and hold a slight 5-4 advantage in games played in Bethlehem. Over the past three seasons, both American and Lehigh have identical 27-8 Patriot League records, which lead all conference programs.
Saturday's matchup will be broadcast live on Patriot League All*Access.
Click here for the full game notes.
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