Nov. 13, 2007
Box Score
WASHINGTON - American University women's
basketball was defeated by Virginia Commonwealth, 71-38, on Tuesday
night in its 2007-08 home opener. The Eagles drop to 1-1 on the
season while the Rams improve to 2-0.
VCU opened the first half on a 17-3 run and never looked back,
with sophomore guard La'Tavia Rorie netting eight of those points.
Rorie finished the night with 13 points and was one of three Rams
to tally double-digits. American University was able to end its
scoring drought in the 11th minute on a short jumper by Maggie
Smith-Davidson, but VCU answered with eight points of its own,
not allowing the Eagles to tighten the gap. It was Smith-Davidson
who again ended the run, but similar to the opening minutes,
Virginia Commonwealth outscored the Eagles 10-4 to close out the
opening stanza with the 34-13 advantage.
Carrying the momentum into the second, the Rams kept the Eagles
from connecting on a field goal for the first five minutes,
extending their lead to 30 with 14:41 remaining on the clock. Talicia
Jackson netted a jumper to put AU in the books for the first
time in the final frame. With 7:36 remaining in the game, freshman
guard Ashley
Yencho connected on a three-point play to jumpstart an Eagles'
run. American closed out the final two minutes on an 8-0 run,
including back to back buckets from Pam Stanfield.
American University wasn't able to overcome its slow first half,
shooting just 19 percent. With baskets from three-point land
usually expected from a sharp Eagles' squad, the Rams used
in-the-face defense to limit AU to 0 for 12 shooting from long
range. American University did stay composed at the free-throw
line, knocking down 12-18 from the charity stripe for 66.7 percent
shooting.
American University returns to action on Friday night at 7:30
p.m., making the short trip to local rival Georgetown University.
