Jan. 8, 2008

Box Score

WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball team could not overcome a 12-4 Maryland-Eastern Shore run to open the second half and fell, 60-56, in the Eagles' last non-conference game Tuesday at Bender Arena.

The Hawks took a commanding lead out of the intermission, going up 41-29 before the Eagles found an offensive rhythm. American (6-9) matched the UMES scoring output with an 18-6 run of its own and took the lead for the first time in the game with 7:47 left in regulation when Michelle Kirk converted a lay-up and connected on the and-one to put the Eagles up 48-47.

AU's Liz Hayes converted one-of-two from the charity stripe before UMES responded with nine unanswered points to take a seven point lead, 56-49, and held on down the stretch to earn the 60-56 victory.

Maryland-Eastern Shore (6-6) jumped out to an early lead, holding a 12-4 advantage at the 11:17 mark courtesy of a Tiffany Reid trey. The Eagles chipped away at the deficit, pulling within a point with 6:21 to play in the half when Talicia Jackson drained a three-point basket to make the score 17-16. The Hawks went on a 6-0 run over the next two minutes and would close out the half leading 29-25.

The Eagles out-rebounded the Hawks by a 44-34 margin but only shot 29.2 percent from the field. American was led by Hayes, who tallied 14 points. The Eagles got 10 points and four caroms from Sahar Nusseibeh off the bench.

Reid led all scorers with 22 points and added three steals and four rebounds. Chena Parker scored 13 points for the Hawks and tallied a team-high six boards.

The Eagles will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 12 when they host Lehigh at 2 p.m. to open up Patriot League play.