Nov. 15, 2008

Box Score

NEWARK, N.J. - The American University women's basketball team got out to a good start under new head coach Matt Corkery, defeating New Jersey Institute of Technology in its season opener by a 70-63 score on Friday in Newark. Talicia Jackson led the Eagles with 11 points and six rebounds, while Nicole Ryan scored 10 points in her first game back since the 2006-07 season.

Jackson scored five of her 11 points in the opening 2:18 to give the Eagles a 7-3 lead early on. The Highlanders fought back and took a 9-7 lead on a Jill Dickenson three and extended their lead to 11-6 with just over 16 to play in the half.

American responded with an 8-3 run over the next seven minutes to tie the score at 14-14 courtesy of a Raven Harris jumper with 9:30 remaining in the half. The Eagles would go on to score seven unanswered points, punctuated by a Ryan trey, before NJIT hit a three-point basket of its own with 7:47 on the clock to cut the AU lead to four.

The Eagles began to find their rhythm down the stretch and extended their lead to seven, 29-22, with 3:59 left in the first on an Ashley Yencho basket from Lisa Strack. American would score five unanswered points in the next 55 seconds to build its lead to 12, 34-22, courtesy of a Yencho three and a Strack layup.

Kehinde Oyelola scored a basket for NJIT with 1:19 remaining in the half to cut the AU lead to eight, which would stand as the final basket of the half and the Eagles took a 38-30 lead into the intermission.

A Michelle Kirk jumper three minutes into the second half built the AU lead to 11 before NJIT began chipping away at the deficit. The Highlanders cut the lead to just four on an Ivana Seric lay-up with 14:11 remaining in regulation, but the Eagles' Ebony Edwards took the next possession for three followed by a Ryan lay-in to give the AU a nine-point, 51-42 lead with 13 and a half minutes to play.

NJIT (0-1) would not go away quietly, however, and fought back to pull within three, down 51-48 on a Jessica Gerald basket. A Gerald free throw at 11:07 pulled the Highlanders within two and the Eagles found their lead at just one point on another made free three from Taiwo Oyelola with 9:45 to play.

American (1-0) used its veteran leadership down the stretch to pull away, as baskets from Ryan and Sahar Nusseibeh reclaimed a seven-point lead for the Eagles with just over seven to play. AU led by as many as eight points the rest of the way out before claiming the 70-63 win.

"We were able to get scoring contributions from a lot of players tonight," said first-year head coach Matt Corkery. "Our bench was able to come in and give us solid minutes and our upperclassmen hit big baskets down the stretch to preserve the win."

Jackson and Ryan were the only double-digit scorers for the Eagles, who saw 11 different players score at least four points in the win. Nusseibeh led AU with seven rebounds.

American will return to action for its home opener on Sunday when it hosts Drexel in non-conference play at 2 p.m. in Bender Arena.