Dec. 19, 2008
Box Score
WASHINGTON - Despite a Princeton surge late in
the second half, the American University women's basketball team
took a 59-44 win over the visiting Tigers in Bender Arena on Friday
to improve to 7-3 and keep its perfect record at home intact. Liz Leer led the
Eagles and all scorers with 17 points.
American (7-3) spotted Princeton a four-point lead to start the
game before embarking on a 10-1 run to lead 10-5. Leer had the hot
hand for the Eagles in the early minutes, scoring six points on 3-3
from the field. The Tigers fought back to knot the score at 10-all
just under the 13 minute mark on a three by Krystal Hill but were
not able to take advantage of an Eagle turnover, leaving the door
open for a Kristin Coles hoop
to give AU a 12-10 edge.
Princeton(4-6) reclaimed its first lead since the opening
minutes of the half with just under nine minutes to go on
back-to-back threes by Addie Micir, but Talicia Jackson
answered with her first three of the contest soon after and Leer
followed with a pair of jumpers to open up a 21-16 AU lead.
The Eagles outscored the Tigers 10-2 over the final two and a
half minutes in the first half to take a 31-20 lead into the
intermission. The American defense forced two shot clock violations
and allowed just two points off of free throws during that stretch
and built a double-digit lead despite shooting just 39.3 percent
(11-28) from the field.
Both teams found it difficult to get good looks at the basket
out of the break, but AU maintained a 12-point, 41-29 lead after
Jackson and Princeton's Laura Johnson exchanged a pair of
three-point baskets with just over 12 minutes to play. Micir and
Johnson hit a pair of threes for the Tigers to cut the lead to four
(41-37) with eight minutes to go putting the Eagles perfect home
record to the test.
American went on to score the next 11 points and held Princeton
to just seven over the final seven minutes to claim the 59-44 win.
Leer led all scorers with 17 points and picked up four blocks.
Nicole Ryan
finished with 10 points and three assists. Kirk picked up eight
points and a team-high seven rebounds. Pam Stanfield
finished with six assists.
Micir led Princeton with 14 points and Julia Berger grabbed
seven boards.
American will return to action on Sunday when they host
cross-city opponent Georgetown at 2 p.m. at Bender Arena.
