Dec. 21, 2008

Box Score

WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball team dropped its first home game of the season on Sunday to Georgetown, falling 69-54 at Bender Arena, despite holding the Hoyas to a 35.8 shooting percentage. Liz Leer scored all 12 of her points in the second half to lead the Eagles and added 13 rebounds and a game-high four assists for her second career double-double.

The Eagles took their first lead of the contest at 14:17 when they corralled in a pair of offensive rebounds that resulted in a Raven Harris jumper to give AU a 7-6 advantage. Georgetown would rebuild a two-point edge, before Michelle Kirk, who scored nine of the Eagles first 14 points, and Talicia Jackson combined for six points to put the American up 17-15.

With the Hoyas leading 20-17 with just over seven minutes on the clock, Nicole Ryan hit a pair of mid-range jumpers on consecutive possessions and Jackson took a charge on the other end of the floor before knocking down a jumper of her own to give AU a 6-0 run and a 23-20 lead. Georgetown answered with eight straight points before Jackson knocked down a three to stop the streak. Meredith Cox hit a basket at the buzzer for the Hoyas to give the Blue and Gray a 30-26 lead at the half.

American (7-4) used a 7-2 run coming out of the break to retake the lead, up 33-32, but Georgetown matched it with 11 unanswered points to build its biggest lead of the game, up 43-33. The Eagles began to chip away at the deficit and pulled within six points, down 51-45, following a Jackson basket, but a Karee Houlette three put the Hoyas back up nine with just under seven minutes to play.

Georgetown (9-2) started to pull away down the stretch, building an 11-point lead with three and a half minutes to play, but AU continued to put pressure on the Hoyas. A Raven Harris basket put the Eagles back within nine, down 63-54, but could not make up the deficit. American dropped its first home game of the season to the Hoyas by a final score of 69-54.

Jackson and Michelle Kirk joined Leer in double-digit scoring, finishing with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Monica McNutt led the Hoyas and all scorers with 16 points and Adria Crawford and Jaleesa Butler grabbed a team-high 11 boards. Houlette and Butler each chipped in 11 points.

American will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 28 when the head to Radford for a 2 p.m. tip.