Jan. 6, 2009

Box Score

WASHINGTON - American took advantage of its opportunities of the free throw line to overcome a tough night from the field to defeat Brown 60-43 in women's basketball action on Tuesday at Bender Arena. The Eagles hit 20-of-22 (90.9 percent) from the stripe and limited the Bears to just two free throw attempts to earn their 10th win of the season in their final non-conference contest of the season.

American (10-5) took a 12-6 lead early on in the game, despite shooting just 3-7 from the field, courtesy of a few Brown fouls on three-point shots. The Eagles converted 5-of-6 from the stripe and held a 7-1 edge in rebounds in the opening five minutes of play.

The Eagles maintained a six-point advantage up until the 7:19 mark, leading 23-17, when Nicole Ryan knocked down a pair of free throws to stretch the lead to eight. American continued to have difficulty shooting and Brown rattled off five straight points before a floater in the paint from Raven Harris broke up the run to put the Eagles back up six, 27-21, with 5:29 left in the half.

Brown (1-2) trailed 31-23 before baskets by Sarah Delk and Jacobson pulled the Bears within four and the Eagles would take a 31-27 lead into the break. American hit 10-of-31 from the field compared to Brown's 13-of-31, but the Eagles connected on 10-of-11 from the line compared to the Bears' one point from one attempt to enter the second half with a lead.

The Bears used a 9-2 run after a Karly Grace three-pointer to open the second half and closed the Eagles lead to 33-32. Lisa Strack knocked down a pair of free throws for AU, but Grace answered with her second straight bucket while being fouled on the play and connected on the and-one to tie it up. Sadiea Williams gave Brown its first lead of the contest at 12:34 when she knocked down a jumper, forcing the Eagles to take a time-out.

Ryan scored her first basket from the floor out of the time out and hit her eighth free throw of the game (8-8) followed by a Strack field goal and American reclaimed a 40-37 edge with 11:34 to play. American scored five unanswered points before Courtney Lee got a basket for Brown to put the score at 45-39 with under eight minutes left in regulation.

After a pair of Ryan threes and a Liz Leer basket, American built a 14 point margin, its biggest of the game and extended it by two after Pam Stanfield hit two free throws to go up 55-39 with just under four minutes left in the game. The Eagles would lead by as many as 17 down the stretch and took the 60-43 win.

Ryan led American in scoring and finished with 21 points (5-of-12) and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the line. Jackson scored 11 points while Leer finished with 10 points, four blocks and two steals. Michelle Kirk had a game-high five assists and chipped in eight rebounds.

Brown was led by Jacobson's 12 points and Lee grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

The Eagles will begin the Patriot League portion of their schedule on Saturday when they head to Lehigh (11-4) for a 2 p.m. contest.