Feb. 26, 2009

Box Score

WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball team lost at Navy on Wednesday, 59-56, to fall to 18-10 overall and 8-5 in the Patriot League. The Eagles were led by junior Nicole Ryan who scored a game-high 21 points and hit five three's in the losing effort. Sophomore Michelle Kirk added 11 points and eight rebounds and senior Pam Stanfield dished out five assists.

American fell behind as Navy jumped out to a 20-7 lead with 8:22 left to play in the first half. Navy junior Kristin Bowen hit back-to-back three pointers to help the Midshipmen to the lead. Liz Leer got the Eagles back on the board with a layup that started a 9-1 run for American. That included five points from sophomore Ashley Yencho. The Eagles bounced back before the half, only allowing The Midshipmen to score seven points in the final eight minutes of play and closed their deficit to six, 27-21.

Navy started the second half with five unanswered points before Ryan hit her first three pointer of the night. Ryan scored six points and dished out one assist to Leer in a 30 second period to bring the score to, 32-31, with 17 minutes left to play. Navy however increased its lead to six points with layups from Whitney Davidson and Kalen Kropa.

The Eagles began to rally with another three pointer from Ryan and two layups from Kirk which brought the score to 42-38. Ryan then hit consecutive three-pointers to give Eagles their first lead of the night with 10:03 remaining in the game, 44-42. The Midshipmen answered back quickly with a layup from Morgan Hill, tying the score at 44.

Navy held a six point lead with 3:21 left in the game, until Stanfield hit a jump shot, three free-throws, and gained an offensive rebound to cut Navy's lead to only one point. Ryan connected on her fifth three pointer of the night with a 1:13 left to bring the Eagles ahead by two, 56-54. Navy retook the lead however with six seconds left to play on a K.C. Gordon three to put Navy ahead by one. Gordon, who led the Midshipmen with 16 points, then hit two free three throws to secure the win for Navy by a final score of 59-56.

Ryan scored a game high 21 points for the Eagles. Her five threes brings her career three-point total to 139, placing her fourth on AU's career list. Kirk and Leer lead the Eagles with eight rebounds each. Stanfield had a team high five assists and added seven points.

American will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 28, for their final regular season game against Lafayette. Tipoff from Bender Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m.