Senior Liz Leer became the 13th American University women's basketball student-athlete to score 1,000 career points as the Eagles overwhelmed Mount St. Mary's, 61-34, on Wednesday night at Knott Arena in Emmitsburg, Md. Leer led the way for the Eagles, as she registered 16 points and matched her career-bests with 14 rebounds and five assists, her second double-double of the young season and fifth of her career.

American (2-1) got off to a sluggish start in the opening half, and trailed by as many as four, 14-10, in the early going to Mount St. Mary's (0-2). But a 7-0 AU run – consisting of back-to-back Lisa Strack layups off Leer passes and a three by Ebony Edwards – gave the Eagles a 17-14 lead at the 1:43 mark of the half.

The Eagles would not trail the rest of the game, as a Leer three – which gave the senior her 1,000th career point – extended AU's advantage to four, 20-16. Strack closed the half with a jumper to set the halftime margin at 22-16.

American came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders, led by Nicole Ryan, who set the tone for the half with a three on the opening possession. The Eagles took their first double-digit advantage, 30-18, on another Ryan three moments later. After three-pointers by Edwards and Strack, Ryan knocked down back-to-back trifectas to push AU's lead to a commanding 48-21 margin with 11:51 to play.

Less than a minute later, Leer hit her third three of the game to give the Eagles a 51-22 advantage. The trey marked the 10th straight made three-point shot by AU, eight of which came in the first 9:02 of the second half. It also ended a 34-6 run by American over a 10:15 span, extending back to the end of the first half.

In the waning moments of the game, the Eagles extended their lead to 31, 61-30, on an Ashley Yencho layup before The Mount closed the final margin to 61-34.

"I was happy with our effort tonight, especially on the defensive side of the ball," commented Head Coach Matt Corkery. "Our defensive play kept us in the game in the first half, which helped us overcome our offensive struggles early on. In the second half, it was good to see us find our rhythm offensively and shoot the ball well, and hopefully we can carry that forward."

Leer's 16-point effort came on an efficient 5-8 from the floor, including 3-4 from beyond-the-arc. Six of her career-high-matching 14 rebounds were on the offensive end, and her five assists tied her career-best that she had set on two previous occasions.

Ryan chipped in 12 points on 4-6 from deep, while Strack had nine on a perfect 4-4 from the floor. Edwards came off the bench to record six points, a team-high four steals and three assists.

AU shot 22-45 from the floor (45.8 percent) with half of its made field goals from three-point range. AU's 11 made threes is tied for the third most makes from deep in program history. The single-game record is 13, which was set against Navy on January 29, 2002.

The Eagles' defense was also superb, as they held The Mount to 27.7 percent shooting from the field. The 34 points allowed is tied for the second fewest given up in program history. AU surrendered 31 points against Lafayette in a 22-point victory last January 30.

Leer is the second active AU student-athlete and 13th in school history to hit 1,000 points in her career. Last season, classmate Michelle Kirk reached 1,000, and currently sits sixth in school history with 1,215 points.

American will return to action when it visits local-rival Maryland on Sunday, November 21. Tip time from College Park, Md., is set for 2 p.m.