Senior Liz Leer recorded her third double-double of the young season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, but Sam Houston State prevailed 73-59 over American University women's basketball on Friday night in the World Vision Classic in Lubbock, Texas.

American (2-3) got off to a good start in the opening minutes, as the Eagles opened up as much as a 10-point lead midway through the first half. Leading 14-13, AU ran off a 10-1 spurt, which began on a Stephanie Anya rebound, putback layup. Alexis Dobbs followed with a three-pointer and then a pair of made free throws, and the run was concluded on a Nicole Ryan trey.

Once AU held its 10-point lead, Sam Houston State (4-1) began to find its rhythm on the offensive end. The Bearkats ended the half on a 13-0 run to surge into the lead, taking a 33-28 advantage into the locker room.

The Eagles began the second half with a renewed energy, as they began with another Anya layup off a rebound. Moments later, Lisa Strack knocked down a three to trim the deficit to two, 35-33, at the 16:29 mark.

American hung around for the next four-plus minutes, as Sam Houston State held between a three and five point lead during the entire stretch. The Eagles, however, were unable to get back even, and eventually the Bearkats distanced themselves from AU. Sam Houston State used a 7-0 run to take its first double-digit lead of the game, which came at 48-38 with 9:24 remaining.

The Bearkats continued to apply the pressure on the offensive end down the stretch behind the hot shooting of Britni Martin. She nailed five three-pointers in the final 8:13 to extend the Bearkats' lead to as many as 18. The Eagles trimmed the deficit to 11 -- 63-52 with 3:41 to go -- on a Ryan three, but that is as close as American would get as Sam Houston State prevailed 73-59.

"We were unable to get stops consistently in the second half," said Head Coach Matt Corkery. "Obviously Britni Martin was hot behind the three-point line, and we needed to do a better job of finding her in transition situations. Offensively, we failed to find any kind of offensive rhythm in the second half. We need to get our post players more involved in the offense moving forward."

The Bearkats shot 49.1 percent from the field, including a 53.3 percent mark in the second half. Additionally, Sam Houston State was 6-9 from beyond-the-arc in the second 20 minutes. On the other side, American shot 36.4 percent in the game, including 31.0 percent (9-19) from three-point range.

Individually, Martin recorded a game-high 34 points for Sam Houston State on 13-18 from the field. She was 6-10 from deep. Sequeena Thomas was also in double figures for the Bearkats with 10 points.

Leer led the Eagles with her 12-point, 10-point output on 5-11 shooting from the floor, good enough to record her sixth-career double-double. Strack registered 11, Ryan had 10, and Dobbs added eight, along with a game-high five assists.

Ryan's final three-pointer was the 160th made trey of her career, which ties her for the most converted threes in school history. Talicia Jackson '09 also made 160 three-pointers in her career at American.

The Eagles will make a quick turnaround when they face Texas Tech on Saturday, November 27 in day two of the World Vision Classic. Tip time from Lubbock is scheduled for 12 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET).