Liz Leer scored 16 of her game-high 18 points in the second half to give the American University women's basketball team a 46-43 come-from-behind triumph over George Mason Thursday night in AU's home opener in Bender Arena. Lisa Strack added 13 for the Eagles along with a career-best five steals.

American (4-4) trailed the majority of the game after a sluggish start in the opening half in which George Mason (2-4) led 25-18 at intermission. The Patriots played from ahead throughout the entire first half, including a game-high deficit of 12 points (25-13) for American with 1:16 to play in the period. The Eagles, however, scored the final five points of the first half, culminated by a Strack bucket in the waning seconds of the half to trim the Patriots' advantage to five at intermission.

The Eagles' deficit remained steady between three and eight points throughout most of the second half until a layup by Leer trimmed George Mason's advantage to one, 40-39, with 5:19 to play. Strack followed with a pair of free throws at the 3:43 mark to give AU its first lead of the game, 41-40.

George Mason responded with a Brittany Poindexter bucket to regain its advantage, but Leer -- as she did throughout her impressive second-half performance -- fired back with a turnaround in the lane to put the Eagles in front, 43-42, with 2:57 to play.

After a missed jumper by the Patriots, Leer fed a pass from the high post to a cutting Tori Halvorsen, who rattled in a layup in traffic to give the Eagles a three-point advantage, 45-42, at the 1:29 mark. On the other end, George Mason's Taleia Moton was fouled and knocked down one of two free throws to trim the deficit to two with 1:01 left.

The Eagles regained possession and used the majority of the shot clock before Halvorsen missed with 32 seconds remaining, giving the Patriots the basketball. After a timeout, AU's Strack forced a contested Moton jumper for George Mason from 17 feet with 10 seconds left, which came up short. Strack controlled the rebound and was fouled, where she hit one free throw.

Trailing 46-43 with six seconds remaining, George Mason had time for one final shot, although Ashley Yencho's defense forced a difficult three for Ashleigh Braxton at the buzzer. Braxton's attempt was off the mark, and the Eagles escaped with the hard-fought three-point victory.

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"I think we can take some confidence knowing that we can persevere and grind out a game like that," commented Head Coach Matt Corkery. "If we stick together as a team, as we did tonight, then we can overcome difficulties as the game plays out."

Leer's 18 points came on an efficient 9-12 shooting from the floor. She grabbed a game-high eight rebounds in 37 minutes of action. Twelve of Leer's points came in the first 10:07 of the second half, which helped keep the Eagles in the game as George Mason was attempting to stretch out its lead. With her 18-point effort, she also moved into 11th on AU's all-time scoring list with 1,063 points, passing Kirsten Keller, who recorded 1,061 points from 1991-95.

"In the first five minutes of the second half, I thought Liz came out and established herself," added Corkery. "We made it a point to get her some touches, and that kind of got us rolling right there."

Strack chipped in 13 for AU on 3-7 from the field. She registered a career-best five steals, along with four rebounds and two assists. Halvorsen added four points and six rebounds for the Eagles as well.

AU shot 50 percent (11-22) in the second half after firing only 25 percent (4-16) in the opening 20 minutes. The Eagles' defense also stepped up in the second half, holding George Mason to 26.9 percent (7-26) shooting in the period, as the Eagles outscored GMU 28-18 in the half. Additionally, American committed only six second-half turnovers after registering 15 giveaways in the first period.

The Eagles will return to action on Saturday, December 4 when they welcome Youngstown State to Bender Arena. Gametime is set for 2 p.m., and for fans that cannot make it to Bender Arena, the game will be broadcast live on Eagles Vision TV, part of AUeagles.com.