Lisa Strack scored a career-best 24 points and Liz Leer added 18 as the American University women's basketball team defeated Troy, 83-49, on Wednesday night in Bender Arena for its fifth straight win. The triumph is the Eagles' 12th consecutive home victory and 31st win in their last 36 home games dating back to February 2008.

American (7-4) took control of the game with a 17-0 run over an eight-minute stretch midway through the first half to take a 29-9 lead at the 7:23 mark. Strack began the run with back-to-back buckets and was followed by a pair of Tori Halvorsen field goals. Ashley Yencho got in the action with a basket, and then Strack, Stephanie Anya, Leer and Sarah Kiely each recorded scores to finish the spurt.

AU pushed its lead to 26, 35-11, on a Leer three, and eventually ran the margin to 27 -- 47-20 with 59 seconds to play in the half -- on a layup by Strack. The Eagles would take that same 27-point lead into halftime at 49-22, led by 15 first-half points from Strack on 7-of-9 shooting from the field.

The Eagles continued to apply the pressure on Troy (2-10) in the second half, taking their first 30-point advantage on another jumper by Leer with 18:10 to play. American extended its advantage to as much as 40 on three different occasions in the second half before settling for the comfortable 83-39 victory.

The win marks the fifth straight for the Eagles as they run their record in Bender Arena to a perfect 4-0 on the season. AU's last loss at home came on December 20, 2009, against Maryland by a 75-64 score.

The Eagles shot 54.8 percent from the field, including a 9-of-21 clip (42.9 percent) from beyond-the-arc. The Eagles registered a season-high 24 assists and their bench outscored Troy's by a 25-11 margin. Defensively, AU held Troy to 21.4 percent (3-14) shooting from three-point range.

Individually, Strack led the way with a career-high 24 points on an efficient 11-of-16 from the field. She added team-bests with six assists, five rebounds, and four steals.

Leer scored 18 for American on 7-11 shooting and registered five rebounds and four assists. With her 18-point effort, she now has 1,098 career points, moving her into 10th place all-time in program history as she passed Kate Miller, who registered 1,096 points from 1997-2000.

Anya was also in double figures for AU with a new career-best of 10 points on an efficient 5-6 from the floor. She also grabbed five rebounds. Nicole Ryan knocked down three treys for the third straight game, finishing with nine points.

Troy was led by Donette McNair, who recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. DeAngela Sword also had 11 for the Trojans.

American will look for its sixth straight victory when it takes on Binghamton in the first game of the Hawk Holiday Classic on Wednesday, December 29 at Monmouth. Tip time from West Long Branch, N.J., is set for 4 p.m. The Eagles will face either host Monmouth or Brown on Thursday, December 30 at 2 p.m. or 4 p.m. depending on Wednesday's result.

Watch the interview that was conducted following the game on Eagles Vision TV with Head Coach Matt Corkery below:

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