The American University women's basketball team matched a program-record with its 14 consecutive home win with Saturday afternoon's 84-53 victory over Holy Cross in Bender Arena. Four Eagles scored in double figures -- led by Lisa Strack's game-high 18 points -- as AU dished out 19 assists compared to only 11 turnovers.

"I'm really proud of way we shared the ball and how unselfish this team is," remarked Head Coach Matt Corkery." We really don't have egos on the team and I think it shows … this is a team that cares about each other and we saw that today."

After a quick start by both teams offensively, American (14-5, 4-1 Patriot League) took control with a 10-1 run to push its lead to 28-18 with 10:28 to play in the opening half.  Nicole Ryan began the spurt with a three-pointer, and Liz Leer followed with a jumper in the paint. Ashley Yencho then knocked down back-to-back buckets -- the latter a three -- to cap the run.

Holy Cross (6-14, 2-3 PL) played the Eagles even for the next four minutes until American scored 12 of the next 14 points to extend the advantage to 19, 46-27, with 2:13 remaining in the half. Strack scored six of the 12 points during the run, and the Eagles took a 46-31 lead into halftime on the strength of 60.7 percent shooting in the 20 minutes.

The Crusaders recorded the opening bucket of the second half, but AU responded with eight unanswered points, which included consecutive buckets by Alexis Dobbs, to make the score 54-33 at the 16-minute mark. The Eagles maintained a comfortable lead for the remainder of the second half and cruised to the 84-53 victory.

For the game, American shot 50.8 percent from the field, including 52.4 percent (11-21) from beyond-the-arc. The 11 made threes matched a season-high, which was also accomplished in the win at Mount St. Mary's. Additionally, AU's bench scored 44 points, the most of any game this season.

 "It is obvious how good our bench is in the way they stepped up today, which is something we have seen all season," added Corkery. "It's certainly a strength of this team."

On the defensive side, the Eagles held Holy Cross to 37.3 percent shooting and 3-for-13 (23.1 percent) from three-point range. Only one Crusader scored in double figures -- Whitney Fremeau with 12 -- although it took her 13 shot attempts to reach her total.

Strack led AU with a game-best 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting, along with four rebounds and a career-best three blocked shots. Leer added 11 points, while Dobbs and Yencho each registered 10. Geleisa George also came off-the-bench to record career-bests with six points, six rebounds and four assists, while Ti'Asia McGeorge scored six points on two three-pointers.

With the win, American improves to a perfect 6-0 record in Bender Arena this season, and it marks its 14th consecutive victory at home. The 2006-07 and 2007-08 AU squads also combined to win the program-record 14 straight home games.

American will look to extend its home winning streak to 15 when it faces Navy on Wednesday, January 26 at 7 p.m. The Midshipmen currently sit alone in first place in the Patriot League standings at 5-0, one game ahead of AU with its 4-1 record.

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