Box Score The American University women's basketball team trailed by as many as seven points in the second half, but fought back to earn the 55-54 win over Austin Peay Friday night in the Cal Poly Thanksgiving Invitational in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
With Austin Peay (2-2) holding a 52-51 lead with just over two minutes to play,
Lisa Strack drove hard to the hoop to give American (4-2) the 53-52 advantage. Moments later,
Ebony Edwards knocked home an off-balanced, left-handed layup to extend AU's margin to 55-52 at the 1:34 mark. The Lady Govs proceeded to cut AU's lead to 55-54 after a pair of free throws and AU was unable to capitalize on its next possession. With four seconds left, Austin Peay had the basketball with a chance to win the game, but Nicole Olszewski's last-second three was off the mark, giving AU the one-point win.
Alexis Dobbs led American with a game-high 15 points on 5-of-11 from three-point range.
Stephanie Anya was also in double figures, narrowly missing a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Sarah Kiely tallied nine points and a career-best nine boards.
American got off to a good start in the first half, jumping out to a 5-0 lead on an Anya layup and a Dobbs three, although Austin Peay bounced back with the next eight to take an 8-5 advantage. Neither side held more than a three-point lead for the majority of the half until the Lady Govs put together a 10-4 spurt to take a 28-20 advantage late in the period. Edwards scored a bucket at the end of the half to trim AU's deficit to six, 28-22, at intermission.
Austin Peay extended its advantage to as many as seven in the early part of the second half before AU began chipping away at the deficit. A 7-0 run midway through the half propelled the Eagles to a 37-36 advantage and the game remained tight until Austin Peay opened up a 50-45 advantage with 5:41 to go. But a Dobbs three followed by a steal and layup by Strack knotted the contest at 50 with under five minutes to play.
The Eagles registered a 48-41 rebounding advantage in the game and held the Lady Govs to a 16.7 percent clip (3-for-18) from three-point range. American shot 35.4 percent from the field compared to 32.8 percent for the Lady Govs.
Friday's contest marked Head Coach Matt Corkery's 100th career game as head coach at AU. He has accumulated a 67-33 record and his .670 winning percentage is good for the second-best in Patriot League history behind Kevin Morris, who coached Fordham to a 40-19 mark (.678) from 1993-95.
The Eagles will look for their fourth straight win when the conclude play in the Cal Poly Thanksgiving Invitational tomorrow, November 26. AU will face San Jose State at 10:30 p.m. EST. For in-game updates, be sure to follow AU women's basketball on Twitter.
