Lisa Strack registered a game-best 20 points and added eight rebounds, five steals, and three assists as the American University women's basketball team earned a 49-44 victory over defending conference champion Navy Wednesday night in Bender Arena. The win improves the Eagles to a perfect 4-0 in Patriot League play.

American (12-6, 4-0 PL) trailed Navy (9-9, 2-2 PL) 44-43 with two minutes to play in regulation, but a Strack steal and layup propelled the Eagles back into the lead. After a missed three by Navy, a Stephanie Anya bucket in the final minute pushed AU ahead, 47-44. The Midshipmen had two potential game-tying three-point opportunities in the final seconds but missed both chances. Alexis Dobbs added two free throws with one second left to set the final margin as AU scored the final six points of the game.

The Eagles held a 37-33 rebounding margin as American improves to 7-0 this season when outrebounding its opponent. Dating back to last season, AU has won 22 of its last 23 contests when winning the battle on the glass. Additionally, all nine Eagles that saw action recorded at least one offensive rebound as AU tallied 15 boards on the offensive end compared to only six for Navy.

AU was also aided by a season-low seven turnovers compared to 15 for the Mids. The Eagles registered nine steals, including five by Strack and three from Dobbs.

"I thought this was a good step in the fact that we battled," Head Coach Matt Corkery said. "We didn't shoot the ball very well but we were still able to overcome that to win the game. We made some big plays when we needed to and Lisa [Strack] did a great job for us down the stretch."

American led the majority of the way in the first half, holding as much as a seven-point advantage at 25-18. The Eagles took a 25-20 lead into halftime, but the Mids opened the second half with six unanswered points to take a 26-25 advantage at the 15:52 mark. AU, however, responded with a 6-0 spurt of its own to regain a 31-26 lead with under 14 minutes to play.

The Eagles extended their lead to eight, 38-30, on a Sarah Kiely layup midway through the second half, but a 9-0 Navy run pushed Navy back in front as the two squads remained tight the remainder of the contest.

The Mids were led by Alix Membreno, who registered a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jade Geif was also in double figures with 10 points along with eight boards.

The Eagles will look to make it 5-0 in Patriot League play when they visit Army this Saturday, January 21 at 1 p.m.