The American University women's basketball team fought back from a 13-point deficit and had a chance to tie it, but Alexis Dobbs's lay-up at the buzzer fell short as the Eagles fell to Loyola (Md.), 55-53, on Saturday afternoon.

Jen Dumiak led the Eagles with 17 points while Dobbs added 14, all in the second half, with four three-pointers. The pair each posted five rebounds while Shaquilla Curtis notched four assists. Dobbs and Geleisa George tallied three steals apiece.

"Loyola did a great job of getting to the foul line," said Head Coach Matt Corkery. "That was the key to the game, the free throws. They took us out of our rhythm and were more physical on the defensive end. Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want, so we got some experience today. We need to learn from it moving forward."

American (2-4) forced three straight turnovers at the start of the first half and a pull-up jumper from George gave the Eagles a 6-2 lead at the 17:12 mark. The Eagles forced another Greyhounds turnover on the next possession, but Loyola (Md.) was able to bounce back with five consecutive points for the 7-6 advantage with 13:58 left to play in the first half.

A jumper from Abigail Fogg tied the game at 12, with Dumiak coming up with a steal on the next possession and laying it in to give American back the lead. Dobbs made the steal on the inbounds play and dished it to Dumiak, who drained the three for the 17-12 advantage with 8:15 remaining in the half, forcing the Greyhounds to call the timeout.

The Eagles tallied three blocks on the next four Loyola (Md.) (3-4) possessions, but the Greyhounds were able to close out the half outscoring American, 8-2, as Katie Sheahin nailed the three-pointer with five seconds remaining to take the 20-19 advantage into the break.

American shot 29.6 percent from the floor in the first half, with the Greyhounds shooting 30.4 percent from the field. Loyola (Md.) also outshot American 25.0 to 12.5 percent from beyond the arc in the first half.

American opened the second half on a 9-4 run and took its largest lead of the game, 31-24, on a deep three-pointer from Dobbs at 14:38. The Greyhounds cut it back to a three-point game but back-to-back buckets from Micaela Sancisi and Curtis put the Eagles back up 37-30 with 11:40 to play.

Loyola (Md.) responded with a 19-2 run to take a 49-39 lead with 4:15 to play, holding American scoreless for over six and a half minutes. Dobbs ended the drought with a three-pointer and a Dumiak trey made it a nine-point game with 1:12 to play. The Eagles forced a turnover on the next possession and Dobbs drilled in back-to-back three's for the 55-53 score with 38 seconds remaining. American forced another Loyola (Md.) turnover but Dobbs' lay-up at the buzzer was off the mark as the Eagles fell, 55-53.

Sheahin led the Greyhounds with 22 points and nine rebounds with Nneka Offodile also grabbing nine boards. Loyola (Md.) outshot the Eagles 38.1 to 35.6 percent from the field and 38.5 to 36.8 percent from beyond the arc for the game. The Greyhounds converted 18-of-24 free throws, going a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final eight minutes.

American held a 36-29 advantage in rebounds. The Eagles scored 25 points off Loyola (Md.)'s 27 turnovers in the game, compared to 12 for the Greyhounds off 25 turnovers.

The Eagles will return to Bender Arena for back-to-back home games against Coppin State on Wednesday, December 5 at 7 p.m. and George Washington on Saturday, December 8 at 2 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on Eagles Vision TV.