The American University women's basketball team used a 22-4 second-half run to distance itself from Holy Cross en route to a 67-47 victory Saturday afternoon in Bender Arena. The win pushes the Eagles' Patriot League record to 10-0 as they become the first league school in seven years to begin conference play with 10 straight wins.

Jen Dumiak led American (18-6, 10-0 PL) with a team-high 14 points off the bench on 6-of-11 shooting. This marked the fourth game in the last five that she has scored in double figures. She also added seven rebounds and four assists.

Lisa Strack was also in double figures for AU with 13 points on 5-of-10 from the field along with five steals. Alexis Dobbs chipped in 10 points and four assists, while Ti'Asia McGeorge had nine off the bench. Tori Halvorsen added a career-high eight rebounds as well.

The first half was tight throughout as there were six ties and two lead changes with neither side holding more than a three-point lead. AU took a 25-23 advantage into halftime but Holy Cross (13-12, 4-6 PL) began the second period with an 8-3 push to open up a 31-28 advantage at the 16:40 mark.

But from that point forward, it was all American. Strack began the spurt with a steal and a layup and a Dumiak jumper propelled the Eagles back in front, 32-31 with 15:17 to play. After a pair of Stephanie Anya free throws, Strack and Sarah Kiely knocked home back-to-back layups to push AU's advantage to 38-33 with 11:23 to go.

After an Emily Parker layup for the Crusaders to trim the deficit back to three, AU took control with a 12-0 run over a 2:51 stretch to open up a 50-35 lead. Back-to-back Dobbs' threes started it off, and Dumiak and Ebony Edwards followed with buckets. A pair of Strack free throws concluded the spurt as AU all the sudden had a 15-point lead with 8:15 to play.

The Eagles continued to apply the pressure, eventually opening up a game-high 21-point advantage in the final moments as they earned the 20-point win. In total, AU outscored the Crusaders, 42-24, in the second half.

American shot a season-high 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from three-point range compared to only 22.2 percent (2-of-9) for the Crusaders. After committing 13 first-half turnovers, AU reduced that number to five in the second half while forcing 10 Holy Cross miscues.

"We struggled a bit in the first half and a lot of that credit goes to Holy Cross," commented Head Coach Matt Corkery, who improves his Patriot League record to 42-10 in four seasons at the helm. "Fortunately, we found our rhythm in the second half, and our defensive intensity helped lead to our offensive productivity. I was happy with how our team responded after a tough first half."

AU's 10-0 start in Patriot League play is the best in program history and the best in the conference since Holy Cross started 10-0 in the 2004-05 season. Holy Cross is the only conference school to finish the regular season undefeated (occurred twice with 12-0 records) and no Patriot League team has gone 14-0 since the league expanded the schedule in 2001-02.

American can clinch its fourth Patriot League regular season title in the last five seasons -- and homecourt advantage throughout the Patriot League Tournament -- with a win at Navy this Wednesday, February 15. Game time from Annapolis, Md., is set for 7 p.m.