The American University women's basketball team dropped its first home game of the season, falling to Fordham 71-50 on Friday afternoon. 

Alexis Dobbs led the Eagles with nine points as Geleisa George added eight. Stephanie Anya tallied a team-best five rebounds while Dobbs and Jen Dumiak each dished out a team-high three assists. Michelle Holmes picked up a career-high three steals in the loss.

"Fordham came out and were very aggressive early in the game," said Head Coach Matt Corkery. "I thought their physicality on both ends of the floor was big, and offensively we had a lot of turnovers early which kept us from putting points on the board and we were never able to get much of a rhythm going. They just kept executing and you've got to give a lot of credit to them, I think they played exceptionally well." 

Fordham (9-5) jumped out to the early advantage and drained four straight treys to go up 24-10 with 5:44 left in the first half. Dobbs ended the run with a jumper but the Rams maintained its momentum, closing out the half on an 11-4 run to take a 39-16 lead.

American (7-6) was held to just 26.9 percent shooting, going 0-for-7 from beyond the arc, while the Rams shot 41.7 percent from the field and hit 5-of-9 three-pointers. Fordham scored 19 points off the Eagles' 12 turnovers in the first half. 

The Rams continued to build their lead and hold off any attempts at an American comeback. The Eagles tallied eight straight points to put the score at 51-33, but Fordham responded with a 7-0 run capped off by a three-pointer from Arielle Collins.

Holmes tallied back-to-back steals after notching her first bucket of the game with 9:20 left to play, knocking it away from Marah Strickland and driving to the basket for the open lay-up. On the next possession she picked it off Samantha Clark and dished it to Micaela Sancisi, who knocked down her first collegiate three-pointer to put the score at 58-40 with 8:03 remaining. The Rams were able to prevent American from getting any closer for the remainder of the game, snapping the Eagles' three-game win streak in Bender Arena, 71-50. 

Four players scored in double-figures for Fordham, led by 18 points from Strickland. The Rams also had four players with six boards as Erin Rooney and Charlotte Stoddart tallied five helpers apiece. Fordham outshot American 51.8 to 35.1 percent from the field and 50.0 to 26.3 percent from beyond the arc.

The Eagles will look to bounce back on Sunday, January 6 at 4:30 p.m. when they host Hampton before opening Patriot League play on Saturday, January 12 at 2 p.m. when they take on Colgate in Bender Arena. Sunday's game will be broadcast live on Eagles Vision TV, with Saturday's game airing on Patriot League All*Access.