Game 15  ·  American (6-8, 2-2 PL) at Bucknell (11-4, 4-0 PL)
Wednesday, Jan. 15  ·  6 p.m.  ·  Lewisburg, Pa. (Sojka Pavilion)
All-Time Record: American leads, 25-21

WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball team (6-8, 2-2 PL) will face its second consecutive undefeated Patriot League foe on Wednesday with a trip to Bucknell (11-4, 4-0 PL) for a 6 p.m. tip in Sojka Pavilion.

SERIES HISTORY

• The Eagles lead the series, 25-21, despite dropping the last four consecutive games, including the 2019 Patriot League Tournament championship, 66-54.
• The two teams are tied in Lewisburg, 12-12, and American will look to pick up its first win in Sojka since December 31, 2014 (60-55). The Bison are on a seven-game win streak on their home court.
• AU's longest win streak against Bucknell was a 10-game run from 2009-2013.

THE STARTING FIVE

• The Eagles dropped a heartbreaker to undefeated Lehigh in Bender Arena on Saturday with a 64-63 loss during the team's National Girls and Women in Sports Day game.
• American was paced by one of the best performances of the season from junior Indeya Sanders, who just missed on the program's first recorded triple-double with her first double-double of the season - 16 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. Her scoring and rebounding efforts were both season-highs.
• Senior Kaitlyn Marenyi had her fifth game in the last six with double-figures at 14 points followed by sophomore Jade Edwards' 13 points.
• The Eagles are in search of their first win in Sojka since the 2014-15 season, and their first victory over Bucknell since December 29, 2017.
• This is the second in a challenging three-game series for AU that started with undefeated Lehigh. Bucknell is the only remaining undefeated team in the PL after toppling Holy Cross, the next AU opponent, on Saturday.

LAST TIME OUT

• American dropped a heartbreaker at home on Saturday with a 64-63 loss to undefeated Lehigh.
• The Eagles were on-pace to earn their third second-half comeback of the season before a pair of late Lehigh three's erased what had been a seven-point AU advantage.
• Among the highlights for the day, though, was the performance from junior Indeya Sanders. She led the team with her first double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds - both good for season highs. 
• Sanders added seven assists for the day to fall short of earning program's first recorded triple-double.
• Senior Kaitlyn Marenyi added 14 points and failed to give up a single turnover in her 35 minutes of play. 
• Sophomore Jade Edwards was back in double-figures for the first time since the win over Colgate on Jan. 2 with 13.
• Lehigh led throughout the first half, gapping the Eagles by as much as eight in the second quarter before closing the half with a two-point advantage at 34-32.
• Marenyi took control of the third quarter for the Eagles, scoring nine of her 14 points to help give AU its first lead of the game. 
• American led by as much as seven before a final Lehigh run over the last 1:15 cut that lead down to one at 51-50 heading into the fourth quarter.
• The Eagles rebuilt a five-point lead with 2:33 left in the game, but Lehigh hit two of its four three's of the game over the next 2:00 to land back within one, then a final jumper with just under three seconds sealed the deal as AU failed to capitalize on its final two possessions of the game.

HOW ABOUT THOSE HANDS

• Coming in at only 5'6", junior Indeya Sanders is not the player you'd expect to rank fourth in the PL for blocks (1.0 per game). She has 14 total on the season, including a career-high three against Villanova.
• This is the first time all season that Sanders has dipped below third in the league after being held without a block against both Army and Lehigh.
• Arguably the best all-around player for the Eagles, Sanders leads the team in assists (5.1), steals (2.1), blocks (1.0), is tied with Edwards in rebounding (5.9) and third in scoring (8.1).
• She has one of the best performances of her career against Lehigh, leading the team in four categories with 16 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, and four steals while giving up only two turnovers in her full 40 minute.
• Lehigh was her first double-double of the season, second in her career, and was just shy of the program's first recorded triple-double.
• This was the second game that Sanders led the team in P-R-A in her career - the last was against Bucknell on March 2, 2019 (15-6-4).
• She is one of only two players in the Patriot League to lead her team in assists (5.1) and blocks (1.0) per game.
• She is also the only player in the league to rank in the top five in both assists (third) and blocks (fourth).

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN

• Senior Kaitlyn Marenyi has taken on a new role during her final year in the red, white, and blue, moving out of the point guard position and into a shooting guard role.
• She put in her best series of games to close the nonconference schedule, helping lead the team with 16 points during the wins over Radford, George Washington, and Colgate.
• She hit a career-high 5 of 7 from the perimeter against Colgate.
• She led with a season-high 19 points during the win over Army after being held to only four at BU.
• Boston U. and High Point have been the only two teams this season to hold her to 0 made three's.
• Her career 37.1 percent (86-232) shooting from long-range ranks sixth in the AU record books after she broke the single-season record last year with 46.4 percent (32-69).

EDWARDS COMING ON STRONG

• Sophomore Jade Edwards has had one of the best starts in a decade for the Eagles, averaging 15.1 ppg after 14 games. She is third in the last 10 years behind Jen Dumiak (2014-15, 17.0 ppg) and Michelle Kirk (2009-10, 19.9 ppg).
• She has consistently sat within the top-3 of the PL rankings for scoring all season, including leading for two long stretches. She currently sits in third after being held to a season-low 7 points against both Boston and Army.
• Edwards has averaged only 11.8 ppg since the start of conference play after averaging 16.5 ppg during nonconference.
• Radford (7), George Washington (8), Boston U. (6), and Army (7) are the only teams that held her to under 10 field goal attempts.
• Edward's scored 20+ points on five occasions this season, including back-to-back career-highs with 24 points against Villanova (11/14) and High Point (11/18).

SCOUTING THE BISON

• Bucknell, under first-year head coach Trevor Woodruff, is one of two remaining undefeated Patriot League teams after toppling Holy Cross, 51-40, on Saturday.
• The Bison are 11-4 overall this season with losses to only Virginia, 84-60, Quinnipiac, 76-69, Temple, 72-61, and Stony Brook, 78-72 in double-overtime.
• Ellie Mack led Bucknell against the Crusaders with 17 points and 12 rebounds, good for her first double-double of the 2019-20 season. 
• Marly Walls the only other Bison player to land in double-figures with 13 points alongside a team-high three assists.
• Mack leads the overall scoring efforts for Bucknell with 14.3 ppg alongside her team-high 7.4 rpg and 13 blocks.
• Tessa Brugler and Abby Kapp follow with 10.1 ppg and 10.0 ppg, respectively.
• Bucknell ranks atop the league defensively, allowing only 54.9 ppg. The Bison are second in the PL in FG percentage (.420), FG defense (.364), and 3-point FG percentage (.353). They average 63.1 ppg and 33.0 rpg.

#AUWBB vs. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE

• American holds a 242-122 overall record (.665) against Patriot League teams, and is 193-91 (.680) since joining the league in 2001-02.
• The Eagles have been one of the powerhouses in the Patriot League over the past two seasons, accumulating a record of 34-4 during the regular season with losses to only Bucknell (3) and Navy until BU and Lehigh on Jan. 5 and 11.

NEXT UP...
American will be back on the road this weekend with a 1 p.m. start at Holy Cross on Saturday. The Crusaders were one of the three undefeated teams heading into last weekend before being toppled by Bucknell, 51-40. The Eagles will return to Bender Arena at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22, to face Loyola Maryland for the team's annual Field Trip Day.

For the latest on American University Women's Basketball, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_WBasketball) and Instagram (@auwbasketball).