Game 17  ·  American (6-10, 2-4 PL) vs Loyola Maryland (4-13, 1-5 PL)
Wednesday, Jan. 22  ·  11:30 a.m.  ·  Washington, D.C. (Bender Arena)
All-Time Record: American leads, 18-6

WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball team (6-10, 2-4 PL) returns home this week for an early showing on Wednesday, taking on Loyola Maryland (4-13, 1-5 PL) at 11:30 a.m. for the team's annual Field Trip Day.

PARKING

• Parking will be closed in the Sports Center Garage adjacent to Bender Arena. Fans are asked to utilize the garages at the Katzen Art Center or the School of International Service, and pay via the Pay-As-You-Go machines located in the elevator lobbies.

SERIES HISTORY

• American leads the 24-game series against the Greyhounds, 18-6, including a near-perfect 9-1 record at home.
• The Eagles have fallen to Loyola only three times in the last decade - once during the 2012-13 season and twice during the 2015-16 season.
• AU is on a six-game win streak, including a dominant 82-38 showing in Bender Arena on January 16, 2019.

THE STARTING FIVE

• American is coming off one of the most challenging series of the season with games against three of the four top teams in the PL. The Eagles nearly staged an upset against then-undefeated Lehigh at home, 64-63, before suffering a pair of road losses at undefeated Bucknell, 68-43, and Holy Cross, 72-59. 
• Senior Kaitlyn Marenyi continues to lead the charge for AU in the Patriot League slate, averaging 20.0 ppg over the last two games including 24 points against Holy Cross to tie her career-high. 
• AU is one of two PL teams to have two athletes ranked in the top-ten for scoring with sophomore Jade Edwards (3rd, 14.9 ppg) and Marenyi (7th, 13.4 ppg). The other is Holy Cross. 
• Edwards had the program's best nonconference average in a decade, scoring 16.5 ppg before the start of league play. The last player to reach those heights was Michelle Kirk in 2009-10 (20.3 ppg) en route to a program-record 565-point season. 
• Thanks in large part to the efforts of junior Indeya Sanders, AU remains one of the top teams in the league for blocking, averaging 3.0 per game. Sanders was ranked in the top-three for much of the season but has since fallen to fifth in the PL (0.9 per game). 

LAST TIME OUT 

• Kaitlyn Marenyi's first 20+ point performance of the season wasn't enough to lift the Eagles past the hot perimeter shooting of the sixth-ranked team in Division I from long range on Saturday, as AU fell to Holy Cross, 72-59. 
• Marenyi continues to take control of American's offense in the Patriot League schedule as she closed the week with a 20.0 ppg average and tied her career-high with 24 against the Crusaders. 
• Sophomore Jade Edwards was also back in double-figures for the second time in four games with 11 points while junior Indeya Sanders led the team on the boards for the eighth time this season with nine boards. 
• Sanders also added a team-high five assists and two steals alongside Marenyi. 
• The Eagles shot only 3-for-17 from three-point range compared to Holy Cross' 13-for-27 for a 30-point swing in a game decided by only 13. 
• American trailed by only four after the first quarter, and briefly tied the game at 18-18 early in the second before the Crusaders hit 5 of 7 from beyond the arc to spread the gap to 15 heading into halftime. 
• The Eagles matched Holy Cross basket-for-basket in the third, but another pair of well-timed three's from the Crusaders maintained a 17-point cushion heading into the final 10 minutes. 

#AUWBB vs. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE 

• American holds a 242-124 overall record (.661) against Patriot League teams, and is 193-93 (.675) 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 (4) and Navy until BU (1/5), Lehigh (1/11), and Holy Cross (1/18). 

KEEP IT CLEAN 

• American is second in the PL behind Lehigh, and 11th in Division I for fewest personal fouls per game, averaging only 13.5 and allowing opponents only 11.1 free throw attempts per game. 
• Ohio and Boston University appeared on the line more than any AU opponent so far this season with 18 free throw attempts while Villanova (9), Saint Joseph's (5), Bucknell (5), George Washington (2), and Holy Cross (6) were all held to under 10. 

PROTECT THIS HOUSE 

• The Eagles are 44-8 at home since the start of the 2016-17 season, including an undefeated 23-0 run that ranked sixth in Division I before ending with a loss to Ohio on Dec. 29, 2018. 
• In the Megan Gebbia era, the Eagles are 73-24 (.753) in Bender Arena, including 55-13 (.809) against Patriot League opponents. Among the highlights in her six seasons was the program's first undefeated season at home since the 1970's in 2017-18. 

FIRST ONE TO 60... 

• Since Head Coach Megan Gebbia took the reins in 2013-14, the Eagles have put up an 97-32 record when scoring over 60 points, and 44-2 when scoring over 70. 
• Included in that run is a staggering 46-7 record since the 2017-18 season. 
• On the flip side of that, AU is 24-71 when its opponents score over 60 points. 
• In Gebbia's tenure, AU has allowed its opponents to score over 60 points only 95 times while the Eagles have crossed that threshold 129 times.

SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS 

• Loyola Maryland is coming off its first Patriot League win of the season on Saturday with a 68-59 victory over Army West Point. The Greyhounds hit a six-game skid during the nonconference slate, including a 105- 45 loss to No. 9 Maryland on December 8, before picking up a pair of wins ove Monmouth and Dartmouth to close out that portion of the schedule. 
• The Greyhounds are led by Stephanie Karcz, who recently became only the 27th player in Division I history to reach 400 career steals. She is also one of only two active Division I players to own 1,000 career points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists, and 200 steals. 
• Karcz is averaging 11.9 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 4.2 apg, and leads the country with 6.1 steals per game. She also ranks second behind Sabrina Ionescu for triple-doubles with two this season against Dartmouth (13p, 10r, 10s), and Army West Point (13p, 12r, 12s). 
• The next scorer for the Greyhounds is Isabella Therien (8.5 ppg), while Emily McAteer is second for the team on the boards with (4.3 rpg). 
• As a team, Loyola is averaging 61.5 ppg while its opponents have scored 67.2 ppg. The Greyhounds have shot .371 from the field, .287 from three, .695 from the line, and average 35.2 rpg.  

NEXT UP...
American will be back on the road for a two-game stretch, starting with Colgate on Saturday, January 25, followed by a trip to Lehigh on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

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).