Game 19  ·  American (7-11, 3-5 PL) at Lehigh (13-6, 5-3 PL)
Wednesday, Jan. 29  ·  6 p.m.  ·  Bethlehem, Pa. (Stabler Arena)
All-Time Record: American leads, 33-14

WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball (7-11, 3-5 PL) will look for some redemption on Wednesday as the Eagles travel to Lehigh (13-6, 5-3 PL) to face the Mountain Hawks at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

SERIES HISTORY

• Although Lehigh broke the Eagles' seven-game win streak with the 64-63 win in Bender Arena on Jan. 11, American continues to dominate the 47-game series, 33-14.
• AU entered the season on a 17-2 run dating back to the 2010-11 season.
• The loss earlier this month was the first for American against Lehigh since February 6, 2016 (61-52), also in Bender Arena.

THE STARTING FIVE

• American couldn't quite pull off the comeback at Colgate on Saturday after a last-second bucket from sophomore Jade Edwards sent the game into overtime - AU's first OT game since Army on Feb. 3, 2018 - where the Eagles lost, 63-62. 
• Lehigh delivered AU its second PL loss at home since Feb. 11, 2017 (Army) with the late 64-63 decision on Jan. 11. The only other team to topple the Eagles at home since the 2016-17 season was Bucknell, 65-64, on March 2, 2019. 
• Edwards was back in form on Saturday, leading the team in scoring for the first time since the PL opener against Colgate (Jan. 2), scoring 17 including the last-second stunner to tie the game at the end of regulation. 
• Senior Morgan Bartner also stepped up in a big way for the Eagles, bringing down a career-high 11 rebounds along with her nine points to just miss out on her first career double-double. 
• Senior Kaitlyn Marenyi added 13 points as she continues to lead the team through the conference schedule with 14.6 ppg. 

LAST TIME OUT 

• Sophomore Jade Edwards put up one of her strongest performances of the conference season - bested only by her 20-point performance against the Raiders on Jan. 2 - with a team-high 17 at Colgate on Saturday. 
• Edwards sent the game into overtime with a thrilling last-second layup off a long inbound from junior Indeya Sanders, but the Eagles couldn't quite pull off the comeback and dropped the contest, 63-62. 
• Senior Kaitlyn Marenyi and sophomore Emily Fisher also put up double-figures with 13 points and 10 points, respectively, while senior Morgan Bartner narrowly missed her first career double-double with nine points and a career-high 11 rebounds. 
• Although the Eagles opened with the lead after an early jumper from Bartner, Colgate quickly took control of the first quarter as early miscues halted AU's offense. Baskets from Bartner and freshman Lauren Stack briefly tied the game at 11-11 before a closing 7-0 from Colgate sent the teams into the break at 18-11. 
• AU slowly cut into that lead in the second quarter. A pair of clutch three's from Fisher, and free throws from Sanders late in the half sent the Eagles into the locker room with a 29-28 advantage. 
• The Raiders quickly retook the lead with an early run to open the third quarter before they were halted by a four-point play from Marenyi after she was fouled on a three-point make. Bartner followed up with another jumper to tie the game for the fifth time at 37-37, but by the end of the stanza Colgate rebuilt a five-point lead at 47-42. 
• AU fell to a brief eight-point deficit early in the fourth, but chipped away at that lead throughout the next six minutes before a 7-0 run knotted the score back up at 56-56 with 1:33 left in regulation. A quick layup off an inbound seemed to give Colgate its game-winner with just 1.4 seconds left on the clock, but American advanced the ball and Sanders found Edwards under the basket with a cross-court inbound to send the game into overtime. 
• It was a tight race in extra time, but a scoreless final two possessions for the Eagles sealed the game at 63-62. 

#AUWBB vs. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE 

• American holds a 243-125 overall record (.660) against Patriot League teams, and is 194-94 (.674) 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 35-4 during the regular season with losses to only Bucknell (3) and Navy until this season - BU (1/5), Lehigh (1/11), Bucknell (1/15), Holy Cross (1/18), and Colgate (1/25). 

KEEP IT CLEAN 

• American leads the Patriot League and is 12th in Division I for fewest personal fouls per game, averaging only 13.7 and allowing opponents only 10.9 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), Holy Cross (6), and Colgate (9) were all held to under 10. 

KEYS TO VICTORY 

• Getting junior Indeya Sanders rolling alongside senior Kaitlyn Marenyi and sophomore Jade Edwards is clutch for the Eagles. Edwards (14.7), Marenyi (13.7) and Sanders (10.1) all average double-figures in AU's wins while in losses Sanders is held to 6.5 ppg (Edwards - 14.2, Marenyi - 12.7). 
• The Eagles average a +2.3 turnover margin in victories vs. -0.7 in losses. 
• American is also 5-2 in games where the team leads at halftime with only Towson and Colgate (1/25) pulling off the second half comeback after trailing by four and one at the half, respectively. 
• Towson is also the only team to come out on top despite shooting worse than AU (.407 vs. .375). The Eagles are 0-9 in games where they shot worse than their opponent, and 1-7 in games where their opponent shot +35.0 percent from three. 

FIRST ONE TO 60... 

• Since Megan Gebbia took the reins in 2013-14, the Eagles have put up an 98-33 record when scoring over 60 points, and 44-2 when scoring over 70. 
• Included in that run is a staggering 47-8 record since the 2017-18 season. 
• On the flip side of that, AU is 24-72 when its opponents score over 60 points. 
• In Gebbia's tenure, AU has allowed its opponents to score over 60 points only 96 times while the Eagles have crossed that threshold 131 times. 

THE CENTURY MARK 

• Wednesday's game will mark the 100th for senior Kaitlyn Marenyi. 
• She will be the 54th player in the 53 years of the AU WBB program to reach this milestone, joining former teammates Lauren Crisler ('17, 124), Jordan Light ('17, 100), Emily Kinneston ('18, 118), Maria Liddane ('18, 115), Michael Harris ('18, 111), Kaitlyn Lewis ('19, 115), Elina Koskimies ('19, 127), and Cecily Carl ('19, 123). 

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAIN HAWKS 

• After opening the PL slate with a 5-0 run, Lehigh has hit a three-game losing streak, dropping games to Bucknell (71-50), Holy Cross (74-57), and Lafayette (61-53). Of those three losses, two were at home. 
• Although Lehigh dominated the first quarter against the Leopards, 23-13, Lafayette took control of the final 30 minutes of play, holding the Mountain Hawks to only seven points in the second quarter and nine in the third. 
• Cameryn Benz led Lehigh with 14 points, followed by 10 from Megan Walker and Emma Grothaus. Camryn Buhr pulled down a team-high 10 boards while pitching in four assists. 
• Buhr leads the teamwith 12.1 ppg and 6.8 rpg followed by Benz's 9.8 ppg and 6.6 rpg. 
• As a team, Lehigh ranks second in the PL and 47th in Division I for scoring defense, holding opponents to 57.7 ppg while averaging 62.9 ppg. The Mountain Hawks sit just below AU in fouls per game, ranking 15th in Division I with only 13.8 per game. They also lead the league in turnover margin (4.8, 31st in Division I) and rank second in turnovers per game (13.2, 30th in Division I).

NEXT UP...
The Eagles will be back home on Saturday, February 1, to face Lafayette at 2 p.m. before hitting the road for another two-game stretch against Army West Point (Feb. 8) and Loyola Maryland (Feb. 12).

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).