Game 20 · American (8-11, 4-5 PL) vs. Lafayette (10-9, 6-3 PL)
Saturday, Feb. 1 · 2 p.m. · Washington, D.C. (Bender Arena)
All-Time Record: American leads, 42-7
WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball team (8-11, 4-5 PL) is riding some momentum this weekend, as the Eagles return home to host Lafayette (10-9, 6-3 PL) in Bender Arena on Saturday after a key 64-56 road win at Lehigh on Wednesday.
SERIES HISTORY
- American has dominated the 49-game series against the Leopards, 42-7, since the teams first met in 1982.
- The Eagles enter Saturday's game on an eight-game win streak dating back to the 2016-17 season - the fifth 5+ game win streak for the Eagles in the series' 38-year history. The longest run was the first - an 11-game win streak that stretched from 1982 to 2004, when the two teams began meeting in conference play.
- AU last lost to Lafayette in Easton on Feb. 17, 2016 (63-59). The last American loss at home to the Leopards was earlier that same season - Jan. 20, 2016 (60-51).
- Those two games are the only losses for head coach Megan Gebbia against Lafayette. The Leopards' head coach Kia Damon-Olson, currently in her third year, has yet to tally a win against AU.
THE STARTING FIVE
- American picked up its first road win of the Patriot League season with a 56-64 victory over the preaseason No. 1 Lehigh. In her 100th career game, senior Kaitlyn Marenyi led the team with a career-high 26 points behind 10-for-19 shooting from the field, 4-for-8 from the three.
- Marenyi bumped up to third in the league-only rankings (15.9 ppg) and is fifth in the overall rankings (13.8 ppg) behind sophomore Jade Edwards who ranks fourth in the PL (14.1 ppg).
- American holds a 74-24 record at home in the Megan Gebbia era, including a 45-8 record since the 2016-17 season with only four of those eight losses coming to fellow Patriot League teams.
- The Eagles are 11th in Division I for fewest personal fouls per game, averaging only 13.6 per game and allowing opponents only 10.6 free throw attempts per game.
- AU is second in the league with 3.0 blocks per game behind junior Indeya Sanders who ranks fifth with her 0.8 blocks per game and Edwards who is ninth with 0.6 per game. Sanders also sits within the top five in the league for assists per game (3rd, 4.7), steals per game (3rd, 1.8), and assist/turnover ratio (4th, 1.6).
LAST TIME OUT
- In her 100th game as an Eagle, senior Kaitlyn Marenyi went 10-for-19 from the field and 4-for-8 from three to lead AU with a career-high 26 points.
- For the third time this season, Marenyi failed to give up a single turnover in her 37 minutes of play.
- Junior Indeya Sanders also closed in double-figures with 11 points alongside her game-high seven assists, followed by sophomore Maddie Doring who put up 10 in her first career start.
- Sophomore Jade Edwards led on the boards with seven rebounds.
- The Eagles forced 22 turnovers from Lehigh - a season-high for the Mountain Hawks - and hit 27 points off those miscues, including 14 in the second quarter alone as the Eagles hit a 20-4 run.
- Doring opened her first career start with her first of two three's on the night, but the Eagles still found themselves back on their heels after an opening 9-3 Lehigh run.
- Marenyi got AU's offense rolling coming out of the media timeout, hitting all three of AU's field goals in the final 3:30 to cut the gap back down to one, but Lehigh had the final say and rebuilt a 16-10 lead heading into the break.
- The Eagles dominated the second quarter behind a 10-point effort from Marenyi while Sanders and sophomore Emily Fisher pitched in five each. Lehigh gave up eight miscues and got off only nine shots as AU hit a 20-4 run to take a 30-20 lead heading into halftime.
- American picked up its largest lead of the game at 37-24 midway through the third before Lehigh found its footing again. The Mountain Hawks picked up six points in transition and 14 in the paint to cut the Eagles' lead down to four by the end of the stanza.
- Lehigh continued that run into the fourth quarter, earning its first lead since the early minutes of the second quarter, but a free throw from senior Morgan Bartner and a clutch three from Doring gave AU a 51-47 lead, and from there it was a race to the finish as the Eagles fought to distance themselves.
#AUWBB vs. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
- American holds a 244-125 overall record (.661) against Patriot League teams, and is 195-94 (.675) since joining the league in 2001-02.
- The Eagles have been one of the powerhouses in the Patriot League over the last two seasons, accumulating a record of 39-9 during the regular season.
- Before this year, only Bucknell (3) and Navy have beat out American during the regular season.
KEEP IT CLEAN
- American leads the Patriot League and is 11th in Division I for fewest personal fouls per game, averaging only 13.6 and allowing opponents only 10.6 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), Colgate (9), and Lehigh (4) were all held to under 10.
KEYS TO VICTORY
|
WINS |
LOSSES |
| Marenyi |
15.3 |
12.7 |
| Edwards |
13.9 |
14.2 |
| Sanders |
10.3 |
6.5 |
- The Eagles average a +2.9 turnover margin in victories vs. -0.7 in losses.
- American is also 6-2 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 1-9 in games where they shot worse than their opponent, and 1-7 in games where their opponent shot +35.0 percent from three.
- Lehigh is the only team to fall to American despite holding a better FG%. AU shot 38.9 percent (21-54) to the Mountain Hawks' 42.9 percent (24-56).
FIRST ONE TO 60...
- Since Megan Gebbia took the reins in 2013-14, the Eagles have put up an 99-33 record when scoring over 60 points, and 44-2 when scoring over 70.
- Included in that run is a staggering 48-8 record since the 2017-18 season.
- On the flip side of that, AU is 24-72 when its opponents score over 60 points.
- In the 2019-20 season, AU has averaged 65.0 ppg in its eight wins, and only 55.8 ppg in its 11 losses.
- In Gebbia's tenure, AU has allowed its opponents to score over 60 points only 96 times while the Eagles have crossed that threshold 132 times.
PROTECT THIS HOUSE
- The Eagles are 45-8 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.
- Lehigh was only the second PL team to topple AU at home since the 2016-17 season after Bucknell on March 2, 2019.
- In the Megan Gebbia era, the Eagles are 74-24 (.755) in Bender Arena, including 56-13 (.812) against Patriot League opponents. Among the highlights in her six seasons was the program's first undefeated season at home since the 1970s in 2017-18.
SCOUTING THE LEOPARDS
- Lafayette is coming off its longest win streak of the season at four-consecutive games with victories over Navy, Army, Lehigh, and Colgate.
- Nicole Johnson paced the Leopards to their 55-39 win over the Raiders on Wednesday with a career-high 13 points, followed by a dozen from Sarah Agnello.
- Junior Natalie Kucowski led on the boards with 19 rebounds.
- Kucowski is one of two players in the Patriot League to average a double-double with a team-high 13.0 ppg and 13.6 rpg. She also leads the conference with 2.8 blocks per game and paces the Leopards with 2.3 assists per game.
- Kucowski is the best player in Division I on the boards, ranking first in the country for rebounds per game (13.6), total rebounds (258), and defensive rebounds per game (9.8). She is also fourth in Division I for double-doubles (13), and 13th for blocks per game (2.8).
- Lafayette is the No. 2 defensive team in the league, allowing opponents only 57.3 ppg, and leads the league in field goal defense (.357) and three-point defense (.278).
- The Eagles are on a eight-game win streak against the Leopards dating back to the 2015-16 season when Lafayette swept the series. AU has lost to Lafayette only four times since the 2007-07 season.
NEXT UP...
American will take a few days off before returning to the road for a two-game stretch, starting with Army West Point on Saturday, February 8, followed by the short drive to Loyola Maryland on Wednesday, Feb. 12. The Eagles will be back home on Saturday, Feb. 15, for a 2 p.m. showdown against Bucknell. The game will also serve as the team's annual Play4Kay Pink Out, and will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Washington.
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).
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SEASON TICKETS
- General admission season tickets are $80 for adults and $50 for youth (17 & below) / seniors (65+).
- Full exchange for games you cannot make – as well as discounts, and special benefits throughout the year. All season ticket holders receive priority ticketing for all non-Patriot League postseason tournament games.
- Purchase online at AUeagles.com/Tickets
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AU STUDENTS
- Undergraduate, graduate, and Washington College of Law (WCL) students are admitted free of charge to all home basketball games with a valid AU ID.
For further inquiries on season ticket packages, mini-plans, group, or individual game tickets, call (202) 885-TIXX(8499) or e-mail clawed@american.edu. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the Bender Arena Ticket Office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. For further updates, news, and to purchase tickets, visit AUeagles.com/Tickets.
