Game 22 · American (9-12, 5-6 PL) at Loyola Maryland (6-16, 3-8 PL)
Wednesday, Feb. 12 · 6 p.m. · Baltimore, Md. (Reitz Arena)
All-Time Record: American leads, 19-6
WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball team (9-12, 5-6 PL) will stay close to home this week with a Wednesday evening contest at Loyola Maryland (6-16, 3-8 PL).
SERIES HISTORY
- The Eagles stretched to a seven-game win streak against the Greyhounds after toppling Loyola in Bender Arena, 63-44, on January 22. American has dominated the 25-game series, 19-6.
- The last time AU lost to Loyola was during the 2015-16 season when the Greyhounds swept the Eagles, including a 46-52 win in Baltimore.
- American is 7-4 against Loyola in Baltimore.
THE STARTING FIVE
- American is looking for its third consecutive road win on Wednesday after the Eagles toppled Lehigh, 64-56, and Army, 67-62 (OT), on their home courts on Jan. 29 and Feb. 8, respectively.
- Sophomore Jade Edwards was back atop the scoresheet for the Eagles with her second double-double of the season, fourth of her career. She brought down 11 rebounds alongside her 23 points - just shy of tying her career-high (24) from earlier this season.
- Just one game after her 100th in the AU uniform, senior Kaitlyn Marenyi hit another milestone, scoring her 100th three en route to an 18-point performance against the Black Knights.
- Marenyi is continuing to rise through the ranks in Patriot League play. She is second in the conference-only stats in scoring (15.8 pp), and fifth overall (14.0 ppg) behind Edwards (4th, 14.2 ppg).
- The Eagles have gone into overtime in only two games since the 2017-18 season - against Colgate on Jan. 25 (L, 63-62), and against Army on Feb. 8 (W, 67-62).
LAST TIME OUT
- Sophomore Jade Edwards picked up her second double-double of the season to lead AU to its first overtime win of the season with a 67-62 decision at Army.
- Edwards pulled down 11 rebounds and scored 23 points - just one shy of her career-high (24) from earlier this season - in her fourth career double-double.
- Senior Kaitlyn Marenyi was also back in double-figures for the ninth consecutive game, and 10th of the conference slate, with 18 points off 4 of 13 from the field, 2 of 6 from three, and 8 of 10 from the line.
- For the second time this season, junior Indeya Sanders was clutch for the Eagles in the final second of regulation. Will only seven seconds left on the clock and AU trailing by two, 56-54, Sanders too possession after an Edwards defensive rebound and laid in the fast break layup to send the game into overtime.
- The Eagles were in control throughout much of the first half, leading 19-15 by the end of the first quarter and picking up as much as a 10-point advantage midway through the second. But late Army three's halted AU's advance and sent the team into the locker room with only a three-point cushion at the half, 28-25.
- Army dominated the third quarter with a 20-10 run to take a 45-38 lead, and led by as much as nine in the fourth before Edwards tied the game at 50-50 off a layup and one with 2:30 left on the clock.
- With fouls to give, AU played catch-up in the final minute of regulation and put the Black Knights on the line where they hit 4-for-6 in the last 1:30 to give the Eagles a chance to tie.
- After a scoreless 3:00 to open OT, American dominated the final 2:00 with a pair of layups from sophomore Emily Fisher and Marenyi, and 6-for-8 shooting from Marenyi on the line.
#AUWBB vs. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
- American holds a 245-126 overall record (.660) against Patriot League teams, and is 196-95 (.674) 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 40-10 during the regular season.
- Before this year, only Bucknell (3) and Navy have beat out American during the regular season.
KEEP IT CLEAN
- American is second in the Patriot League and is 32nd in Division I for fewest personal fouls per game, averaging only 14.4 and allowing opponents only 11.6 free throw attempts per game (8.1 ppg).
- The Eagles committed a season-high 24 fouls at Army, putting the Black Knights on the free throw line 27 times - another season-high.
- Army was only the second time this season that AU fouled over 20 times - the first was Lafayette (2/1) with 20.
- Army was also the first time that an Eagle fouled out this season - sophomores Jade Edwards and Maddie Doring each picked up their fifth in OT.
- 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 attempts on the line.
KEYS TO VICTORY
|
WINS |
LOSSES |
| Marenyi |
15.6 |
12.8 |
| Edwards |
14.9 |
13.5 |
| Sanders |
9.6 |
6.5 |
- The Eagles average a +2.2 turnover margin in victories vs. -0.6 in losses.
- American is also 7-2 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 1-10 in games where they shot worse than their opponent, and 1-8 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 100-33 record when scoring over 60 points, and 44-2 when scoring over 70.
- Included in that run is a staggering 49-8 record since the 2017-18 season.
- On the flip side of that, AU is 25-73 when its opponents score over 60 points.
- In the 2019-20 season, AU has averaged 65.2 ppg in its eight wins, and only 55.5 ppg in its 12 losses.
- In Gebbia's tenure, AU has allowed its opponents to score over 60 points only 98 times while the Eagles have crossed that threshold 133 times.
THE CENTURY MARK
- Kaitlyn Marenyi had a memorable 100th game in the AU uniform, scoring a career-high 26 points to lead the team to its first road win of the PL season at Lehigh, 64-56.
- She is the 54th player in the 53 years of the AU WBB program to reach this milestone, and joined 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).
- She hit 100 again the following game at Army, becoming the 13th player in program history to hit 100 three's in her career.
- Of those 13, six have hit 100 since head coach Megan Gebbia and her staff arrived in 2013.
SCOUTING THE GREYHOUNDS
- After opening the PL slate with five consecutive losses, Loyola has found its footing, going 3-3 in the last six games with wins over Army, 68-59, Bucknell, 60-50, and Navy, 50-44. The Greyhounds come into the game off a 66-42 loss to Bucknell on Saturday.
- Stephanie Karcz led the Greyhounds with her 28th career double-double during the loss to the Bison, picking up 12 points and 11 rebounds. Karcz, the nation's leader in steals, was held to only one.
- Despite only picking up one miscue on Saturday, Karcz continues to lead Division I with 5.6 steals per game. She is also one of only two players in the NCAA alongside Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu to have recorded more than one triple-double (2).
- Karcz leads the team with 11.6 ppg, 9.7 rpg, and 3.9 apg. Alexis Gray is next in scoring with 8.7 ppg and Emily McAeer ranks second on the boards with 4.5 rpg.
- Loyola is averaging 58.0 ppg to its opponents' 63.9 ppg, and is shooting 36.8 percent from the field, 28.9 percent from three, 69.7 percent from the line, and bringing down 35.0 rpg.
UP NEXT...
The Eagles will return home on Saturday to face Bucknell at 2 p.m. The game will double as the team's annual Play4Kay Pink Out and will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Washington Plus along with the Patriot League Network.
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).
