WASHINGTON – The American University women's basketball team (9-13, 5-7 PL) fought back after an early deficit, but couldn't maintain the momentum late and fell on the road to Loyola Maryland (7-16, 4-8 PL), 56-47.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Sophomore Jade Edwards put up her second consecutive 20-point performance, seventh of the season with a team-high 22 off a career-high 4-for-7 from three and 7-for-13 from the field. She also led the team on the boards with nine rebounds to just miss a second consecutive double-double.
• Classmate Taylor Brown also walked away with a new career-high, leading the team with four assists alongside her five boards.
• For the 10th consecutive game, senior Kaitlyn Marenyi was in double-figures, scoring 12 while not giving up a single turnover in 38 minutes of play.
• The Eagles shot 32 percent (16-50) from the field, 31.8 percent (7-22) from three and 80 percent (8-10) from the charity stripe.
• The Greyhounds were paced by an 11-point effort from Stephanie Karcz, followed by 10 points from Delaney Connolly and Hannah Niles.
• Karcz, who entered the game leading the NCAA with 5.6 steals per game, was held to only two while giving up four turnovers.
• The Greyhounds held the advantage on the boards, 37-34, and led in the paint, 36-18, and scored 16 off AU's 20 turnovers.
• Loyola picked up an early five-point lead that held until the final 4:00 of the first stanza when a three from Edwards brought the Eagles within one at 9-8. Edwards scored AU's next four points to keep the Greyhounds in reach, but Loyola still led by four by the end of the stanza, 16-12.
• American took its first and only lead of the game midway through the second after a 9-0 run, including seven points from Edwards. 
• A pair of free throws from junior Indeya Sanders brought the score to 23-20 with 5:07, but the Greyhounds hit five unanswered coming out of the media timeout to rebuild a 27-24 lead heading into the locker room.
• Loyola continued to extend its lead early in the second half, picking up as much as an eight-point lead before baskets from Marenyi and sophomore Emily Fisher cut to back within three with 3:09 left in the quarter.
• The two teams went back-and-forth down the stretch, but late free throws gave Loyola a slight edge as the Eagles entered the break down by six at 42-36.
• A couple quick Loyola baskets spread the gap to 10, and although American kept pace down the stretch, the Eagles were unable to get the much-needed defensive stops and closed the game at 56-47.

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).