Game 23  ·  American (9-13, 5-7 PL) vs. Bucknell (17-6, 10-2 PL)
Saturday, Feb. 15  ·  2 p.m.  ·  Washington, D.C. (Bender Arena)
All-Time Record: American leads, 5-22

BROADCAST
TV: NBC Sports Washington + (channel listings)
Patriot League Network
Talent: Dan Laing (pxp), Jody Lavin-Patrick (analyst), Penny Kmitt (sideline)

WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball (9-13, 5-7 PL) returns home to host defending Patriot League champion Bucknell (17-6, 10-2 PL) for the team's annual Play4Kay game in support of the Kay Yow Foundation and Breast Cancer Awareness.

PLAY4KAY

• Since its inception in 2007, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund has awarded $7.78 million to support scientific research and programs that serve the underserved in the fight against ALL cancers affecting women
• Play4Kay is the largest fundraising initiative of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
• Olympic gold medal-winning and Naismith Hall of Fame coach, Kay Yow, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987 and passed away on January 24, 2009. Coach Yow did not lose her battle to cancer. She simply turned the battle over to all of us.
• As a result of her own 22-year battle with cancer, Coach Yow founded the Kay Yow Cancer Fund to give hope to others who also found themselves in a similar battle.
• For more information, please visit kayyow.com. 

SERIES HISTORY

• Although American has dropped the last five contests against Bucknell, the Eagles still hold a 25-22 edge in the series that dates back to Jan. 15, 1983 (W, 77-72).
• Bucknell broke AU's home win streak against Patriot League opponents last season with a 65-64 battle on March 2. The Bison also claimed the last two meetings, including a 66-54 win in Lewisburg during the 2019 Patriot League Championship game.
• The Eagles are looking for their first win against Bucknell since Dec. 29, 2017 in Bender Arena, 68-58, en route to the program's second Patriot League title and NCAA Tournament berth.

THE STARTING FIVE

• Saturday's game will be about a bit more than just basketball, as American will also celebrate its annual Play4Kay Pink Game in support of the Kay Yow Foundation and Breast Cancer Awareness.
• Serving as guest coach for Saturday's game is cancer survivor and the Senior Associate Athletic Director/Senior Women's Administrator at American University, Athena Argyropoulos.
• Sophomore Jade Edwards put up her second +20-point performance during Wednesday's loss to Loyola, leading the team with 22 and just missing her second consecutive double-double with nine rebounds. Edwards earned the team's first PL Player of the Week nod after her double-double in the OT win at Army (23p, 11r).
• Senior Kaitlyn Marenyi was back in double-figures for the 10th consecutive game with a dozen and, for the third time this conference season, failed to give up a single turnover in over 30 minutes of play (38). Marenyi now ranks 10th in AU history for career three's with 103.
• The Eagles ranked among the top in the country for fewest fouls per game until they picked up 20 against Lafayette and a season-high 24 against Army. They now sit in 34th in Division I with a 14.5 fouls/game average.

LAST TIME OUT

• AU fought back after an early deficit, but couldn't maintain the momentum late and fell on the road to Loyola Maryland on Wednesday, 56-47.
• 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.
• 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, Kaitlyn Marenyi was in double-figures, scoring 12 while not giving up a single turnover in 38 minutes.
• Loyola picked up an early five-point lead that held until the final 4:00 of the first quarter 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 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 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.
• After tallying eight steals against AU in their first matchup, Loyola's Stephanie Karcz picked up only two on Wednesday. Karcz led Division I heading into the game with 5.6 per game.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

• Sophomore Jade Edwards earned the team's first PL Athlete of the Week nod of the season on Monday after leading the Eagles to an OT victory over Army with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

#AUWBB vs. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE

• American holds a 245-127 overall record (.659) against Patriot League teams, and is 196-96 (.671) 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 40-11 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 34th in Division I for fewest personal fouls per game, averaging only 14.5 and allowing opponents only 11.8 free throw attempts per game (8.2 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

• Getting junior Indeya Sanders rolling alongside senior Kaitlyn Marenyi and sophomore Jade Edwards is clutch for the Eagles.
• Scoring averages in wins vs. losses

	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. -1.0 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 1-11 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.

PROTECT THIS HOUSE

• The Eagles are 45-9 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 74-25 (.747) in Bender Arena, including 56-14 (.800) 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 BISON 

Bucknell leads the Patriot League with a 10-2 conference record after opening with a seven-game win streak. The Bison are 3-2 over the last five games, though, with losses against Loyola, 60-50, and Boston U., 52-48.

The Bison picked up a 75-65 win over Navy on Wednesday behind four double-figure efforts from Ellie Mack (18 points), Tessa Brugler (16), Taylor O'Brien (11), and Abby Kapp (10). Brugler also added a team-high nine rebounds.

Mack leads the Bison and ranks third in the league with 15.2 ppg off 52.9 percent shooting from the field. She is also one of the strongest three-point shooters in the PL at 43.8 percent, although teammate Abby Kapp ranks first in the conference with 2.5 made three's per game.

Bucknell is fourth with 63.8 ppg, but leads the team on the defensive end, allowing only 53.2 ppg for a 10.6-point margin. The Bison are first in free throw percentage (.763) and three-point percentage (.374), and second in field goal percentage (.435) and field goal defense (.364).

UP NEXT...
The Eagles will be back on the road next week with a Wednesday evening matchup against Navy before returning to host Boston University on Saturday

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).

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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.