Game 24  ·  American (9-14, 5-8 PL) at Navy (7-17, 2-11 PL)
Wednesday, Feb. 19  ·  7 p.m.  ·  Annapolis, Md. (Alumni Hall)
All-Time Record: American leads, 33-23

WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball (9-14, 5-8 PL) will look to get back in the win column this week for a Wednesday evening clash at Navy (7-17, 2-11 PL) at 7 p.m. in Alumni Hall.

SERIES HISTORY

• This will be the first meeting between the two teams this season. The Eagles and Mids last faced off in Washington during the 2019 regular season finale (W, 69-44).
• The series between the Eagles and Midshipmen date back to Feb. 16, 1978 when AU toppled Navy in Annapolis, 75-53. Since then, American has led the 56-game series, 33-23.
• The Eagles had lost three consecutive games in Annapolis, and seven in the last nine, before last season when they picked up a 58-45 win.

THE STARTING FIVE

• American will look to get back in the win column after losing in a nail-biter to Bucknell in Bender Arena on Saturday, 60-57. The Eagles had a chance to tie it up as the seconds ticked down, but the last-second three from sophomore Jade Edwards hit off the front of the rim.
• Senior Kaitlyn Marenyi earned her third 20-point game of the season with an even 20 to lead American. The senior captain has paced the Eagles through six of the 13 conference games, and failed to give up a single turnover in five - including the last two consecutive contests against Loyola and Bucknell.
• With her three made treys on Saturday, Marenyi moved up two spots in the program's career top ten list. She now sits alongside Michelle Kirk in eighth with 106 career three's. 
• Wednesday will be the first meeting between the Eagles and Midshipmen during the 2019-20 season. The two teams last faced off in Washington during the 2019 regular season finale (W, 69-44).
• Although she was held to only nine points against the Bison, Edwards put up consecutive +20-point performances with 23 during the win over Army, and 22 against Loyola Maryland. She broke the 20-point barrier four times during the nonconference, and three times during the PL slate.

LAST TIME OUT

• AU battled back from an 11-point deficit in the third quarter, but came three points shy of sending the game into overtime against the league-leading Bucknell Bison with a 60-57 loss during American's annual #Play4Kay game.
• Senior Kaitlyn Marenyi put up her third +20-point game of the conference season with an even 20 off 7 of 12 shooting from the field and 3 fo 5 from three.
• Sophomore Maddie Doring added another dozen to tie her career-high from the 2018-19 season. She went 4-for-7 from the field and 2-for-4 from three, including a late trey to spark the 8-2 run that brought the Eagles back within three with 18 seconds left in the game.
• Sophomore Jade Edwards closed just off a double-double for the second consecutive game, scorining nine points alongside her nine boards.
• Bucknell picked up an early 5-0 lead, but back-to-back baskets from Marenyi cut the lead down to two and, later in the quarter, a quick four points from Doring tied the game at 9-9 before Marenyi delivered AU its first lead of the game. But by the end of the quarter, the Bison rebuilt an 18-14 advantage after a late run.
• The Eagles continued to hover around a two-point deficit until the midway mark of the second when a 6-0 run from Edwards and Doring put AU back ahead by two at 24-22. That would be American's final lead of the game, though, as the Bison hit another closing run to enter the locker room with a 29-24 lead.
• AU battled to keep within reach in the early minutes of the third quarter, but struggled to bounce back after a four-minute scoring drought and, despite later baskets from Marenyi and Edwards, entered the final stanza down by nine, 44-35.
• American battled back in a big way in the fourth quarter, outpacing the Bison 22-16 behind seven points Marenyi and six from Doring. With under 1:00, and trailing by only three points, America put the Bison on the line where they shot 3-for-6 down the stretch. 
• AU trailed by three and regained possession with 14 seconds left on the clock, but the long-range shot from Edwards from the top of the arc fell just short, tapping off the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded.

#AUWBB vs. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE

• American holds a 245-128 overall record (.657) against Patriot League teams, and is 196-97 (.669) 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 40-12 during the regular season.
• Before this year, only Bucknell (3) and Navy have beat out American during the regular season.
• Holy Cross is the only team in the conference that holds an advantage over AU with a series record of 23-19.
• Navy, Holy Cross, and Bucknell are the only three teams that own winning records on their respective home courts, while AU holds a home win record against all nine PL foes.

KEEP IT CLEAN

• American leads the Patriot League and is 27th in Division I for fewest personal fouls per game, averaging only 14.4 and allowing opponents only 11.7 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, 9), 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	13.2
Edwards	14.9	13.8
Sanders	9.6	6.0

• The Eagles average a +2.2 turnover margin in victories vs. -0.9 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 1-12 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 25-74 when its opponents score 60+ points.
• In the 2019-20 season, AU has averaged 65.2 ppg in its eight wins, and only 55.0 ppg in its 14 losses.
• In Gebbia's tenure, AU has allowed its opponents to score over 60 points 99 times while the Eagles have crossed that threshold 133 times.

THE FINAL STRETCH...

• The Eagles have trailed their opponents by an average of 6.3 ppg heading into the fourth quarter, but have been able to cut into that lead during the final 10 minutes with a 2.9 ppg advantage.
• AU had its most dominant fourth quarter of the season against Loyola Maryland (1/22), gapping the Greyhounds by 18 points, 23-5.
• The third quarter in particular has been a grind, particulary during the early part of the nonconference season. AU trailed its first six opponents by 8.3 ppg before picking it up to lead its final four nonconference foes by 2.5 ppg.
• In the 13 games of the PL slate so far, AU has narrowly outscored its opponents in the second half - after trailing by an average of 3.8 ppg in the third, the Eagles have picked up the pace to lead its PL opponents by 4.0 ppg in the fourth for a +0.2 ppg margin.

SCOUTING THE MIDSHIPMEN 

• Navy enters the midweek matchup off a five-game losing streak after picking up back-to-back wins over Boston University (46-41) and Army (57-45) - the Midshipmen's only two PL wins so far this season.
• The Mids fell in a 71-56 decision to the Terriers on Saturday, despite a career-high 23 points in only 25 minutes from freshman Nyah Garrison.
• Mary Kate Ulasewicz was the only other player in double-figures with 11 points along with six assists.
• Ulasewicz leads the team with 9.5 ppg and 3.3 apg while Morgan Taylor ranks first with 5.3 rpg.
• The Mids are second in the PL with 9.9 steals per game behind a 1.6 per game average from Taylor.
• Navy is averaging 53.3 ppg to its opponents' 60.0 ppg behind a .362 shooting percentage from the field, 28.5 percent from three, and 63.6 percent from the line.

NEXT UP...
American will be back home on Saturday to host Boston University at 2 p.m. before hitting the road for the final away game of the regular season on Wednesday, March 4, against Lafayette. The Eagles will close their regular season at home against Holy Cross on Feb. 29 (Senior Day), and Navy on March 4.

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).