Game 26  ·  American (11-14, 7-8 PL) at Lafayette (13-12, 9-6 PL)
Wednesday, Feb. 26  ·  7 p.m.  ·  Easton, Pa. (Kirby Sports Center)
All-Time Record: American leads, 42-8

WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball team (11-14, 7-8 PL) will look to make it three-straight this week with a 7 p.m. showing at Lafayette (13-12, 9-6 PL) on Wednesday.

SERIES HISTORY

• The Eagles have dominated the 50-game series against Lafayette, 42-8, after opening the series on January 19, 1982, with the first of 11 consecutive wins.
• The Leopards' win over AU on February 1 ended AU's eight-game win streak that dated back to the 2015-16 season, which was also the last time Lafayette swept American in a season.
• Of American's eight losses to Lafayette, five were in Easton, Pa.

THE STARTING FIVE

• Jade Edwards led the Eagles to a nail-biter over Boston U., 55-54, with her second consecutive double-double, fourth of the season, scoring 15 points, including the game winning free throw with 0.03 seconds left on the clock, and tying her career-high with 12 rebounds.
• Senior Kaitlyn Marenyi was back in double-figures for the 12th time in the last 13 games, scoring 13 points, including a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
• The pairing of Marenyi and Edwards sits as one of the strongest 1-2 scoring punches in the Patriot League. Edwards is fourth in the overall rankings (14.6 ppg) and fifth in the PL slate (13.3) while Marenyi ranks fifth overall (13.7 ppg) and fourth against PL teams (14.9 ppg).
• With four games remaining in the regular season, AU is seventh in the league with a 7-8 record. Holy Cross and Lehigh sit tied for fifth/sixth at 8-7 while Lafayette took over fourth position at 9-6. The Eagles will face both Lafayette and Holy Cross in this last stretch of games.
• Lafayette became only the third team to best AU in Bender Arena since the 2016-17 season after the 67-52 win on February 1.

LAST TIME OUT

• Sophomore Jade Edwards led the team with her second consecutive double-double, fourth of the season, bringing down a dozen rebounds alongside her 15 points, including the last-second free throw that clinched the victory. 
• Senior Kaitlyn Marenyi added another 13 points followed by sophomore Maddie Doring who hit 10 in her seventh career start.
• Junior Indeya Sanders pitched in a career-high 10 assists to go along with her eight rebounds and seven points. She also added a team-high two steals.
• This is the second time AU has pulled off the victory despite shooting worse than the opponent. The first was Lehigh on January 29.
• The Terriers jumped to an early 5-0 lead before a 4-0 solo run from senior Morgan Bartner delivered the first of the day's two tied scores. Doring followed that up with a three to put the Eagles ahead for the first time, but BU was quick to respond, hitting an 8-2 closing run to take a 13-10 lead heading into the first break.
• Boston continued to build on its advantage in the second quarter, gapping the Eagles by eight before a pair of free throws from Marenyi halted the run. Back-to-back baskets from Edwards brought AU back within one at 23-22, but a last-second BU triple put the Terriers ahead at 26-22 heading into halftime.
• BU rebuilt its eight-point lead in the opening minutes of the second half, but a layup from Doring sent the Eagles on a 9-2 run to cut the gap back down to one. BU grabbed a six-point lead briefly before a late trey from Marenyi sent the teams into the final stanza at 39-36.
• It was all AU in the final quarter, as the Eagles opened with a 13-0 run to take a 10-point lead at 49-39 with just over 5:00 remaining. BU battled back, though, tying the game at 54-54 with only four seconds on the clock. With the clock ticking down, Edwards was fouled on a drive to the basket and, with only 0.03 seconds on the clock went 1-for-2 from the line to secure the win.

#AUWBB vs. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE

• American holds a 247-128 overall record (.659) against Patriot League teams, and is 198-97 (.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 42-12 during the regular season.
• Before this year, only Bucknell (3) and Navy have beat out American during the regular season since 2016-17.
• 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.

FIVE ON FIVE

• Seniors Kaitlyn Marenyi and Morgan Bartner, junior Indeya Sanders, and sophomore Jade Edwards have been the four consistent starters for the Eagles all season.
• There's been a bit of a rotating door in the fifth spot, though, with sophomores Emily Fisher (8), Taylor Brown (7), Maddie Doring (7), and Laura Graytok (4) all filling in. Brown, Doring, and Graytok all made their first career starts this season. 
• AU is one of only two teams in the league to have three players ranked in the top ten for minutes/game - Indeya Sanders (4th, 34.2), Kaitlyn Marenyi (5th, 33.8), and Jade Edwards (6th, 33.5).
• The starting five has been dominant for AU, accounting for 79.7 percent of scoring (46.5 ppg) and 69.2 percent of rebounds (22.1 rpg).
• Although the team is holding a -2.6 scoring margin against its opponents, the starting five has actually outscored the opposition by 1.8 ppg.
• 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
Edwards	15.5	13.8
Marenyi	14.3	13.2
Sanders	9.4	6.0

• The Eagles average a +1.9 turnover margin in victories vs. -0.9 in losses.
• American is also 8-2 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.
• The Eagles are 2-12 in games where they shot worse than their opponent, and 2-8 in games where their opponent shot +35.0 percent from three.
• Towson is also the only team to come out on top despite shooting worse than AU (.407 vs. .375). 
• Lehigh and Boston U. are the only two teams to fall to American despite holding a higher FG%.

	AU FG%	OPP FG%
Lehigh	.389 (21-54)	.429 (24-56)
Boston U.	.340 (17-50)	.489 (22-45)

SCOUTING THE LEOPARDS 

• Lafayette has won two of the last five games since beating out American in D.C., 67-52, on February 1.
• The Leopards are coming off a 76-65 road victory at Loyola Maryland on Saturday.
• Natalie Kucowski and Alexis Santarelli both sank 21 against the Greyhounds. Kucowski added 10 boards to earn her 16th double-double of the season. She also added a game-high five assists and three steals.
• Kucowski continues to rank among the best in Division I - she is second in the latest rankings on the boards with 12.8 rpg, and ninth with her 16 double-doubles. She also sits in 18th in Division I with 2.7 blocks per game.
• Kucowski also leads the team and ranks sixth in the Patriot League overall rankings, just behind AU's Jade Edwards and Kaitlyn Marenyi, with 13.6 ppg.
• The next two scorers for the Leopards are Drew Freeland and Alexis Santarelli with 9.5 ppg each. Santarelli is also second on the boards with 4.5 rpg.
• As a team, Lafayette is third in the PL-only stats on the defensive end, allowing only 55.8 ppg to maintain a 2.5-point scoring maring. The Leopards are also second in field goal defense (.361) and rebounding (37.5 rpg) against other PL teams, and lead the conference in blocks (4.3 per game).

NEXT UP...
American will close the 2020 regular season at home on Saturday, February 29, against Holy Cross and Wednesday, March 4, against Navy. The Holy Cross game will also serve as the team's Senior Day celebration, as the Eagles celebrate the careers of Kaitlyn Marenyi and Morgan Bartner. 

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).