POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The American University women's basketball team (1-1) outlasted Marist (1-1), 59-52, on Friday for its first win of the season, opening a two-game weekend that will continue at 3 p.m. on Saturday against Vermont back in McCann Arena.

NOTEWORTHY

• Friday's win holds a great deal of significance for head coach Megan Gebbia and assistant coaches Nikki Flores and Emily Stallings. Gebbia spent 10 years as an assistant at Marist, including seven as associate head coach on Brian Giorgis' staff, where she coached Flores and Stallings throughout their careers as Red Foxes.
• The near wire-to-wire win also bodes well for the team this season, as Marist was among the highlights of the nonconference schedule as one of the three AU foes who advanced into the NCAA Tournament last year. Marist, along with Radford and Towson, was knocked out of the First Round.

BY THE NUMBERS

• For the second consecutive game, senior Jade Edwards was atop the score sheet for the Eagles with 18 points, including a perfect 5-for-5 from the line, to surpass her 14-point performance against George Washington on Tuesday.
• Classmate Emily Fisher joined her in double-figures with 10 points alongside a team-high six assists.
• Fellow-senior Taylor Brown led on the boards with eight rebounds alongside her nine points.
• Marist also put two in double-figures, starting with 25 points from Kiara Fisher. Zaria DeMember-Shazer added 14 along with 13 rebounds for the game's only double-double.
• The Eagles out-shot the Red Foxes from the floor, 38.9 percent (21-54) to 32.7 percent (17-52), but free throws nearly swung the game in the other direction with Marist going 13-for-21 (.619) to AU's 11 of 15 (.733). Of American's 15 trips to the line, eight came in the final 35 seconds as Marist tried to edge past the Eagles.
• Miscues haunted both teams with AU giving up 19 turnovers and Marist 20. American picked up 15 points off turnovers while Marist added only 11. 
• The Eagles also led on the boards, 37-35, and points off the bench, 19-5, behind a nine-point effort from sophomore Ivy Bales, and eight from junior Karla Vres.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Marist had its only lead of the game midway through the first quarter with a 5-3 advantage before being held scoreless by the Eagles in the final 6:51. AU hit a closing 15-point run, including nine behind Bales who came off the bench and fired off 3-for-3 from the perimeter, to go into the break with an 18-5 lead.
• American continued to build its advantage in the first minute of the second quarter with Vres adding a trey of her own to pick up AU's largest lead of the game at 21-6.
• The Red Foxes steadily chipped away at AU over the next seven-and-a-half minutes, holding American to only basket to edge back within two at 23-21 with just over 90 seconds left in the half.
• A clutch layup from Edwards with just over a minute on the clock retained the AU advantage, though, as the teams headed into the locker room at 25-21.
• A quick six points from Edwards and Brown to open the second half put AU back up by 10, but once again the Red Foxes were able to close in behind a seven-point effort from Kiara Fisher. With just over 1:30 left in the stanza, it was a one-possession game at 36-33, but layup from Emily Fisher at the buzzer put the Eagles back up by five at 38-33.
• It was a race to the finish in the final quarter, as Marist bumped it back within three on seven occassions, including tying the game at 49-49 with just over a minute remaining. But the Eagles had the response every time, including a clutch three from Vres with less than 60 seconds to break the tie. Late fouls put AU on the line eight times and they hit seven to end with the 59-52 win.

UP NEXT
American will be back at McCann Arena on Saturday to face Vermont at 3 p.m. It is another reunion for Gebbia, Flores, and Stallings, who will face another Marist alumna in the Catamounts head coach Alisa Kresge. The Eagles will also reunite with 2019 grad Cecily Carl, who joined Vermont this season as the director of operations after spending two years at Lehigh.

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).