Game 4  ·  American (2-1, 0-0 PL) at Minnesota (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten)
Wednesday, November 17  ·  8 p.m. ET  ·  Williams Arena (Minneapolis, Minn.) 

WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball (2-1) will end its opening four-game run on the road on Wednesday with an 8 p.m. ET start at Minnesota (2-1). This is the first of two Power Five matchups in the Eagles' nonconference schedule along with Virginia on December 7.

WELCOME HOME, TAYLOR BROWN

• Wednesday's game will be a homecoming of sorts for senior forward Taylor Brown, who grew up just south of Minneapolis in Lakeville, Minn., where she graduated from Lakeville North HS.

THE STARTING FIVE

• American is coming off a 2-0 weekend in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where they outlasted host Marist, 59-52, and Vermont, 68-61 in overtime. The tournament was a homecoming for head coach Megan Gebbia, who served on Brian Giorgis' staff for 10 years, and assistant coaches Nikki Flores and Emily Stallings who each had successful careers as Red Foxes.
• Senior Jade Edwards has led the team in scoring in all three outings so far this season, including the back-to-back victories over Marist and Vermont where she put up 45 points within 24 hours - 18 against Marist and a season-high 27 against Vermont.
• Three Eagles posted double-figures against the Catamounts on Saturday with senior Emily Fisher adding 11 points and sophomore-transfer Riley DeRubbo putting up a dozen off the bench in only her third game as an Eagle.
• This is the ninth season for head coach Megan Gebbia and her staff, all of whom arrived together in 2013 with the exception of director of operations Nicole Krusen, who joined in 2016. Gebbia has already had a historic career at the helm and will look to add to that this year as she sits 12 wins away from becoming in the winningest coach in program history.
• Senior Jade Edwards is also poised to make history this season. AU's first Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year since 2010 (Michelle Kirk), she is eyeing the 1,000-point and 500-rebound milestones with 887 points and 454 rebounds in her career. She is also poised to become the fifth player in AU history to rank in the top-10 for points, rebounds, and blocks.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GOPHERS

• Minnesota won it's second-straight on Sunday with a 48-32 home victory over George Washington.
• The Golden Gophers held GW to a program-record 19.2 percent from the floor and gave up only five points in the third quarter to tie for the sixth-fewest points allowed in a single stanza in program history.
• Deja Winters led the team off the bench with 17 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks. Sara Scalia also closed in double-figures with 14 points.
• Three of Minnesota's starters are averaging in double-figures starting with Scalia's 17.3 ppg. Jasmine Powell (13.3) and Kadiatou Sissoko (10.3) follow along with Winters (11.3), who has yet to earn a start this season.
• Sissoko also leads the team on the boards with 7.0 rpg  and sits alongside Winters with four blocks so far this season.
• Powell has pitched in a team-high 13 assists, but also leads the team with a dozen turnovers.
• Sissoko played only eight minutes against the Colonials.

SERIES HISTORY vs. MINNESOTA

• This will be the second meeting between the Eagles and Golden Gophers in the last two years, and the third since the team's first meet in 2008.
• Minnesota leads the two-game series after wins in Minneapolis (79-62 in 2008) and Washington, D.C. (70-53 in 2019).

PICKIN' POCKETS

• Senior Jade Edwards is back as one of the top players in the Patriot League, and Division I, for steals this season, averaging 3.0 per game after the first three outings of the year.
• Edwards led the conference through most of the season last year and ranked as high as fourth in Division I midway through the season with a 3.50 steals/game average.
• She currently ranks first in the league and 14th in the country with nine total and is tied for second in the PL with her 3.0 steals per game average.

CHASING HISTORY

• It has long been in the cards that senior Jade Edwards would add her name to the program record books. She already ranks 10th for single-game scoring after putting up 31 against Lehigh last season, and is fifth after averaging 17.4 ppg last season.
• Now with 887 career points, 454 career rebounds, and 46 career blocks, the race is on for her to become the fifth player in program history to break into the top-10 in all three categories.
• She needs 336 points and 123 rebounds to tie for 10th all-time on both lists. During the 29 games of her sophomore season, she scored 421 points and had 200 boards.
• She is only eight blocks away from tying with Stacy Meeker ('97) and Sahar Nusseibeh ('09) for 10th all-time.

CALLIN' THE SHOTS

• Senior Emily Fisher will be the Eagles primary point guard this season after sharing responsibilities with Kaitlyn Marenyi ('19) and Indeya Sanders ('20) during her first three seasons.
• One of the most dynamic players on the court, she is currently averaging 9.7 ppg, a career-high 5.0 rpg, and a career-high 4.0 apg.

EFFICIENCY IN THE FIELD

• American also returns two of its most efficient shooters from last season with junior Karla Vres and sophomore Emily Johns.
• Vres led the team with 60.3 percent (35-58) shooting from the field and added her name to the AU record books in the process at No. 2 all-time for single-season field goal percentage.
• The junior forward was the top three-point shooter in the Patriot League last year, hitting 61.9 percent (13-21).
• She is also the No. 2 returner in the conference for blocks behind Boston University's Maren Durant (1.7) after averaging 1.4 last season.
• Johns was also just under the minimum requirement in her 11 games last season. She was second on the team at 57.1 percent (24-42) shooting from the field - a performance that would have put her at sixth all-time if she reached 50 attempts.

VRES' VERSATILITY

• Junior Karla Vres continues to be one of the most versatile players on the floor for the Eagles, alongside senior Jade Edwards.
• The most consistent shooter for the team, she is also the top returning shot blocker after earning a career-high 14 last season.

NEXT UP

• American will open its 2021-22 home schedule on Tuesday, Nov. 23, with a 7 p.m. start against George Mason in Bender Arena. 

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).