UPDATE: Sunday's game at Loyola Maryland will now be played at noon, and will be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network.

Game 7  ·  American (3-1 South Div., 3-3 PL) vs. Loyola Maryland (0-4 South Div., 0-8 PL)
Saturday, February 20  ·  4 p.m.  ·  Washington, D.C. (Bender Arena)
Broadcast Talent: Dan Laing (pxp) and Jody Patrick (analyst)

Game 8  ·  American (3-1 South Div., 3-3 PL) at Loyola Maryland (0-4 South Div., 0-8 PL)
Sunday, February 21  ·  Noon  ·  Baltimore, Md. (Reitz Arena)
TV: CBS Sports Network
Broadcast Talent: John Sadak (pxp) and Julianne Viani-Braen (analyst)

WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball team will look to solidify their spot atop the Patriot League South Division this weekend with a pair of games against Loyola Maryland on Saturday, February 20, and Sunday, Feb. 21. The Eagles will open in Bender Arena at 4 p.m. on Saturday before traveling to Baltimore on Sunday for a 1 p.m. tip in Reitz Arena.

SENIOR DAY

• The Eagles will celebrate seniors TaeKenya Cleveland and Indeya Sanders on Saturday during a pregame Senior Day ceremony.
• Throughout their careers, the pair helped lead the Eagles to 79 wins, including 54 against Patriot League opponents. They were also key members of the 2018 Patriot League Championship team, helping the squad to a historic 26-7 season before making the program's second appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The next year, the team was back atop the Patriot League with a share in the regular season title before making another postseason appearance in the WNIT.
• Sanders was a Patriot League All-Defensive Team selection last season and was voted as one of the team captains this year. She will graduate in May with her degree in health promotion.
• Cleveland chose to opt out this season and has been working for The Loveland Foundation, a nonprofit that helps provide therapy support for Black women and girls, while finishing her degree in journalism. The four-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll selection will graduate in May.

PATRIOT LEAGUE ANTI-RACISM WEEKEND

• The Patriot League will reaffirm its commitment to the pursuit of Anti-Racism during the men's and women's basketball games on Saturday, Feb. 20, and Sunday, Feb. 21. 
• During the weekend, League men's and women's basketball student-athletes will wear special warm-up shirts adorned with a Black fist surrounded by 10 stars to represent each of the League's member institutions and the phrase "Pursuing Anti-Racism". The shirt's back will feature the words "Unity, Respect, Activism" to signify the values under which the League will continue to prusue the goal of Anti-Racism.
• Click here for the full Patriot League release.

LAST TIME OUT

• The Eagles picked up their first sweep of the season against Loyola Maryland, going 2-0 against the Greyhounds on Jan. 23 and Jan. 24 for the first series sweep of the season.
• During her first start as an Eagle, sophomore Karla Vres led the team in scoring for the first time in her career, closing with a career-high 14 points to lead the team to its 64-45 win at Loyola on Saturday (Jan. 23). She stuffed the stat sheet with another career-high in blocks (four), tied her best with seven rebounds, and added an assist and two steals. This was the first time that junior Jade Edwards didn't lead the team in scoring this season. She closed Saturday's game with 13 points while senior Indeya Sanders and freshman Emily Johns added 10 each.
• Freshman Ivy Bales came up just shy of her first career double-double with a career-high eight rebounds to go along with her nine points.
• Edwards was back atop the score sheet during Sunday's 67-56 win, leading the team in points (19), rebounds (10), assists (five), and steals (two) during her second double-double of the season, eighth of her career.
• Sanders was also back in double-figures with a season-high 15 points along with Vres who picked up a dozen.
• AU led the Greyhounds in field goal percentage in both games, shooting 47.9 percent (23-48) on Saturday and 44.6 percent (25-56) on Sunday. The Eagles also had their best perimeter performance of the season during Saturday's road win, going 5-for-11 (.455) from long range.
• Edwards closed averaging 16.0 ppg and 6.5 rpg for the weekend, and continues to lead the league with 20.0 ppg and 3.5 steals per game. Vres averaged 13.00 ppg, 3.5 rpg, and 3.0 blocks per game over the two wins, followed by Sanders with 12.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg, and 5.0 apg.

CHASIN' MILESTONES

• Junior Jade Edwards has ranked atop the PL leader board in scoring since her 31-point performance against Lehigh on Jan. 11, and still leads the league with her current 20.0 ppg average. She also leads the league in steals (3.50 per game), and is fourth on the boards (7.9 rpg), fifth in FG percentage (.551).
• She joins PL Preseason Player of the Year, Lafayette's Natalie Kucowski, as the only two players in the league to rank in the top-five for both scoring and rebounding.
• Edwards is 33rd in Division I for her scoring output and fourth for steals per game.
• Her 31-point showing against Lehigh also landed her in the program's single-game top-10 as No. 10 alongside Kate Miller and Felicia Young.
• She is coming into the weekend off her second double-double of the season, eighth of her career, after earning 19 points and 10 rebounds against Loyola on Jan. 24. She has averaged 18.5 ppg and 11.3 rpg in her eight career double-doubles.
• She has also put in a pair of games with +20 points so far this year and has  led the team in points-rebounds-assists on two occasions.
• Edwards is staring at a pair of milestones as she closes in on her 1,000th career point and 500th career rebound. She currently sits at 757 points and 403 rebounds in her 66 games as an Eagle. With her current 20.0 ppg and 7.8 rpg averages, she is 13 games away from both landmarks.

VRES MAKING A STATEMENT

• Sophomore Karla Vres has stepped up in a big way for the Eagles this season - she is currently averaging a career-high 8.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 17.0 minutes per game, and is shooting 64.3 percent from the floor (18-28) and 71.4 percent from three (5-7). 
• Her current 64.3 percent shooting from the floor (18-28) is third in the Patriot League, and would rank third in Division I if she met the 5.0 made field goals per game minimum for the NCAA (currently averaging 3.6 per game). If it holds, it would also tie her with Michelle Holmes (2013-14) for a single-season program record in field goal percentage.
• She had a career-high 12 points during the 61-52 win over Navy on Jan. 16, and bested that performance in her first career start with 14 during the 64-45 win over Loyola Maryland on Jan. 23. She was back in the starting lineup during the win on Jan. 24 with a dozen points.

CALLED UP

• Junior Taylor Brown has taken over a starting role in all six games so far season. She picked up seven starts during her 27 games last year. Brown has made it count, earning her first career double-double against Navy on Jan. 16 with 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. She was back at it on Jan. 17 with a career-high 12 points. 
• Brown currently ranks third on the team with a career-high 8.7 ppg, and is also bringing down a career-high 4.2 rpg.
• Sophomore Lauren Stack and freshman Ivy Bales made their first career starts this season, along with Vres.
• Bales made her AU debut at Lehigh on Jan. 9 with a 10-point performance before filling in for junior Emily Fisher in the starting lineup over the last three games. In her starts, she has averaged 6.0 ppg and 6.3 rpg, including a career-high eight rebounds against Loyola on Jan. 23.

INDY'S RACIN'

• Senior Indeya Sanders is closing in on the program all-time top ten list for assists. She currently sits 21 away from tying for 10th on the list at 264 in her career.
• She currently ranks third in the Patriot League with 4.2 apg, tying her career-high average from last season.
• Sanders is also averaging a career-high 10.0 ppg to rank second on the team, and 5.7 rpg.
• One of the top free throw shooters in the PL, she sits second in the league and 37th in Division I (.857).
• Sanders enters the weekend after a season-high 15 points during the win over Loyola on Jan. 24. She also added a season-high eight boards in her full 40 minutes.

SPARKS OFF THE BENCH

• With a roster of only 10 this season, the Eagles will look to the four freshmen to put in productive minutes this season.
• Emily Johns has certainly filled that role over the last several games. She has been a key contributor off the bench, accounting for 5.8 of the reserves' 14.8 ppg during the last six outings (39.2 percent), including 17 of the bench's 27 points last weekend (63 percent) after Karla Vres got bumped up into the starting lineup.
• She shot a perfect 5-for-5 in her 16 minutes at Navy on Jan. 17, coming off the bench in the third quarter.
• She scored another 10 (4-7) against Loyola on Jan. 23, this time in only 12 minutes of play, and added seven in 10 minutes on Jan. 24.
• Over the last three games, Johns is averaging 9.0 ppg in only 12.7 minutes per game, and has given up only one turnover.
• Kayla Henning has also added some energy off the bench. She threw in a pair of clutch assists during the win over Loyola on Jan. 23, and added a career-high seven points against Loyola on Jan. 24. She is averaging 2.8 ppg, 2.2 rpg, and 0.5 apg.

HOW ABOUT THAT OFFENSE

• AU opened with back-to-back 70-point performances against Lehigh on Jan. 9 (L, 79-70) and Jan. 11 (L, 89-71), making this the fourth season since Gebbia took the reins that the Eagles averaged over 70 points in the first two outings, and the seventh time since 2000.
• The series against Lehigh was also the first time since the 2018-19 season that AU scored 70+ in back-to-back games.
• American's current 66.7 ppg average is the second-highest in the Gebbia era after six games. The Eagles averaged 70.5 ppg after six outings in 2013-14.
• In conference play, Gebbia's squad has averaged at or over 66.7 ppg after six games on three occasions - 2013-14 (67.2), 2014-15 (66.7), 2017-18 (68.0). All three seasons ended in postseason appearances with the WNIT in 2014, and the NCAA Tournament in 2015 and 2018.
• The team currently ranks third in the PL for scoring offense (66.7) and second in field goal percentage (.450).

VIRTUAL "PHIL BENDER" ARENA PRESENTED BY GEICO

• American University Athletics has announced a new virtual ticket campaign in an effort to sell out Bender Arena this coming basketball season. This new season-long initiative, presented by "TEAM AU" partner GEICO, will challenge Eagles fans and alumni to sell out each seat in Bender Arena for the 2020-21 basketball schedule. The "AU Founder" ticket price of $18.93 commemorates the year AU was founded. Click here to support AU Athletics by buying virtual tickets.

JOINING A NEW FAMILY

• The 2020-21 season will mark another milestone for the Patriot League, after the conference signed a multi-year agreement with ESPN to make ESPN+ the new home for all conference events.
• Fans can watch all of American's home events on ESPN+ with a subscription - either $5.99 a month or $59.99 per year. Fans can also subscribe to the service as part of the Disney Bundle for just $12.99 per month.

2021 LOOKING A LITTLE DIFFERENT...

• Due to COVID-19, Patriot League basketball is going to look a little different this year. All teams will play limited schedule with the league broken into three mini-conferences - North (Army, Boston U., Colgate, Holy Cross); Central (Bucknell, Lafayette, Lehigh); and South (AMERICAN, Loyola Md., Navy).
• American's games against Loyola and Navy in January and February will determine the divisional standings and subsequent seedings in this year's PL Tournament.
• AU will also have an extra set of games against Bucknell and Lehigh that will not count toward the final standings.
• Eight teams will advance into the Patriot League Tournament instead of the usual 10. The top-three seeds will be awarded to the mini-conference winners, and the second-place finishers will be seeded 4-6. The final two seeds will go to the best overall win percentage against conference opponents.

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).