Game 15  ·  American (9-5, 2-2 PL) vs. Army West Point (8-6, 3-2 PL)
Wednesday, January 19  ·  6 p.m. ET  ·  Bender Arena (Washington, D.C.)
Talent: Dan Laing (pxp) and Kaitlyn Marenyi (analyst)

WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball team (9-5, 2-2 PL) will host its first set of back-to-back home games in the conference season this week, starting with a 6 p.m. start against Army West Point on Wednesday.

UPDATED COVID PROTOCOLS FOR BENDER ARENA

• In response to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in our region, American University Athletics is announcing increased safety measures for events at Bender Arena
• Concessions: Due to health and safety protocols related to COVID-19, concessions will temporarily not be available to patrons for home events at Bender.
• Eagles Club Hospitality Suite: Due to health and safety protocols related to COVID-19, there will be a temporary pause on all Eagles Club Hospitality operations for men's and women's basketball games.
• These measures are in addition to the ones already in place, which include all patrons wearing masks at all times while inside Bender Arena, and proof of vaccination required prior to entering the gym.

THE STARTING FIVE

• American went 1-1 last week with a 52-39 win over Holy Cross at home on Wednesday, followed by a 62-52 loss at Bucknell on Sunday. AU hit a three-game win streak in early-December but have since gone back-and-forth between the win and loss column.
• Jade Edwards led the charge on Sunday, helping the Eagles come back from a 17-point halftime to land within five before the Bison hit 7 of 8 from the line down the stretch to rebuild the final 10-point cushion. Edwards closed with 22 points and nine rebounds while Taylor Brown added 14 points and eight boards.
• This is the first time since the 2019-20 season that the Eagles and Black Knights will meet in the regular season and AU comes into the matchup on an eight-game win streak dating back to the 2017-18 season. American hosted Army in the postseason last year with a 76-56 win in Bender during the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal.
• American dropped to second in the league for field goal percentage after being held to under .400 in the last three outings, including a season-low 27.1 percent (19-70) at Boston. The Eagles now sit at 42.3 percent for the season and 37.3 percent in conference-play.
• 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 five wins away from becoming in the winningest coach in program history.

SCOUTING THE BLACK KNIGHTS

• Army West Point has gone back-and-forth between the win-loss column since early-December, including a 3-2 record to open PL play.
• The Black Knights come into Wednesday off a 62-56 win at Lafayette on Saturday after narrowly falling to BU last week, 64-56.
• Alisa Fallon led the team against the Leopards with 22 points followed by 11 from Lauren Lithgow off the bench.
• Sabria Hunter posted a pair of team-highs with nine rebounds and five assists.
• Army ranks second in the league for its offensive output, averaging 65.0 ppg. On the flip side, though, the Black Knights have allowed a league-high 65.4 ppg.
• Army leads the league with 40.7 rpg, including 14.6 rpg on the offensive end, although they have struggled in league play only averaging 38.6 rpg total (11.4 offensive).
• Alisa Fallon leads the team with 13.8 ppg followed by Sabria Hunter (10.8) and Kate Murray (10.7).
• Hunter is one of three players in the league averaging a double-double with 10.0 rpg. She also has a team-high 20 steals on the season.
• This is the first season for head coach Missy Traversi, who joined the Black Knights after a stint in Division II as the head coach at Adelphi.

SERIES HISTORY vs. ARMY WEST POINT

• American is on an 8-0 run against the Black Knights dating back to the 2017-18 season. Prior to that, Army was on a run of its own, winning nine of 10 meetings between 2013 and 2017.
• The teams first met on Dec. 31, 1996 in West Point with the Eagles claiming the 79-39 victory.
• Head Coach Megan Gebbia is 9-8 against the Black Knights since coming to American in 2013-14.

THE LAST TIME WE MET...

• Emily Fisher stepped up to lead AU to a 76-56 win over Army in the PL quarterfinal, just missing her first career double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds.
• Jade Edwards added 16 points while Emily Johns posted 13 points in only 12 minutes of play.
• Karla Vres tied her career-high with four blocks in the first quarter, and went a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor.
• AU held All-Patriot League selection Alisa Fallon to only four points, but Sabria Hunter and Taylor Sullivan filled the void with 17 points and 12 points, respectively.
• AU shot a season-high 57.4 percent (27-47) from the floor and 53.8 percent (7-13) from three.

#AUWBB vs. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE

• American holds a 202-105 (.658) record in Patriot League play, and an overall record of 259-137 (.654) against Patriot League opponents.
• Included in that are winning records against each team in the conference with the exception of Holy Cross, who has a four-game advantage over the Eagles.
• Head Coach Megan Gebbia has a 94-45 (.676) record in conference play since arriving at AU in 2013-14, and is 13-6 in the Patriot League Tournament, including the program's only two PL titles in 2015 and and 2018.

THE LAST TIME OUT

• American hit a 15-2 run to open the fourth quarter but it wasn't enough to overcome the 17-point halftime deficit at Bucknell as the Eagles fell to the Bison, 62-52, on Sunday.
• Jade Edwards was back atop the scoresheet after being held to only five points against Holy Cross on Wednesday. She scored 22 and brought down a team-high nine rebounds.
• Taylor Brown was also back in double-figures with 14 points and eight boards while Lauren Stack picked up a career-high five steals to go along with her seven rebounds.
• The Eagles closed with their second-lowest shooting percentage of the season, hitting only 34.0 percent (17- 50) after shooting 22.2 percent (6-27) in the first half.

SHOOT YOUR SHOT

• The Eagles are averaging only 52.1 FGA per game, but they know how to make them count with a 42.3 FG%, ranking second in the Patriot League and 89th in DI.
• AU led the league until this week after the team was held to two of its three lowest percentages of the season against Boston U. (.271), Bucknell (.340), and Holy Cross (.386).
• The Eagles have put in three games shooting 50 percent or higher so far this season - Colgate (.518), George Mason (.511), and Radford (.500).
• Only four teams have shot better than AU so far this season - UMBC (.373/.432), Towson (.429/.449), Boston University (.271/.464), and Bucknell (.340/.467).
• American's .447 field goal percentage in the non-conference was the team's highest since Gebbia took the reins in 2013.

CLOSE 'EM OUT

• AU has struggled from three-point range all season, hitting only 26.1 percent (54-207) behind Maddie Doring's 34.4 percent (11-32).
• But while AU ranks 10th in the league from the perimeter, they are second in 3-point defense, allowing opponents 4.4 made per game for 25.8 percent.
• American also ranks 31st in Division I for 3FG defense.

IT'S ALL ABOUT CONTROL...

• AU has struggled with turnovers in the early part of the season, averaging 19.3 through the nonconference.
• They've cleaned up the miscues since the start of league play, though, averaging 14.5 in the last four outings.
• The Eagles have also made their opponents pay for their mistakes, though, forcing a league-high 16.8 turnovers in conference play.
• American leads the league with 8.79 steals per game, including 9.25 per game against PL opponents.

PICKIN' POCKETS

• Jade Edwards and Taylor Brown continue to rank in the top five in the league for steals, averaging 2.0 per game each to rank third and fourth, respectively.
• Brown picked up a career-high four against Marist (11/12) and Colgate (1/5) while Edwards tied hers with five during the win against Longwood (12/18).
• Lauren Stack has also added her name to the top-10 in the PL after picking up a career-high five steals against Bucknell on Sunday.

NEXT UP...
American will return to Bender Arena this weekend with a 2 p.m. tip against Loyola Maryland on Saturday. 

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).