Game 19  ·  American (12-6, 5-3 PL) at Lafayette (7-11, 3-5 PL)
Tuesday, February 1  ·  6 p.m. ET  ·  Kirby Sports Center (Easton, Pa.)

WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball team (12-6, 5-3 PL) will make its first of two trips this week on Tuesday with a visit to Lafayette (7-11, 3-5 PL) for a 6 p.m. tip in Easton, Pa.

SPECTATOR POLICY

• Fans will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a recent (within 72 hours) negative test upon arrival at all athletics events. Children ineligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine are permitted to attend events and are expected to be masked at all times. Game day staff will be on hand to verify entry status at each athletic venue.

THE STARTING FIVE

• The Eagles are still looking for their first road win of the Patriot League season. They come into the Tuesday contest off some momentum, though, after battling back for a 69-60 win over Navy on Saturday.
• Three Eagles picked up new career-highs, starting with senior Taylor Brown who led the team with 20 points. Senior Maddie Doring hit three treys in her 19 minutes and junior Lauren Stack added eight rebounds for new personal bests. Seniors Jade Edwards and Emily Fisher also helped lead AU with 12 points and 10 points, respectively.
• Brown was back in full force after being held to single-digits against Loyola Maryland and Holy Cross - her first two games under 10 points since the win over Vermont on November 13.
• The Eagles continue to work as one of the top perimeter defensive teams in the country, ranking 21st in Division I after holding opponents to only 25.8 percent from long range. They also continue to lead the Patriot League in forced turnovers (18.3) and steals (8.7).
• 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 two wins away from becoming in the winningest coach in program history.

SCOUTING THE LEOPARDS

• Lafayette is on a five-game skid after opening Patriot League play with a 3-0 run against Colgate, Navy, and Loyola Maryland.
• The latest of these losses was a 50-46 battle at Army West Point on Saturday.
• Abby Antognoli led Lafayette with 15 points and four assists while Makaila Wilson, Naomi Ganpo, and Makayla Andrews shared responsibilities on the boards with eight rebounds each.
• Lafayette closed with one of its lowest shooting percentages of the season, going only 29.5 percent (18-61) from the floor.
• Jessica Booth leads Lafayette with 11.7 ppg so far this season, followed by 10.9 ppg from Andrews.
• Wilson averages a team-high 7.7 rpg followed by Ganpo (6.9 rpg), who also leads the Patriot League with 39 blocks so far this season.

SERIES HISTORY vs. LEOPARDS

• American has dominated in the series against Lafayette, going 42-9 since the first meeting in 1982 (W, 62-53 in D.C.).
• Of AU's nine losses, seven came in Easton.
• Lafayette comes in with back-to-back wins in the last two outings, though, defeating AU 67-52 in D.C. then 58-55 in Easton during the 2019-20 season.
• The two teams were scheduled to play during the shortened season last year, but the two games were canceled.
• Head coach Megan Gebbia is 14-4 against Lafayette since she arrived at AU in 2013-14.

THE LAST TIME WE MET...

• The lead switched hands seven times but AU didn't have a response to the Leopards' fourth quarter push and fell to Lafayette, 55-48, in Easton on Feb. 26, 2020.
• Jade Edwards posted her ninth 20+ point game of the season with 22 but AU struggled from the floor, shooting only 29.6 percent (16-54).
• American returns seven players from that game, including Edwards.
• Only Naomi Ganpo and Nicole Johnson return for the Leopards from that game. Johnson led the team with 16 points and five steals while Ganpo added 10 points and six rebounds.

#AUWBB vs. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE

• American holds a 205-106 (.659) record in Patriot League play, and an overall record of 262-138 (.655) 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 five-game advantage over the Eagles.
• Head Coach Megan Gebbia has a 97-46 (.678) 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

• The Eagles bounced back after a tough loss at Holy Cross last week to pick up a 69-60 win over Navy in Bender Arena on Saturday.
• Taylor Brown paced AU with a career-high 20 points, going 7-for-11 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the perimeter.
• Maddie Doring also hit a new career best with three made trey's while Lauren Stack added a career-high eight rebounds.
• Jade Edwards added a dozen points and six assists while Emily Fisher stuffed the stats sheet with 10 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and only one turnover.
• Although Navy's Jennifer Coleman still delivered a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, the Eagles shut her down in the second half, holding her to only six points and three rebounds.
• American trailed by as many as 10 in the first half but responded well in the second starting with a 20-12 run in the third quarter to take the lead.
• The Mids tied the game twice in the fourth but couldn't find the stops they needed down the stretch.

SHOOT YOUR SHOT

• The Eagles are averaging only 52.2 FGA per game, but they know how to make them count with a 42.3 FG%, to lead the Patriot League.
• American ranks fourth in the league-only stats, though, with 39.7 percent after being held to three of its lowest percentages of the season by Bucknell, Boston U., and Holy Cross.
• Only five teams have shot better than AU so far this season - UMBC (.373/.432), Towson (.429/.449), Boston University (.271/.464), Bucknell (.340/.467), and Holy Cross (.267/.415).
• The Eagles have put in four games shooting 50 percent or higher so far this season - Army (.549), Colgate (.518), George Mason (.511), and Radford (.500).
• American's .447 field goal percentage in the non-conference was the team's highest since Gebbia took the reins in 2013.
• Jade Edwards leads the team shooting 48.0 percent (80-162), which would lead the league if she averaged 5 FGM/game (currently at 4.6).

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 14.0 in the last eight outings.
• The Eagles have also made their opponents pay for their mistakes, though, forcing a league-high 18.4 turnovers in conference play.
• American leads the league with 8.7 steals per game, including 8.9 per game against PL opponents.

CLOSE 'EM OUT

• American ranks among some of the top perimeter defenses in Division I, holding opponents to only 25.8 percent from long range, including 24.5 percent in league play.
• The Eagles lead the Patriot League and rank 21st in the country.

PICKIN' POCKETS

• Jade Edwards and Taylor Brown continue to rank in the top four in the league for steals, averaging 2.1 and 1.8 per game to rank second 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 briefly added her name to the top-10 in the PL after picking up a career-high five steals against Bucknell.

UP NEXT...
American will be back on the road on Saturday with a trip to Colgate for a 2 p.m. start. The Eagles will host back-to-back games next week with Bucknell on Wednesday and Boston University 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).