WASHINGTON – The American University women's basketball team (8-3, 1-0 PL) opened the 2022 Patriot League season with a 66-52 win over Colgate (2-12, 0-3 PL) at Bender Arena on Wednesday night.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Senior Jade Edwards led the Eagles with 18 points as she continues to close in on her 1,000th with 986 in her career. She also added a team-high six rebounds, including the 500th of her career as she hits her first milestone of the season. Edwards is 19th player in program history to reach 500 career rebounds and is potentially one game away from becoming the 11th to earn over 1,000 points and 500 boards.
• Senior Taylor Brown was also back in double-figures for the eighth consecutive game with 13 points to go along with her four rebounds and team-high four steals.
• The sophomore class stepped up in a big way adding a combined 30 points, including 25 off the bench behind a career-high nine from Kayla Henning, and eight each from Emily Johns and Ivy Bales. Riley DeRubbo added five more in her first career start.
• Bales also pitched in a career-high six assists to lead the Eagles, followed by four from Henning to tie her career best.
• Sophomore Tiasia McMillan led the Raiders with 18 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Freshman Morgan McMahon and junior Alexa Brodie followed with nine points each.
• For the third time this season, AU closed shooting over 50 percent from the floor, hitting a season-high 51.8 percent (29-56). Colgate trailed with 34.9 percent (15-43) from the field and were held to only 18.8 percent (3-16) from three.
• American dominated in the paint with 50 points to Colgate's 22. The Eagles also led in fast break opportunities, 12-0, points off turnovers, 15-6, and bench points, 25-12. AU nearly tied it's season-low with 13 turnovers while forcing 16 Colgate miscues.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After 18 days without a game, it was a slow start for the Eagles in the first quarter as they were held to only six points through the first seven minutes, trailing Colgate by as many as points.
• A transition layup from Johns at the 2:59 mark sparked the AU offense, tying the game at 8-8 and sending the Eagles on a nine point closing run to take a 15-8 lead into the second quarter.
• American continued to widen the gap in the early minutes of the second quarter behind a pair of fast break buckets from Brown and sophomore Riley DeRubbo, who earned five points, an assist, and a steal in her first career start.
• With just under four minutes left in the half, the Eagles picked up their largest lead of the game yet with a 25-11 advantage after another fast break layup, this time from Edwards.
• The Raiders managed to cut to within eight in the final two minutes, but a pair of clutch baskets from Johns and Bales rebuilt the 10-point cushion at 32-22 heading into the locker room.
• Edwards got the offense rolling in the third quarter with a long three after an offensive rebound from junior Lauren Stack. 
• American maintained a double-figure advantage until the media timeout behind a set of well-timed baskets from Stack and Henning, but Colgate once again cut the lead back down to single-digits with a 5-0 run midway through the stanza.
• The Eagles closed strong again, though, posting eight of the final 10 points, including a final jumper from Henning with three seconds on the clock to take a 51-38 lead into the final 10 minutes.
• Colgate kept it tight in the fourth quarter, once again managing to land back within eight before a 13-3 run gave AU its largest lead of the night at 66-48 with just over 1:00 left to play. The Raiders posted the final four points of the game, but American came away with the 66-52 win to open the conference slate.

UP NEXT...
American is back on the road this weekend with a 2 p.m. tip at Boston University on Saturday. The Eagles then return home to host Holy Cross at 6 p.m. on Wednesday 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).