BALTIMORE, Md. – Thanks to a three-point jumper from Emily Johns with eight seconds left, the American University women's basketball team (1-9) completed a comeback in dramatic fashion to defeat UMBC (2-8) by a score of 70-68 on Sunday afternoon. The Eagles forced a turnover on the Retrievers' final possession and came away with their first win of the season.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Johns led the charge for the Eagles. The junior forward sunk a career-high 25 points. She also had seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
• Riley DeRubbo was American's second-highest scorer for the afternoon with a career high of her own, draining 18 points, including three from beyond the arc. She also had three steals, six assists, and five rebounds.
• Ivy Bales also claimed a career high 14 points in the game, going 4-4 from the line while also claiming four rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
• Kayla Henning led the Eagles in rebounding with nine boards.
• The Retrievers were led by Nia Staples, with 24 points. She was followed by Kiara Bell who had 18.  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• It was five minutes into the game when the first media timeout came around and at that point, the Eagles were up 15-10 over the Retrievers.
• Johns had gone 4-5 and Bales 2-3 from the field in the first five. Stack had two rebounds.
• Two minutes later, with three minutes left in the first period, the hosts took the lead, 18-15, to force an Eagles timeout. The period ended with UMBC going on a 10-0 run, giving them a 20-15 lead heading into the second period.
• In the second frame the Retrievers opened with a 7-2 run, leading by a score of 27-17 with seven minutes left to play before the half.
• At the break, the hosting Retrievers led by a score of 37-24. UMBC shot 46% from the field to American's 32%.
• Midway through the third period, the Eagles had pulled themselves back to be within seven by going on an 8-3 run, down 36-43.
• With two minutes left in the third, a Bales jumper put American up one. UMBC quickly retook the lead, but the frame ended with American down just two, 51-53.
• The Eagles shot 63% from the field in the third period, outscoring the Retrievers who shot 33%, 27-16.
• Six and a half minutes remained in the game and American was leading 59-57 thanks to two three-point buckets from DeRubbo and a jumper from Sadie Stetson.
• UMBC made three three-point jumpers in a row to have the 66-61 lead over AU with three and a half minutes left to play, but American pulled it back to within one, with one minute left in the game. The Eagles were down 67-68 with possession and 18 seconds remaining.
• It was Johns that gave the Eagles their win. The junior knocked down a three-pointer with eight seconds to play. American then forced a UMBC turnover to secure its win.  

UP NEXT

• The squad will be back on the road on Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 2 p.m. against Delaware.
• The Eagles' next home game will be their conference opener against Lafayette on Friday, December 30 at 7 p.m.

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