WASHINGTON - It's been a long time coming, but American University women's basketball head coach Megan Gebbia has finally taken her place as the winningest coach in program history after an exciting victory over Bucknell on Wednesday, 56-48. With the win, the Eagles bump up to 14-7 on the season and 7-4 in the Patriot League.

The win kicked off a redemption week for the Eagles as they look to get some payback after a couple of road losses to Bucknell and Boston University in January. The Terriers will make the trip down to D.C. on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game.

NOTEWORTHY

• This was the 151st victory in Gebbia's already storied career. Now in her ninth season, she has led the program to two record-breaking seasons, two WNIT berths, and the program's first two Patriot League Championship titles and NCAA Tournament appearances. The moment was also shared with her staff - associate head coach Tiffany Coll, and assistant coaches Nikki Flores and Emily Stallings - who arrived with Gebbia before the 2013-14 season. The most consistent staff in the Patriot League, and the only all-female staff, only Director of Operations Nicole Krusen has not been here for all nine years.
• With the win, Gebbia passed coach Jeff Thatcher (1989-00), who hired Gebbia for her first assistant coaching job in 1995-96.

BY THE NUMBERS

• It was another well-rounded  effort for the Eagles with eight players scoring starting with senior Taylor Brown with 10 points and five rebounds.
• Sophomore Ivy Bales tied her season-high with nine points alongside junior Lauren Stack who also added four rebounds.
• Senior Emily Fisher highlighted the night with one of her gutsiest performances in the AU uniform, pitching in five assists alongside her eight points.
• Senior Jade Edwards also picked up eight points and led the team on the boards with nine rebounds.
• The Bison were led by seniors Taylor O'Brien and Marly Walls who added 10 points each to the score card.
• The Eagles closed the game shooting 42 percent (21-50) from the floor and 85.7 percent (12-14) from the free throw line. The Bison trailed with 35.1 percent (20-57) shooting from the field, 16.7 percent (3-18) from the three, and 71.4 percent (5-7) from the free throw line.
• The Eagles capitalized off Bucknell's 18 miscues, scoring 15 points off turnovers while the Bison picked up 8 points off AU's 14 lost possessions. The Bison led in second chance points, 7-4, points in the paint, 32-28, and fast break points, 4-2. 
• For only the eighth time this season, the Eagles did not lead in bench points as the two teams closed at 12-12.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Stack got the Eagles going with a jumper in the first possession, but it was a quiet two minutes that followed with neither team getting on the board until a layup from Fisher ended the drought.
• Bucknell jumped to within one midway through the quarter, but American held onto its lead with a 14-10 advantage at the break behind four points each from Stack and Bales, and four rebounds from Edwards.
• The Bison rallied in the second quarter with an opening 8-2 run to take an 18-16 lead and force an AU timeout. The Eagles managed to tie the game twice in the last six minutes of the half behind baskets from sophomores Emily Johns and Riley DeRubbo, but they couldn't get the stops they needed down the stretch as Bucknell widened the gap back to four heading into the locker room, 27-23.
• The Bucknell lead was short-lived, though, as the Eagles came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders to quickly retake a two-point lead off Fisher's sixth point of the night. The lead switched hands four times over the next minute before a Layup from Stack sent AU on an 11-2 run to take the largest lead of the game yet at 42-34 with just over two minutes left in the third quarter.
• Back-to-back baskets from Bales and DeRubbo to open the fourth quarter put the Eagles at a 10-point advantage, but Bucknell slowly fought back and eventually closed the lead back down to two after a 10-2 run, including six points from O'Brien alone.
• That would be as close as the game would get, though, as Brown closed the game hitting 4-for-4 from the line to end back at the eight-point lead.

NEXT UP
American will close out its redemption week on Saturday with a 2 p.m. against Boston University, who sits alongside Holy Cross at the top of the Patriot League rankings. Saturday will also continue the celebration for head coach Megan Gebbia with a pregame ball ceremony to honor her record-breaking victory on Wednesday.

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).