PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
Game 31  ·  #2 American (22-8, 13-5 PL) vs. #4 Bucknell (23-8, 12-6 PL)
Sunday, March 13  ·  Noon ET  ·  Bender Arena (Washington, D.C.)
CBS Sports Network: Jason Knapp (pxp) and Julianne Viani (analyst)

WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball team (22-8, 13-5 PL) will battle for its third Patriot League title in Bender Arena on Sunday as the second-seeded Eagles host four-seed Bucknell (23-8, 12-6) in the tournament final at noon.

SPECTATOR POLICY

• All spectators 12 years of age and older will need to provide proof of vaccination to enter the venue. Fans under the age of 12 are exempt from providing proof of vaccination. Additionally, unless actively eating or drinking all spectators are required to wear a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status.

#AUWBB IN THE PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

• Overall Record: 26-18 (15-6 under head coach Megan Gebbia)
• In Bender Arena: 17-2 (Gebbia: 15-0)
• Against Bucknell: 0-5 overall 
• In the Championship: 2-5 (2-1 under coach Gebbia)
• American is also 9-5 as the two-seed, including three appearances in the Championship game.
• Head coach Megan Gebbia led the Eagles to their only two PL titles during the 2015 and 2018 seasons, both were as the No. 1 seed.

FULL CIRCLE

• There has been no shortage of storylines in the postseason for the Eagles. After outlasting Lafayette, 62-48, in the quarterfinal round, American hosted Boston University in a redemption semifinal game. The Terriers knocked AU out of the last two tournaments in 2020 and 2021, both hosted up in Boston, but this time it was the Eagles who survived and advanced with a dominant 70-48 win in Bender on Thursday.
• Sunday's game will have a similar feel - AU has never beaten Bucknell in the postseason and fell to the Bison in Lewisburg during the 2019 Championship. For the five American seniors who were freshmen during that 2019 game - Taylor Brown, Maddie Doring, Jade Edwards, Emily Fisher, and Laura Graytok - this could be a full circle moment.
• This also sets up a potentially historic 2022-23 season, as Brown, Doring, Edwards, and Fisher will return for a fifth year. A win on Sunday gives them an opportunity to lead the team to its first back-to-back Patriot League Championship seasons.

THE STARTING FIVE

• American stretched to a 6-0 win streak with a dominant 70-48 win over three-seed Boston University in the PL semifinal on Thursday. The win was also the fourth-consecutive in which AU held its opponent to 48 points, and the fifth overall this season. The other time was the 56-48 win over Bucknell in Bender Arena on February 9.
• Senior Emily Fisher led the Eagles with a stellar performance, culminating with a new career-high 25 points. She also led the team with four assists and five rebounds. Senior Taylor Brown added nine points while sophomore Emily Johns added eight off the bench.
• Sunday's Championship game could be a full-circle moment for the five AU seniors - they lost at Bucknell in the tournament final their freshman year, then got knocked out of the tournament by Boston University the next two seasons, both in Boston.
• Home court advantage just hits different with AU. The Eagles are 15-0 in Bender during the PL Tournament under head coach Megan Gebbia. They were undefeated at home during the PL regular season this year and the nonconference loss to Towson is the only one in the last 22 games dating back to 2019-20. AU is tied for 10th in DI with its 12-0 run at home.
• American boasts one of the top defenses in the country. The Eagles rank 4th in Division I for 3-point defense, holding opponents to only 24.5 percent shooting from long range, including 23.6 percent in League play. They also lead the Patriot League in forced turnovers (18.3) and steals per game (8.5).

SCOUTING THE BISON

• Fourth-seeded Bucknell held eight-seed Navy to seven points in the first and third quarters, and led by as many as 27 points en route to the 64-44 semifinal win on Thursday in Sojka Pavilion.
• Taylor O'Brien paced the Bison with 21 points. She was the only player to land in double-figures with Isabelle King as the next scorer with nine.
• Carly Krsul stuffed the stat sheet with 10 boards, four assists, six points, a steal and a block. She was did not give up a single turnover in her 25 minutes off the bench.
• O'Brien is third in the Patriot League for scoring, averaging 16.2 ppg. Freshman Cecelia Collins is next in 11th with 10.9 ppg. O'Brien also leads the Bison on the boards with 6.6 rpg.
• O'Brien was one of four All-Patriot League selections for the Bison with a First Team nod. She was joined by Collins (Second Team/All-Rookie), and Marly Walls (All-Defensive Team).
• Bucknell was predicted to finish third in the Patriot League in the Preseason Poll.

SERIES HISTORY vs. BUCKNELL

• Bucknell has won seven of the last eight meetings but American still leads the series, 26-24, thanks to a 14-1 run from 2009-2015 and a 56-48 win in Bender last month.
• Each team leads on its respective home floor with the Eagles owning a 14-9 lead in Bender Arena.
• Head coach Megan Gebbia is 7-12 against the Bison since 2013-14.

THE LAST TIME WE MET...

• Head Coach Megan Gebbia became the winningest coach in program history on Feb. 9 after the Eagles surged past Bucknell, 56-48, in Bender Arena.
• Although Taylor Brown led AU with 10 points on the night, it was a well-rounded scoring effort with eight of the nine Eagles getting on the board with at least three points.
• American led after the first quarter but a 17-9 Bison sent them into the locker room with a 27-23 advantage.
• The Eagles came out firing on all cylinders in the third quarter, retaking the lead with a 20-9 run behind six points from Emily Fisher, who stuffed the stat sheet with five assists, two rebounds, a steal, and a block.
• Jade Edwards pulled down a team-high nine boards and led with three steals.
• Ivy Bales continued to put in productive minutes since joining the starting lineup against Navy (1/29). She tied her season-high with nine points and held Bucknell's leading scorer, Taylor O'Brien (15.7 ppg), to only 10 on the night, four of which came from the free throw line.

#AUWBB vs. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE

• American holds a 213-108 (.664) record in Patriot League play, and an overall record of 272-140 (.660) 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 105-48 (.686) record in conference play since arriving at AU in 2013-14, and is 15-6 in the Patriot League Tournament, including the program's only two PL titles in 2015 and and 2018. 

LAST TIME OUT

• A career night from senior Emily Fisher led the Eagles to a dominant 70-48 win over three-seed Boston University in Bender Arena during Thursday's Patriot League semifinal.
• Fisher led the field with 25 points, eclipsing her previous career-high of 22 from the 2019-20 season. She continued to stuff the stat sheet with five rebounds, four assists, and a steal.
• Senior Taylor Brown was next with nine points and four steals to tie her career-high.
• In all, 10 players scored for AU and the Eagles closed shooting 41.1 percent from the floor to Boston's 35.4 percent.
• Boston's one and only lead of the night was a two-point edge in the opening minute of the game. American led by as many as 22 in the fourth quarter.
• The chippy contest saw 47 combined fouls - a season-high for the Eagles.

POSTSEASON AWARDS

• Seniors Jade Edwards, Emily Fisher, and Taylor Brown closed the regular-season with selections to the All-Patriot League Teams.
• Edwards led the trio with her second consecutive First Team nod, and fifth career All-PL award after being voted to the Second Team as a sophomore and the All-Rookie Team as a freshman. She was also voted onto the All-Defensive Team last season.
• This was the first postseason nod for both Fisher and Brown. The two Eagles were selected to the Third Team while Fisher also earned a spot on the league's All-Defensive Team.
• All three are set to return for a fifth-year in 2021-22 along with classmate Maddie Doring.

PROTECT THIS HOUSE

• American is 66-12 at home since the start of the 2016-17, including an undefeated 23-0 run that ranked sixth in Division I before ending with a loss to Ohio on Dec. 29, 2018.
• Within that run was the program's first undefeated season at home since the 1970s en route to the program's second PL title in 2017-18.
• Under head coach Megan Gebbia, the Eagles are 96- 28 (.774) in Bender Arena, including 75-16 (.824) against Patriot League opponents.
• American was undefeated at home once again last season at 4-0 during the shortened conference-only slate.
• The Eagles have also been dominant at home in postseason play, with an overall record of 16-2 during the PL Tournament since 2011. Included in that record is a 15-0 record during Gebbia's tenure.

SELECTION SHOW

• The winner of Sunday's game will be dancing with an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament! 
• The NCAA Selection Show will be broadcast on ESPN Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.

GAME TICKET INFO

• Ticket prices for the championship game, set by the Patriot League, are $14 for adults and $7 for seniors and youth.
• AU students will be admitted free with a valid AU undergraduate, graduate and WCL ID.
• Tickets are on sale now via AUeagles.com/Tickets. 
• Parking will be free in the Bender Arena garage on Sunday, and fans are encouraged to arrive early to the championship game.

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).