WASHINGTON - Champions on their home court! American University women's basketball is headed to the NCAA Tournament for a third time in program history after beating Bucknell, 65-54, at Bender Arena in the Patriot League Championship on Sunday afternoon. The Eagles (23-8) will find out where they're headed during the NCAA Selection Show at 8 p.m. Sunday night.

American senior guard Emily Fisher was named Patriot League Women's Basketball Championship MVP while earning a spot on the all-tournament team after finishing with eight points, seven rebounds and four assists. Fisher scored a career-high 25 points in AU's semifinal win over BU. She was joined by classmate Jade Edwards, who finished with a game-high 21 points in the championship.

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Eagles last captured a PL title in 2018, and this is now their fourth conference championship. All have been won under the guidance of head coach Megan Gebbia (2015, 2018, 2022) who arrived at AU in 2013.
• Under Gebbia, AU is now 16-0 in conference tournament games at Bender Arena. But this was the first postseason win over Bucknell for a Gebbia-led squad after previously going 0-3.
• All-Patriot League First Team selection Edwards led all players with 21 points, hitting 8-of-12 from the field and 4-of-4 free throws. She also tied Fisher for game-high assist honors with four.
• Thanks a huge third quarter, All-Patriot League Third Team honoree Taylor Brown finished with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 5-for-5 at the line.
• Ivy Bales and Fisher grabbed seven rebounds each to lead AU, and Bales finished with 11 points while Fisher had eight.
• Bucknell's Taylor O'Brien led the Bison with 20 points despite going 1-of-6 from long range. American hit just 3-of-9 three-pointers, but the Bison fared worse at 2-for-12. Overall from the field, AU shot 45.5 percent to Bucknell's 36.2 percent.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Bucknell had the hot hand early, using a 10-0 run for a 10-2 lead in the opening minutes.
• Fisher stopped the run just past the five-minute mark of the first quarter, but the Bison took a 16-6 lead after another strong spurt.
• An Emily Johns three-pointer at 2:34 started what became a 10-0 run for the Eagles that had the score tied up at 16-16 to close out the first quarter.
• Fisher reached eight points early in the second quarter as AU extended the run to 16-2, taking a 22-18 lead at 6:56.
• Bucknell recovered to briefly take a one-point, 23-22 lead a minute later, but the Eagles scored seven straight points capped by a steal and fast break layup for Edwards with 55 seconds remaining in the half.
• Halftime saw American up 29-26, with the stats fairly even across the board. The biggest difference was AU going 3-of-6 from long range in the first two quarters while the Bison hit just one of four attempts.
• Plenty of lead changes marked the beginning of the third quarter, but Brown put the Eagles ahead for good, 37-35 on a three-point play at 4:45.
• Those points became the start of a 10-0 run that put AU up 44-35 at 2:15. The run was fueled by Brown, who scored nine of her 18 points in the third quarter alone.
• The Bison made another push to come within three near the end of the third quarter, but it was as close as they would get.
• Early in the fourth quarter the Eagles exploded for a 9-0 run capped by an Edwards old-fashioned three-point play, and the crowd fueled AU the rest of the way.
• Both teams went cold offensively down the stretch of the final period, but American went 6-of-6 at the free throw line in the final minute to seal the victory.

NCAA TOURNAMENT TICKET REQUEST FORM

All fans interested in purchasing tickets to see American play in the NCAA Tournament should go to https://aueagles.com/tickets/NCAAWBBTickets22 now to submit their NCAA Tournament Ticket Request Form.

Ticket requests will be processed on a first come, first serve basis, allotted using the below priority criteria. Please note that due to NCAA policy, the amount of NCAA tickets provided to AU is extremely limited. A two-ticket limit may be instituted at the discretion of American University Athletics.

2022 AU Women's Basketball NCAA Ticket Priority
Priority to purchase NCAA post-season tickets is as follows (in ranked order):
1.) Eagles Club members who have made lifetime gifts to Athletics in excess of $10,000 and are current Eagles Club members
2.) Eagles Club members who donate $2,500 or more to the athletics annual fund this year.
3.) Eagles Club members who donated $1,250 or more to the athletics annual fund this year.
4.) 2021-22 Eagles Club Members
5.) American University Alumni/Faculty/Staff/Students
6.) American University Fans/General Public

Note: Donors to the women's basketball program and basketball season ticket holders will receive highest priority in each category above.

STAY CONNECTED

• 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).