NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
Game 32  ·  14-Seed American (23-8, 13-5 PL) at Three-Seed Michigan (22-6, 13-4 B1G)
Saturday, March 19  ·  3:30 PM ET  ·  Crisler Center (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
ESPN2: Sam Gore (pxp); Aja Ellison (analyst)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The American University women's basketball team is dancing as the 14-seed for the third time in program history and will take on three-seed Michigan in the NCAA Tournament First Round on Saturday, March 19, at 3:30 p.m. in Ann Arbor. The game will air live on ESPN2.

THE STARTING FIVE

• American claimed its third Patriot League title in program history on Sunday in front of a roaring home crowd, outpacing Bucknell, 65-54, in Bender Arena. The win was the first time the Eagles have defeated the Bison in the Patriot League Tournament, and continued head coach Megan Gebbia's undefeated run at home in the postseason (16-0 since 2013-14).
• All three of the program's Patriot League titles have come during the Gebbia era. Officially the winningest coach in program history after her 151st career win on Feb. 9 (also over Bucknell), she has now guided the Eagles to three NCAA Tournaments and two WNIT appearances (2014, 2019) in her nine seasons.
• Senior Jade Edwards paced AU during Sunday's championship victory, scoring 21 points alongside her four assists and two blocks. Classmate Taylor Brown fell only two points shy of her career-high with 18 and sophomore Ivy Bales posted a career-high 11 points. Bales also led on the boards with seven rebounds - one shy of tying her career-best.
• Senior point guard Emily Fisher has also been dominant in the latter part of the season. Although only held to eight points and four assists against the Bison, she has scored in double-figures in three of the last four games including a career-high 25 points against Boston University to lead AU to the semifinal win.
• American boasts one of the top-ranked defenses in the country. The Eagles are third in Division I for 3-point defense, holding opponents to only 24.3 percent shooting from long range, including 23.6 percent during conference play. They also lead the Patriot League in forced turnovers (18.0) and steals per game (8.4).

#AUWBB IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

• The Eagles made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2015, also as the 14-seed, with a trip to Iowa City to face three-seed Iowa. American led late in the first half but couldn't keep pace with the Hawkeyes' second half surge and fell, 75-67.
• AU was back in the big dance as the 14-seed in 2018, traveling to California to take on three-seed UCLA. Once again, American played tight on the national stage, taking a brief lead in the first quarter and landing back within four before the Bruins took the 71-60 win.

SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES

• Three-seed Michigan comes into the NCAA Tournament with a 22-6 record (#17 NET ranking), including 13-4 in Big Ten play.
• The Wolverines fell to Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Friday, March 4, 76-73.
• Laila Phelia led U-M with 19 points, followed by 18 from Naz Hillmon and 16 off the bench from Leigha Brown, who returned to action against Iowa after missing five games due to injury.
• Hillmon completed the double-double effort with 12 boards and added five assists.
• The Wolverines trailed by as many as 14 points before battling back to take a six-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. But Nebraska countered down the stretch to end with the three-point win.
• Michigan closed the regular-season ranked 10th in Division I and bring with them three top-10 ranked wins over then-No. 5 Baylor (74-68 in OT) on Dec. 19, No. 8 Maryland (69-49) on Jan. 16, and No. 6 Indiana (65-50) on Jan. 31.
• U-M is seventh in Division I for rebounding margin, averaging 10.3 more per game than its opponents. Michigan is also 15th in Division I with a .453 FG%.
• Hillman leads the team and is 14th in Division I with 21.0 ppg. One of the top players in the country on the offensive boards, she is seventh in DI with 4.4 per game and averages 9.4 rpg overall.
• Brown is next for the Wolverines with 18.2 ppg in her 18 games along with a team-high 23 steals.

CHAMPS!

• The American University women's basketball team earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history after beating Bucknell, 65-54, at Bender Arena in the Patriot League Championship on Sunday.
• Senior Emily Fisher was named the PL Tournament MVP while earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team after combining for 43 points (14.3 ppg), 20 rebounds (6.7 rpg), and 10 assists (3.3 apg) over the three games.
• Classmate Jade Edwards joined her on the All-Tournament Team after leading the team to the title with 21 points against the Bison.
• With the win, head coach Megan Gebbia continued her undefeated run at home in the postseason. She is now 16-0 in Bender Arena during the Patriot League Tournament.
• Sunday also marked American's first postseason win over Bucknell, who came into the day with a 5-0 record against the Eagles.
• Senior Taylor Brown also had a stellar performance in the title game, scoring 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor and 5-of-5 at the line.
• The Eagles hit a perfect 12 for 12 from the charity stripe with Edwards adding four and sophomore Ivy Bales adding three.
• Bales also led the team with seven rebounds alongside Fisher, who played all 40 minutes of the championship game.

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.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

• This is has been a special run for American's five seniors - Taylor Brown, Maddie Doring, Jade Edwards, Emily Fisher, and Laura Graytok.
• As freshmen, they were part of the 2019 team that lost a heartbreaker at Bucknell in the Patriot League Championship. As they sat and watched the postgame awards in Lewisburg, Brown and Doring promised head coach Megan Gebbia that they would be the ones hoisting the trophy before they graduate.
• Now, three years later, they have done just that, turning the tables with a win over Bucknell at home in Bender Arena.

ROUND FIVE

• Of the five seniors, four are currently committed to returning for a fifth year in 2022-23 - Taylor Brown, Maddie Doring, Jade Edwards, and Emily Fisher.
• This sets up these four seniors to continue making history next season, as they will look to lead the team to its first back-to-back PL title run.
• Laura Graytok will remain in D.C., though, as she is set to begin graduate school at George Washington in their School of Media & Public Affairs.

THE GOAT

• With the win over Bucknell on Feb. 9, American University head coach Megan Gebbia officially became the winningest coach in program history with her 151st career victory.
• She has a record of 160-105 (.604) in her nine years.
• Gebbia passed Jeff Thatcher (1989-00) in the history books. Thatcher, who closed his career with a record of 150-156 (.490) hired Gebbia as an assistant during the 1995-96 season - her first coaching job after graduating from Towson.
• In fact, that win made this the winningest STAFF in program history, as associate head coach Tiffany Coll, and assistant coaches Nikki Flores and Emily Stallings have been at AU with Gebbia since she arrived in 2013. Only Director of Operations Nicole Krusen has not been here all nine seasons (this is her sixth year).

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).