WASHINGTON – It was junior guard Ivy Bales that sunk the mid-range jumper with 2.4 seconds left in the game that gave the American University women's basketball team (4-15, 3-5 PL) the 59-57 win over Colgate (10-9, 4-4 PL) in Bender arena on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles have had their previous three games decided by two points, and this is the first to break their way, moving them to 3-5 in conference play heading into a road game against Army on Wednesday, Jan. 25.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Kayla Henning led for the Eagles with 12 points. The junior guard went 8-8 from the free-throw for a majority of her points. She also had three assists and one rebound.
• Bales finished the game with 10 points–including the game-winning two–, six rebounds, two assists and a block for an almost complete line on the stat sheet.
• Freshman Molly Lavin went 2-5 from the field but 4-4 from the free-throw line for American to take nine points from Colgate. She also finished the contest with nine rebounds, one steal, and one block.
• Lauren Stack was the defensive leader with Lavin, also taking down nine rebounds. She also had three steals and an assist.
• The Raiders were led by Taylor Golembiewski, their leading scorer this season, with 16 points. She picked up her fourth foul with four minutes left to play in the contest. Defensively, Colgate was led by Madison Schiller with eight rebounds. Schiller also had three assists and four steals.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• An evenly matched first frame is how the game started off, both teams attacking the rim at a fast pace. Midway through the first period, the Eagles led the Raiders 9-8.
• Through one period, American had a seven-point lead over Colgate, 17-10, thanks to a buzzer-beating basket from Lavin. Each team had 10 points in the paint and the Eagles were leading in rebounds 14-8.
• At the 6:38 mark in the second period, American and Colgate were both shooting 35 percent from the field, but the Eagles were leading 21-14. Stack had two steals, along with one apiece from Johns and Bailey Garbee; AU had four points off of turnovers at this point in the game.
• At the break, the Eagles had their first double-digit halftime lead of the season, having gone 10-10 from the charity stripe as a team. Neither team was shooting well though, the Raiders with 30% from the field and American at 29%.
• Both teams had scored 14 points from the points from the paint, and each had eight bench points contributed in the first half and American led in rebounding 23-17. The Eagles had eight players with points on the stat-sheet, evenly distributing the wealth down the roster.
• The opening half of the third period saw Colgate close in on the American lead and trailing 29-25, outscoring the Eagles 9-2 with just under five minutes left to play in the frame.
• Colgate tied the game at 29-all with 4:09 left in the third, before Henning immediately responded with a basket. After that, the game became a back-and-forth conflict.
• Rebounding in the third period shifted toward the Raiders, 13-8. So did the scoring, with the visitors taking advantage and scoring 21 to the Eagles nine to take the lead 36-37.
• Henning, Bales, and Anna LeMaster were the only three Eagles to score from the floor in the third; LeMaster's triple with 11 seconds left in the period made it so American was only down one point heading into the fourth.
• When the first media timeout of the fourth came around with 6:47 left to play in the game, the visitors led by one still, Eagles trailing 44-45 before Lavin made a three-point basket to add momentum to the American offense.
• In the end it was Bales who would break the tie 57-all tie that existed between the two teams with 27-seconds left. The junior guard was calm and collected when the play was drawn up and then the ball was passed to her, draining the long two-point jumper with 2.4 seconds left to give the Eagles the 59-57 conference win over Colgate.

UP NEXT
The Eagles are back on the road against Army West Point on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 6 p.m. before returning home Bender Arena to take on Navy on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 2 p.m. The game will also be part of the National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

Tickets are on sale now at AUEagles.com/Tickets!
 
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