WASHINGTON – After opening the Patriot League season with two back-to-back wins, the most recent coming against Loyola Maryland, the American University women's basketball team (3-10, 2-0 PL) is welcoming Holy Cross (10-3, 2-0 PL) to Bender Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Crusaders are also undefeated so far in conference play, coming into the matchup with wins over Bucknell and most recently, Navy.
QUICK INFO
- Date/Time: Thursday, Jan. 5; 7 PM
- Site: Washington D.C. (Bender Arena)
- Series History: Holy Cross leads American, 24-19
- TV: ESPN+
- Talent: Dan Laing (pxp); Jody Patrick (color)
INSIDE THE SERIES
- The Crusaders lead in the series against the Eagles 24-19. Last season the two team teams went 1-1 in the series, the Eagles falling in the last meeting, 55-45, at Holy Cross.
- In the last six match ups, the teams are 3-3, all in which the smallest margin of victory was 11 points for each team respectively.
- In Bender Arena, the Eagles have a 12-11 advantage over the Crusaders and American will look to get continue their Patriot League victories this season by adding to their home record against Holy Cross.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT AMERICAN
- The Eagles are now 2-0 in conference play after defeating Loyola Maryland 52-37 at Loyola on Jan. 2. This is the first season since the 2017-18 season where the Eagles have won their first two league games.
- In the last contest, junior forward Emily Johns led in scoring with 14 points and five rebounds. She picked up eight of her points in the second half where she went 4-5 from the field. It was Johns' second game in a row scoring 14 points, after dropping the same amount against Lafayette at home in the Eagles' conference opener.
- Guards Riley DeRubbo and Sadie Stetson followed with nine and eight points respectively while both grabbing two rebounds. DeRubbo also had three steals.
- Junior guard Ivy Bales picked up another four steals against Loyola after coming off a career high of six steals against Lafayette, being the first person in three years to grab five or more steals in a game.
- In crunch time against the Greyhounds, the Eagles went 73% from the field and held Loyola to just 29%, allowing American to go 20-9 in the fourth period and win by a 15 point margin.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT HOLY CROSS
- The Crusaders are looking to continue their two-game win streak in Patriot League play. After winning their first game against Bucknell (62-45) and then again against Navy (53-40). Holy Cross is bringing their 10-3 record into Bender, which is their best record to start off a season since 2013-14.
- Junior guard Bronagh Power-Cassidy was the leading scorer in the contest against Navy with 15 points. Nine of her points came from deep, hitting three three-pointers, while securing six boards, and two steals.
- Against Navy the other Crusader in double figures was Cara McCormack with 12 points and four boards.
- Other key players in the win against Navy were forwards Janelle Allen and Lindsay Berger who had nine points each while freshman Kaitlyn Flanagan had three steals and three assists.
- Holy Cross has three players that are averaging double-digit points per game this season, Power-Cassidy (11.8), Berger (10.8), and Allen (10.5), allowing them to win eight of their ten wins over opponents by double-digits.
- On the season, Berger is averaging 53% from the field and picked up 95 rebounds total, averaging 7.3 per game.
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