WASHINGTON – On Saturday, Feb. 25, the American University women's basketball team (7-20, 6-10 PL), will face off against Loyola Maryland (9-18, 4-12 PL) on the Eagles' home court in Bender Arena, with tip off scheduled for 2 p.m. The Eagles defeated the Greyhounds back in early January in Baltimore with a final score of 52-37.
The game against Loyola will also serve as the Eagles Senior Day Celebration as well as their Black History Month Celebration. Make sure to get to Bender early to catch the Senior Day ceremonies prior to tip-off.
SISTER SISTER
Also at tomorrow's game, Sister Sister, an on-campus student-organization aiming to foster a sisterhood with the women of the African-Diaspora in their undergraduate career, will be hosting a food drive at the entrance to Bender Arena. All attendees are encouraged to bring canned and non-perishable food items in support of AU's The Market Food Pantry, which seeks to end food insecurity for AU students in need.
QUICK INFO
- Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 25; 2 p.m.
- Site: Washington D.C. (Bender Arena)
- Series History: American leads Loyola Maryland, 26-7
- TV: ESPN+
- Talent: Dan Laing (pxp); Jody Patrick (color)
INSIDE THE SERIES
- The Eagles lead the series against the Greyhounds 25-6 and have the home-court, 13-1 over them. In the last six matchups, American has come out the victory each time, leading 6-0 in recent history.
- Last time the two programs faced off was in Baltimore on January 2 at the Reitz Arena when the Eagles started the game with fire and had a dominant resurgence in the fourth quarter, defeating the Greyhounds 52-37.
- Emily Johns, the junior forward, finished the afternoon contest with 14 points. Johns scored eight of her points in the second half, going 4-for-5 from the field.
- Guards Sadie Stetson and Riley DeRubbo followed with nine and eight points, and two rebounds each while fellow guard Ivy Bales had eight rebounds and four steals against Loyola.
- The Greyhounds were led by Koi Sims and Devyne Newman, each scoring eight points in the contest. Sims also recorded 11 rebounds and two blocks against the Eagles.
- Other game leaders for Loyola Maryland included Kelly Ratigan with six points, knocking down two three-pointers, and Taleah Dixon also contributing six points.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT AMERICAN
- The Eagles are coming into the weekend matchup off a 61-49 win again the Navy Mids. American jumped out and took an early lead and kept it the whole match. Navy pushed the pace in the final period with high scoring, but the Eagles took the win in the end.
- Lauren Stack led the Eagles with 15 points, grabbing seven rebounds. Stack has the second-highest point count on the team with 243 points (9.0 ppg), putting her right behind Emily Johns, who has 328 points (12.6 ppg).
- Junior guard Ivy Bales left Annapolis on Wednesday with eight points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Bales has a point count of 166 (6.1 ppg) and the highest rebound total on the team of 170 (6.3 rpg).
- Emily Johns is American's leading points-scorer this season, averaging 12.6 points per contest. She is also 12th in the league in scoring average and fourth in field goal percentage (.460). She leads the Eagles in both categories.
- Sadie Stetson and Anna LeMaster followed Stack's performance with 10 and nine points of their own, respectively. Stetson leads the team in three-point percentage (.367). The senior guard was just one point shy of her career high (11) on Wednesday night against Navy and matched her career-high in field goals made (4). She also recorded a block and two assists against the Mids.
- On the season, American leads the league in steals (216), averaging 8.00 per game and is fourth in the league in assists with 354, averaging 13.11 per game. Bales and Stack heavily contributing to the number of steals with 45 and 43 respectively.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT LOYOLA MARYLAND
- The Greyhounds are coming off a midweek loss, 51-59, against number two in the league, Holy Cross on the Crusaders' home court. Loyola were down by a 14-point deficit against Holy Cross and fought back in the fourth quarter to trail behind by only 5 points, but it was not enough to take home the road win.
- Taleah Dixon led the team with 14 points in the night. Dixon holds the highest 3-point count for the Greyhounds (39), shooting .322 from beyond the arc, and has the second-highest point count on the team (364), averaging 14.0 points per game, behind Lex Therien (409) who's averaging 15.1 points per contest.
- The Greyhounds came back from their 14-point deficit with 3:25 left in the game. Loyola's Therien and Holy Cross' Kaitlyn Flanagan were each working to take back what their team lost. Therien cut the deficit down to five points with a pair of free throws, but Flanagan came back in to retake the seven-point lead. Offensively, Loyola turned off in the last minutes of the game, allowing for the Crusaders to close out the game with a win.
- The game against the Crusaders was Therien's fifth-straight double digit rebounding game as she closed out the evening with 13.
- Bri Rozzi and Kelly Ratigan both added 9 points to the night, including a triple. Rozzie has an average of 6.1 ppg, and Ratigan follows close behind with 4.7 ppg.
- Loyola Maryland is second in the league for their rebounding margin of 3.7 and is fifth in the league in steals (175), averaging 6.48 per game.
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