WASHINGTON – American University women's basketball (8-20, 7-10 PL) used a balanced approach to take down the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds (9-19, 4-13 PL) on Saturday afternoon in Bender. Junior forward Emily Johns led the team with 19 points and six rebounds, but three other Eagles joined her in double digit points.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Johns went 6-12 from the field to grab her 19 points. With her six rebounds she led the team. She also had two assists and a block.
• Ivy Bales and Lauren Stack followed Johns' performance with 13 and 12 points respectively. Bales also had four assists while Stack finished the game with four steals.
• Anna LeMaster was the fourth Eagle in double-digits, finishing with 10 points, one rebound, and one steal.
• The Greyhounds were led by Lex Therien and Taleah Dixon with 19 and 12 points respectively. Therien also topped out for Loyola on the glass with 11 rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Johns opened the game scoring the first eight points in a row for the Eagles, helping them recover from an early deficit against Loyola before Stack and Bales added a basket each to lead 12-9 over the Greyhounds with 3:39 left in the period.
• The back half of the first saw two big steals from Stack, one she managed to score herself, the next she passed it off to Henning who got the assist when LeMaster got the layup and the foul for a three-point play.
• In the second frame it became a balanced offensive attack on the Greyhounds; Stack had eight points midway through and LeMaster had six to her name as well for the Eagles to be leading 28-19 with 6:35 left in the second.
• Bales and Sadie Stetson got in on the scoring fun to keep the momentum on the side of the Eagles,
• Therien and Dixon led with a collective 21 points for Loyola in the first half to keep them in the fight, but the Eagles had the nine point, 38-29, lead heading into the break.
• Coming out of the break, Loyola went on a 7-3 run in the first three minutes of the third to try and fight back against the deficit, but were still trailing by five, 41-36, to the Eagles.
• With just 3:32 left to play in the third period, Loyola took the lead on a three-pointer from Dixon, up by one, 43-44, over American. At that point, Dixon had 12 of her points and Therien had 18. Both also had three fouls.  
• Bales with a third period buzzer-beating long two-point jumper had the Eagles back up eight, leading 52-44, over the visitors going into the final period.
• The Eagles surged back ahead, leading by as much as 13 with 5:00 minutes left to play in the contest, before the Greyhounds came back into it, pushing the difference to just six, 50-54, with just 2:20 left to go.
• In the end, the Eagles were able to hold defensively and despite actually losing the second half by one point, American pushed the pace, scored in transition, and claimed the 67-59 victory in Bender on Senior Day. 

UP NEXT
The Eagles will play their last game of the regular season against Bucknell on the road in Lewisburg, Pa. on Wednesday, March 1 at 6 p.m.

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