LEWISBURG, Pa. – The game in Sojka Pavillion came down to the wire between the Eagles and the Bison when the American University women's basketball team (8-20, 7-10 PL) took on Bucknell (12-16, 8-9) in the final game of the regular season, falling 66-69.
 
The Eagles will now enter the Patriot League Tournament as the seventh seed and are set to host Navy on Saturday, March. 4 in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament. 
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Ivy Bales led for the Eagles with a career-high 17 points, going 7-8 from the field, and 1-2 from the line to grab her points. She also had three rebounds, four assists, and a steal.
• Lauren Stack and Emily Johns followed Bales with 14 and 13 points respectively. Both had four rebounds apiece, along with four from Kayla Henning, and Johns also picked up two steals.
• The Bison were led by Emma Shaffer with a double-double; she had 24 points, also leading on the boards with 11; Tai Johnson and Cecelia Collins followed with 12 each.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The game started off slow-paced offensively on both sides. At the time of the first media timeout, the Bison and the Eagles were knotted at 8-all with 4:52 left in the frame.
• Scoring heated up quickly. Johns had layup with a big and-1 and Anna LeMaster knocked one down from beyond the arc to give American a bit of an edge, but Bucknell was hanging close.
• Bales had nine of her points in the first quarter alone, putting up a fight on defense, and the first period ended 19-17, Eagles still up.
• Shaffer and Sisselman each had six early the Bison, and in the second period the Bison fought back and retook the lead up, 21-25, before LeMaster grabbed two points from the free-throw line. With 6:19 left in the period, the Bison were up, 23-27.
• Foul trouble Johns got into foul trouble early, picking up her third just over a minute into the second period, forcing the Eagles to utilize a smaller lineup throughout the rest of the frame.
• Bales and Stetson each got triples late in the second half to keep American in the game, down just two, 37-39, going into the break. Bales had 13 points and was 5-for-5 from the floor and Stetson had seven, going 3-for-4 in the first half. For the Bison, Shaffer had 14 and Sisselman had nine.
• Coming out of the break, the Eagles outscored the Bison 8-4 to take a 45-43 lead midway through the frame. Stack had four of those eight points thanks to a jumper and a layup.
• The run was extended with two more from Stack and two more from Johns and the Eagles were on a 12-4 run, up 49-43 with 3:10 left to play in the penultimate period.
• To close out the third, Bucknell fought back, Johnson took six points for the Bison in the frame, and the Eagles were up 51-49 in a one possession ball game.
• The Bison retook the lead with 4:59 left in the final frame, on a basket from Cecelia Collins.
• With just over two minutes left in regulation, Bales picked up her final two fouls within ten seconds of each other, and the junior guard would miss the remainder of the game.
• Despite the comeback from the Eagles, and a final jumper from Kayla Henning to have the score line read 66-67, American down one, the Bison were able to hold out and grab two more points from the charity stripe to claim the game 66-69.

UP NEXT

• American will enter the Patriot League Tournament as the No. 7 seed. The Eagles will host Navy in the first round of the tournament on Saturday, March 4 at 5 p.m. The winner of Saturday's game will advance to the quarterfinals and will travel to No. 2 Holy Cross for a game on Monday, March 6 at 7 p.m.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND TICKET INFORMATION

• Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for youth (13 and below) and Seniors. All ticket prices are set by the Patriot League.
• AU students will be admitted free with a valid AU ID.
• Visiting team parents and fans wishing to sit in Sections 116/117/118 behind their team bench are encouraged to contact and purchase tickets through Navy's athletics ticket office now through Friday, March 3rd.
• Tickets for this game are available for purchase via telephone only between 10am to 4pm this Thursday and Friday March 2nd and 3rd by calling the AU Athletics Ticket Office at (202) 885-TIXX.  In-person walk-up sales will also be available at the Bender Arena Box Office beginning at 4pm on game day.

KEEP UP WITH US
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).