WASHINGTON – On Wednesday evening, the American University women's basketball team will take on Loyola Maryland in Bender Arena with the hopes of maintaining a perfect record in the Patriot League. The Eagles and the Greyhounds are set to tipoff at 7 p.m.
 
QUICK INFO 

• Date/Time: Wednesday, Jan. 17; 7 p.m. 
• Site: Washington, D.C. (Bender Arena)
• Series History: American leads, 27-7
• TV: ESPN+ 

INSIDE THE SERIES 

• The Eagles have a dominant, 27-7 lead in the series over the Loyola Greyhounds since contests between them began in 1980. American also has a commanding 14-1 lead at home in Bender Arena over Loyola.
• In recent years, the Eagles have a 9-1 advantage in the last 10 contests. Including a series sweep of the Greyhounds in 2023, 2022, and four wins in the abridged 2021 season.
• In the most recent contest in Bender in February of 2023, Emily Johns went 6-12 from the field to grab 19 points and led with six rebounds as the Eagles flew to a 67-57 victory.
• 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. Dixon has since graduated, but Therien is leading the Greyhounds in scoring this season.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT AMERICAN 

• The Eagles have started off 2024 and Patriot League play by going 4-0 with two away wins and two home wins under their belt, including knocking down Army in West point 75-69 this past Sunday.
• Senior guard Ivy Bales was, once again, everywhere on the hardwood Sunday afternoon against Army. She had a team leading 14 points to go with her four rebounds, a steal, and two assists.
• It wasn't just Bales that was everywhere. Bailey Garbee had a stuffed line on the stat sheet as well. The junior guard was all over both sides of the court with 12 points and four assists offensively, plus three steals, a block, and she led the team in rebounds with five.
• Molly Lavin was the fourth Eagle in double digits with 10 points. The sophomore also had five rebounds to match with Garbee and contributed three assists. Lavin is in charge of the teams' efforts on the boards with an average of 5.3 rebounds per game this season.
• Two forwards, Emily Johns and Lauren Stack, picked up their third fouls in the first half and were limited as a result. Johns still managed 13 points while Stack had three rebounds and two steals but couldn't lock in offensively, finishing with seven points. Johns leads the team offensively for the season averaging 11.7 ppg.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT LOYOLA MARYLAND

• The Greyhounds will be traveling to American after facing off with the Terriers of Boston on Saturday, Jan. 13. Loyola dropped the game, 48-55, to Boston despite a second half rally. The Greyhounds had all nine players that played score during the game.
• Loyola outscored Boston by ten points, 33-23, in the second half but it wasn't enough to claw back from the damage of scoring just 15 points in the first two quarters of the game combined. The team improved from shooting 21% from the floor in the first half to 40% in the second half.
• The squad was led by Kelly Ratigan with 8 points. Ratigan is the second-leading scorer for the Greyhounds, averaging 9.5 ppg, behind Lex Therien who averages 16.9 points per game.
• Therien also averages 10.3 rebounds per game to lead Loyola; the junior forward also tops the team in steals with 31.
• Lily Bottomley had a career-high 7 points on the night against Boston while Cristina Garcia also added 7 points. Lex Therien added 10 rebounds, while Laura Salmeron had a career high 6 assists. 

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).