WASHINGTON – The Patriot League season is officially upon us all, and the American University women's basketball team is kicking off conference play by heading North to take on Lehigh on Wednesday evening. The Eagles and the Mountain Hawks are set to tip-off at 6 p.m. in Stabler Arena.
 
QUICK INFO 

• Date/Time: Wednesday, Jan. 3; 6 p.m. 
• Site: Bethlehem, Pa. (Stabler Arena)
• Series History:  American leads, 36-18
• TV:  ESPN+ 

INSIDE THE SERIES 

• The Eagles and the Mountain Hawks have faced off 54 times in their program histories, and the Eagles are leading the series 36-18 overall; however, they're down 3-2 in the most recent five matchups, including dropping both games last season.
• In the most recent contest, away at Lehigh in Stable Arena in February of 2023, AU fell 49-66. Kayla Henning led the team with 14 points, but foul trouble for multiple Eagles kept them from gaining any rhythm or momentum.
• Lauren Stack also scored 10 points while grabbing five rebounds. The forward also had two steals and leading the team with 31 minutes on the court.
• The Mountain Hawks were led by four players in double-digits, the only remaining player of that quartet being Jamie Behar who tallied 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT AMERICAN 

• Coming off their final nonconference game against Howard, the Eagles fell 57-75 to the Bison on December 30. Howard held American to a field goal percentage of just 33% as a team while themselves going 52%.
• In the first half alone, Anna LeMaster was 4-5, including 2-3 from distance, to grab 12 of her 21 total points to top her previous career high of 18. Six of LeMaster's points came from the free throw line.
• Emily Johns, the senior forward, collected 15 points overall. Johns also tallied four rebounds and had two assists and two steals. Overall, for the season, she is leading the team in scoring percentage, with 10.8 ppg.
• Sophomore point guard Laura Nogues finished one point shy of her career high in her second start in a row. She also tacked on five rebounds, three assists, and a steal when she started as point guard. Her five rebounds and 35 minutes on the court were a career high. One game prior, against UMBC, she had a career high seven assists.
• LeMaster (8.0 ppg) and Lauren Stack (8.5 ppg) follow up Johns in scoring average, while forward duo Molly Lavin (4.7 rpg) and Stack (4.3 rpg) lead the team on the glass in rebounding.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT LEHIGH 

• The Mountain Hawks will be coming into the conference opener after back-to-back losses, first to the ACC's Pitt and then to the MAAC's Rider, dropping 82-94 to the Panthers and then 57-67 (1OT) to the Broncs. Prior to those two losses, Lehigh had won 8 of their previous nine games.
• Sophomore Lily Fandre and senior Maddie Albrecht led the Mountain Hawks against Rider, scoring 15 and 11 points respectively. With 3.7 seconds left in regulation, Fandre made a driving layup to force overtime, but Lehigh ran out of gas and were outscored 15-5 in extra time.
• Albrecht made her first career start in the game against the Broncs, and opened the scoring with a triple, but it would end up being just one of five three-pointers all afternoon for Lehigh.
• For the season, junior Ella Stemmer and Fandre and lead the team in scoring average, with Stemmer averaging 18.4 ppg and Fandre dropping 12.6 ppg. On the glass, Megan O'Brien leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per game on average.
• Stemmer was held to just 7 points against the Broncs after dropping a whopping 37 points against the Pitt Panthers. Stemmer tied a Lehigh single-game record with 37 points on Sunday, which was set by Liz Feeley in 1986. Stemmer was 12-of-20 from the field and 10-of-17 from beyond the arc.  Stemmer's 10 three-pointers is a new single-game three-point record. The previous record of nine was set by Alex Ross in 2008.
• Against Pitt, the Mountain Hawks set a Patriot League record with 19 made three-pointers. This came one game after the Hawks tied their own league record with 17 made threes against La Salle.

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).