Eagles Travel to Take on Monmouth

WASHINGTON – The American University women's basketball squad is heading north to New Jersey to compete against the CAA's Monmouth Hawks on Saturday, Dec. 21. The game is set to tip off at 4:30 p.m. and will be the team's final contest before they have a brief break for the holidays.

Follow Along

Date & Time: Saturday, Dec. 21; 4:30 p.m.
Site: West Long Branch, N.J. (OceanFirst Bank Center)
TV: FloSports & NBC Sports Philadelphia

Series History

In the six game history across 30 years between the squads, the Eagles have a 4-2 advantage. Most recently though, the Hawks claimed the 72-60 victory over AU in Bender in 2023.
In the 2023 matchup, Bailey Garbee was one of three Eagles in double-digits with her 11 points. She also had two rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Garbee shot a perfect 4-for-4, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, in the game. Taisha Exanor was one of two Hawks in double-digits with her 10 points. She also grabbed five rebounds and had a block and a steal.

Quick Hits

The Eagles still haven't managed to clinch their first win this season, most recently falling short against George Washington, 62-47, in Bender Arena on Monday night.
The Eagles struggled to get firing offensively, shooting just 27 percent from the floor. They also let the Revs outscore them 34-11 in bench points.
Against the Revolutionaries the Eagles were jointly led on the glass by Ivy Bales with eight rebounds. Bales, the graduate student guard, grabbed her 500th rebound in the contest against Towson (12/7). She sits currently at 515 rebounds after her eight against GW.
Bales is also climbing onto the list of most assists in a career at American. With 294, she is tied for ninth all-time by an Eagle.
Against GW, freshman Ellie Pingree earned her first collegiate start. Pingree, a 6-2 forward from Bow, N.H., won the tip to start the game and tallied nine points against the Revs, and a career-high six assists, playing 35 minutes of the contest. She is averaging 4.2 ppg this season.
Junior guards Laura Nogues and Anna Rescifina both had solid performances against the Revs, each scoring 10 points, Rescifina also getting a career-high eight rebounds and went 4-for-9 overall while Nogues scored six of her points, the last six points earned by AU in the game, from perimeter shooting.
Nogues, along with Molly Driscoll, leads the team in made 3-pointers this season with 11 so far.

Scouting Monmouth

After opening the season with a six-game losing streak, the Hawks will be coming into the contest with the Eagles on a four-game win streak. Most recently, for their first road victory this season, they took down the NJIT Highlanders 63-54.
The Hawks have had 11 days off to prepare and the game against American will be Monmouth's final nonconference matchup of the season.
Against NJIT, Taisha Exanor recorded her third double-double of the season after sparking the team's win streak at St. Peters (14 pts, 11 reb) and continuing to stoke the flames against Lafayette (14 pts, 13 reb). The fifth year is second on the team in scoring average (12.5 ppg) and leads in rebounds (8.9 rpg) and steals (12).
Leading the Hawks in scoring this season is senior Damaris Rodriguez, clocking an average of 13.1 ppg so far during the non-conference campaign. This is Rodriquez's first season playing DI basketball after four seasons with DIII New Jersey City University.
Squaring off with the Highlanders, Monmouth shot 42 percent from the floor, even while struggling from distance, only shooting 13 percent from three. They tallied 36 points in the paint and had 18 bench points as well as 10 points apiece from second chances and from fast breaks.
At the beginning of the season, Monmouth was picked to finish 10th in the 14-team CAA by league coaches. The Hawks had a historic 2023-24 season where they finished with 22 wins – 14 of which came in conference play.
Now under the leadership of first-year head coach, Cait Wetmore, Monmouth returned 2023-24 starters Sandrine Clesca, Exanor, and Belle Kranbuhl. Kranbuhl aims to make a third consecutive appearance on the All-CAA Defensive Team by season's end.