EASTON, Pa. – It came down to the final three minutes, but Lafayette was able to surge ahead of the American University women's basketball team and the Eagles were handed a 64-57 loss by the Leopards. Lafayette claimed the series victory, having already won the first matchup in D.C. back in January.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Anna LeMaster set the scoring pace for the afternoon, dropping 21 points to match her career high, and adding six rebounds to lead on the defensive end as well, and adding in a pair of assists and a pair of steals.
• Senior forward Emily Johns was the only other Eagle in double digit scoring, totaling 16 points.
• Senior guard Ivy Bales and Kayla Henning led with eight and six assists each. Bales also finished with five rebounds, eight points, and three steals.
• Jointly leading with LeMaster leading on the glass was sophomore forward Molly Lavin.
• Makayla Andrews led the Leopards with a double-double, finishing with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• LeMaster started working early, with two rebounds and two points from the charity stripe within the first three minutes of play. By the time of the media timeout midway through the opening quarter, she added two back-to-back triples, picking up right where she left off in the midweek game against Navy.
• The Leopards kept switching back and forth from zone to man-to-man defense, trying to find a rhythm that would work for them, trying to disrupt the Eagles' rhythm, but by the end of the first AU was up 16-9 over Lafayette.
• With 6:39 left before halftime, Johns was finding success in the paint, the senior going 3-for-4 from the floor along with a block and two rebounds, adding to the Eagles' early dominance.
• Not going away, the Leopards brought it back to within two, trailing 23-21, with a layup from Kayla Drummond with 2:04 to go.
• Through the first twenty minutes of play, the score line read 27-24 with American in the lead.
• Coming out of halftime, the Eagles went on a 12-3 run, up 39-27 with six minutes left to play in the third period. Eight of those points came from LeMaster sinking her second set of back-to-back threes along with a layup and a jumper from Johns.
• The Leopards responded though with a 10-0 run to get back within four, down 39-35 to the Eagles.
• A three-point play from Lavin when she was able to convert on a layup and a free throw, kept the cushion late in the third, and the Eagles were up 44-37 with one frame to go in the contest.
• Lafayette would take their first lead of the game since the score was 5-4 in the first period, going on a 12-4 run and up 49-48 over the Eagles with 5:25 left to play in regulation.
• Free throws from LeMaster tied it back up at 52-all with three minutes to go, but the Leopards weren't going to let that stem their momentum.
• With 24.6 to go, the contest had come down to fouls and free throws, American burning its last two timeouts in the final minute, but Lafayette still up six, 62-57.
• In the end, the Leopards snuffed out the American victory by outscoring them 27-13 in the final frame, to take the series sweep over American when they won 64-57.

UP NEXT
The Eagles will head up to Boston on Wednesday, February 21 to face off against the Terriers at 7 p.m. before coming home to Bender Arena on Saturday, February 24 at 4 p.m. to take on Colgate.

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