LEWISBURG, Pa. – It was a game that started out with the American University women's basketball team firing on all cylinders offensively and then stalling as Bucknell had a resurgent second half to come back and claim the 61-47 win over the Eagles. The two programs split the series 1-all in the regular season.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE  

• Senior guard Anna LeMaster topped the Eagles off in scoring on Sunday afternoon. LeMaster had 15 points and six rebounds, along with a steal and a block.
• Ivy Bales was the only other Eagle in double-digits, finishing with 13 points. Bales stuffed her stat sheet with four rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block as well.
• Lauren Stack and Laura Nogues each had four steals on the afternoon and combined for 10 points, six from Stack and four from Nogues.
• Bales, LeMaster, and Emily Johns all had eight points through the first half. LeMaster topped the stat sheet with five rebounds at the midway point. Johns and Stack were limited in the second half by foul trouble, both eventually fouling out of the game in the fourth frame.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Johns put a pep in the Eagles' step when she started the game off with a three pointer. The squad used the offensive momentum, along with some strong defense, to start out on a 7-0 run, and forcing the Bison to burn a timeout early, at 7:49.
• Bucknell were able to use the timeout to reset and managed to get on the board, going on a 12-5 run, to tie it all up at the four minute mark of the opening frame.
• The Bison took the lead 16-15 with 2:23 to play in the quarter, having taken four points off five Eagles turnovers and dropping eight points in the paint. The Eagles were down, 18-17, when the buzzer signaled the end of the first.
• From the start of the second, it was a relentless back-and-forth up and down the court. The Eagles settling for quick shots on the offensive end to try and reassert their lead, resulting in two more turnovers and the Bison holding their narrow lead, up 23-22 at the midway point of the frame.
• Toward the end of the half, Bucknell was able to go ahead five, up 27-22 with 3:46 to play. Trying to push back, Nogues picked the pocket of Blake Matthews at mid-court and dropped the ball to Johns who kicked it back out to LeMaster. The senior guard drained the step-back three and put the Eagles up 30-28 with 2:14 to go. As the half closed out, the Bison retook the lead, up 31-30.
• Johns picked up her fourth foul thirty seconds into the second half, limiting the post options to just Stack and Grace Koepke, forcing a smaller lineup and when American called a timeout with 4:44 left to play in the third, the Bison had taken a six-point, 38-32, lead, starting the half on a 7-2 run.
• The hill to climb back up would get steeper when the Bison pushed to a nine point, 41-32 lead over the Eagles with a minute left in the third period, but a free throw for Kayla Henning with 2.4 left in the quarter made it 41-33 with 10 minutes to go. The Eagles were held to just three points in the third to the Bison's 10.
• In the fourth quarter, Stack picked up her fourth foul thirty seconds into the frame, limiting the size on the floor even more.
• Bucknell found their stride from distance, able to shoot the longball, draining three of their four triples for the game in the first four minutes of the period and pushing ahead 18, up 55-37 with 4:54 to play.
• Both Johns and Stack fouled out in the final frame, causing the Eagles to switch to a smaller lineup for the final three minutes.
• Despite LeMaster sinking another three and Bales making a layup and being sent to the line, it would be too late, and it wouldn't be enough. The Eagles would fall to the hosting Bison 61-47. 

UP NEXT  
American will then have a bye-week, not playing a mid-week game, before the team welcomes Holy Cross for Senior Day and a Black History Month Celebration on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 3:00 pm in Bender Arena.
 
Tickets are on sale now at AUEagles.com/Tickets!
 
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