Women’s Basketball Makes Short Trip to Navy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American University women's basketball team needs to pick up a win when they head to Alumni Hall on Saturday to take on Navy in the penultimate game of the regular season. With postseason looming and the Patriot League standings as close as they are, pushing for a series split is integral to moving forward. Both teams have a 7-9 record, tied with Lehigh, with two games left to play.

QUICK INFO

Date/Time: Saturday, Mar. 2, 12 p.m.
Site: Annapolis, Md., (Alumni Hall)
Series History: American leads, 43-25
TV: ESPN+

INSIDE THE SERIES

The Mids got their first win over the Eagles since January of 2021 when the two programs faced off earlier this season in Bender Arena and Navy downed American, 69-55. It was their second win over AU in the previous 15 meetings.
In their last meeting, senior guard Anna LeMaster recorded her second career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, leading the team in both categories and Ivy Bales had a team high six assists. She also added eight points and three steals.
Maren Louridas of Navy led all players with 23 points off of 9-11 shooting while Kyah Smith had 12 points and defensively Kate Samson topped the boards with 11 rebounds.
The Mids hold an 18-14 advantage in Alumni Hall, maintaining their top position at home.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT AMERICAN

American, after starting the PL season 6-2, the Eagles have struggled with the back half of the schedule and are now riding a five-game loss streak–falling most recently to Army 66-52–into their penultimate game of the season.
In their most recent game with the Black Knights at home in Bender, the Eagles struggled to keep their pace, to hang in with Army, and in the final quarter the Eagles were within four of their visitors, but Army surged ahead and outscored the Eagles 21-12 to take the 14 point victory.
Emily Johns led the Eagles with 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting. She got into foul trouble, ultimately fouling out with 4:19 remaining and cutting her influence on the court. Despite the scoring struggles of late, Johns still leads American in scoring with a 12.4 ppg average–tenth in the Patriot League with the stat. She's also third in the league in FG percentage at .496 on the season.
Senior guard Ivy Bales led American with five rebounds and four assists, also grabbing a steal and a block. Bales is third in the league in assists, averaging 3.6 per game and second in the league in steals with an average of 2.2 per game.
Defensively, American is led by Bales as well, with an average of 5.0 rebounds per game. Following her closely, is sophomore forward Molly Lavin with a 4.9 per game average. Lavin is averaging 7.3 ppg on the offensive side of things.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT NAVY

The Mids and the Eagles are currently both sitting with a 7-9 record in the league, and Navy has the advantage of winning over American once already this season in terms of post-game scenarios.
In their most recent game, Navy took on the Lafayette Leopards and grabbed a win, 58-49, on the road in Easton. It means that Navy has swept Lafayette after having topped them at home back in January.
Against Lafayette, the Mids dropped 20 points in the first period and limited Lafayette to seven. Despite the scoring being relatively back and forth and even for the rest of the contest, the gap from that first period proved enough to carry Navy.
Zanai Barnett-Gay led all players in points, assists, and steals with 23 points, four assist, and four steals. Kyah Smith was second in scoring with 15 points.
On the glass, the Mids were led by both Barnett-Gay and Kate Samson with seven rebounds apiece. On the season, Garnett-Gay leads in both scoring average (17.9 ppg) and in rebounding (6.3 rpg). The first-year guard is second in the league in scoring and seventh in rebounding.

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).

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