WASHINGTON – After a four day break, the Eagles of the American University women's basketball team return home to Bender on Saturday to take on Holy Cross. First tip between the Eagles and the Crusaders is set for 2 p.m., and it will be their second time meeting this season, wrapping up the regular season series. The game will be American's Pride Celebration.
 
Graduate student guard Ivy Bales will be recognized in a ceremony prior to the start of the game for achieving 500 career rebounds in the Eagles' December contest against Towson. Bales is the 20th Eagle to reach 500 rebounds and with 554 currently, is only 23 rebounds away from joining the program's Top-10 all-time list in the statistic. Bales also sits at ninth all-time in career record assists with 320.

Follow Along

• Date & Time: Saturday, Jan. 18; 2 p.m. 
• Site: Washington, D.C. (Bender Arena)
• TV: ESPN+

Series History

• In the recent past, the Crusaders hold a 4-1 advantage over the Eagles; the two teams have split the regular season the past two seasons, each taking one win, but Holy Cross also won over AU in the first round of the 2023-24 PL tournament.
• This is the second time the two teams are facing off in 2025, the Eagles fell in the first matchup in Worcester, 69-61, keeping pace, but unable to surpass the Crusaders. American shot 40 percent from the floor but only managed four three pointers while Holy Cross shot 43 percent and 33 percent from three.
• The home team had two players come out with 20+ point games, Simone Foreman (22) and Meg Cahalan (21), as well as Kaitlyn Flanagan (13) scoring in double digits.
• Cecilia Kay, for the Eagles, led all players on the floor with 12 rebounds, and tallied 11 points. AU was led by Ivy Bales with 11 points on 6-for-9 shooting.

Scouting American

• American is still looking for its first win of the season after starting 0-16 overall and 0-5 in League play. Most recently, the Eagles endured a tough loss to the Greyhounds of Loyola Maryland in Baltimore, for game five of the PL season.
• From the tip, it was a slow start, each team making two field goals before there was a scoring drought that lasted a little under three minutes. Once the drought was over though, Loyola outscored the Eagles 16-6 in the first frame and it only got worse, the Greyhounds winning by a final score of 77-38. American didn't score more than 11 points in a quarter.
• The Greyhounds shot 48 percent from three and 48 percent overall in the contest while holding the Eagles to 26 percent overall. They also led in rebounding, 43-31.
• Cecilia Kay finished the game off with her fourth double-double, her third in league play with 12 boards, the second-most of any player on the floor. She also led the Eagles in scoring with 11 points, the only AU player scoring in double-digits for the outing.
• Leading the squad in both rebounding and scoring, the freshman Kay is fifth in the league in rebounding, averaging 7.9 boards per game, and she averages 10.8 points per game. She is also leading the Eagles, and is second in the league, in blocked shots (28).
• Madisyn Moore-Nicholson set a new career high of nine points during the outing in Baltimore. The freshman guard went 5-for-8 from the free throw line and had two rebounds and an assist.
• Graduate student guard Bales ranks fourth in the Patriot League for assist/turnover ratio with 1.8 and is eighth in assists (50). She also has 17 steals, leading the squad in the stat, and is second on the team in rebounding with 5.3 rpg.

Scouting Holy Cross

• The Crusaders will be marching into D.C. hot off a mid-week win over Bucknell. Junior guard Kaitlyn Flanagan scored a game-high 19 points and handed out a contest-best six assists as the team picked up a 63-37 victory in the Hart Center Arena. Holy Cross is 8-2 (.800) over their last 10 games.
• Flanagan shot 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from the field drilling a pair of triples, grabbing three rebounds and coming away with two steals. It was her second consecutive game with zero turnovers and the 11th time she's not turned the ball over in her collegiate career. The Crusaders are 11-0 (1.000) when Flanagan doesn't commit a turnover.
• Senior Lindsay Berger was the only other player in double-figures dropping 16 points with three rebounds, two assists a block and a steal going 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) from the hardwood.
• Flanagan leads the league in assists, averaging 5.3 per game, and in assist to turnover ratio, with 2.0. Flanagan has posted four or more assists 42 times in her career. The Crusaders are 32-10 (.762) in those games.
• Holy Cross' Simore Foreman is third in scoring in the league, averaging 16.1 ppg and seventh in field goal percentage (41.3 percent). Foreman leads the league in free-throw percentage, shooting 86.8 percent from the charity stripe. Foreman has been absent from the court in the Crusaders' last two contests, against Lafayette and Bucknell.

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