Women’s Basketball Hits the Road to Lehigh Midweek

WASHINGTON – The American University women's basketball team is starting a two-game road stint with a trip to Lehigh on Wednesday evening. The Eagles and the Mountain Hawks are meeting for the first time this Patriot League season with first tip set for 6 p.m.

Follow Along

Date & Time: Wednesday, Jan. 22; 6 p.m.
Site: Bethlehem, Pa. (Stabler Arena)
TV: ESPN+

Series History

In the last five meetings, the Eagles hold a 3-2 advantage over the Mountain Hawks, including two close–within four point–wins to sweep the series in the 2023-24 regular season.
Last year, the two teams met in game one of the PL season in Bethlehem. AU, led by Laura Nogues with, at the time, a career high stat line of 16 points and five steals as well as five rebounds. Nogues topped all players on the hardwood in scoring while Meghan O'Brien and Lily Fandre led Lehigh with 14 and 13 points respectively.
In the second meeting, American went on a 14-3 run in the final frame that ended with a dagger of a jumper from Ivy Bales to claim the 59-55 victory in Bender. Bales led American with 15 points while Lehigh was led by Ella Stemmer and Maddie Albrecht, as well as O'Brien, who put up 15, 14, and 13 points respectively.

Quick Hits

The Eagles are still winless on the season, holding an 0-17 record overall and going 0-6 in the first third of Patriot League play. There are still four teams the Eagles have not squared off with at least once: Lehigh, Colgate, Lafayette, and Army. Most recently, AU suffered a 76-44 loss in Bender to the visiting Crusaders of Holy Cross in the second meeting of the two teams.
Freshman forward Cecilia Kay, was an important figure on the day for the Eagles, leading the team in scoring, with 14 points, and in rebounds, with seven. Kay was the only player on the AU squad to score in double digits on the outing.
Anna Rescifina came second in scoring for AU with 9 points. She went 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. Rescifina scores an average of 6.4 ppg, third most on the AU team this season. Classmate Laura Nogues is second on the AU squad in scoring with an average of 7.6 ppg.
Kay, a two-time PL Rookie of the Week honoree, leads the Eagles offensively and defensively, scoring an average of 11.0 ppg, and collecting an average of 7.8 rebounds per game. The 6'2 freshman has started in every contest for AU in her collegiate debut season. In the league, Kay is second in blocked shots (28) and fifth in rebounding with her 7.8 per game. She's also in the top-10 in the league in free throw percentage, going 67.1 percent from the charity stripe.
Graduate student guard Ivy Bales ranks third in the Patriot League for assist/turnover ratio with 1.7 and is ninth in assists (51). She also has 19 steals, leading the squad in the stat, and is second on the team in rebounding with 5.1 rpg.
Bales is just the 20th player in AU history to become a member of the 500 rebound club, having hit the milestone in December against Towson, and after grabbing two more rebounds against the Crusaders, she has a career total of 556 boards. She is 21 rebounds away from joining the prestigious top-10 list of most in American history.

Scouting Lehigh

The Mountain Hawks hold an 8-1 record at home in Stabler Arena this season and are on a three-game win streak heading into Wednesday's contest. Most recently, they have taken down Army (90-51), Boston University (80-54), and Loyola Maryland (54-43).
Lehigh leads the league in offense, averaging 69.8 points per game, and first in field goal percentage (44.8 percent) and is second in defense, only allowing 56.6 from their opponents on average. The Mountain Hawks also top the league in three point field goal percentage (35.5 percent) and in three pointers made (8.5 per game).
Lehigh has an advantage form the charity stripe as well, sinking a PL-leading 78.8 percent of their free throws. Despite being last in the league in rebounding (31.4 per game), they do lead in steals, averaging 9.33 per game.
Most recently, against the Greyhounds of Loyola, the Mountain Hawks were down 34-30 at the end of the third period before going on a terror and outscoring Loyola 24-9 in the final frame to claim the win in Baltimore. They recovered from shooting just 23 percent in the first quarter to shooting 46.7 percent from the floor in the final frame.
Lily Fandre and Maddie Albrecht led the squad offensive and defensively with 15 and 12 points to pair with nine and eight rebounds apiece respectively.
Albrecht leads the Mountain Hawks and is fourth in the league in scoring (14.9 ppg). She leads the league in field goal percentage (51.6 percent) and is third in free throw percentage, 84.3 percent, from the line. Teammate Ella Stemmer is second in the league in three pointers per game, averaging 2.4, with 44 total on the season.