EASTON, Pa. – Lafayette rushed ahead in the first period to open the game, creating a deficit that the American University women's basketball team would be unable to recover from, the Eagles dropping 72-55 on the road.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Cecilia Kay once again led for American on both ends with another double-double performance. She finished the evening with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The freshman forward also notched a steal and two blocks. Her 11 rebounds led both teams.
• Ivy Bales finished with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and stuffed her stat line with four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Teammate Laura Nogues had a similar night, finding herself all over the court with 10 points, three rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block.
• Lafayette's Abby Antognoli and Teresa Kiewiet had prolific nights for the Leopards offensively. Kiewiet had 27 points on 8-of-10 shooting and Antognoli tallied 18 points. Kiewiet went 9-of-10 from the free throw line.
• The Leopards outshot the Eagles, going 45.5 percent from the floor to the Eagles' 40.4 percent, and held the narrow edge in rebounds as well, topping AU 36-29 on the boards.
• Absent the first quarter, the teams were only separated by four points in the final three periods, but the 13-point lead amassed in the first proved insurmountable to American.

How it Happened

• Neither team was able to sink a bucket from open play to start the game. The first point of the night came from Kay at the line before Lafayette responded with a mid-range jumper on the other end.
• The Leopards would go on a 12-0 run to lead 12-1 at the first media timeout, the 4:59 mark. Four Lafayette players were in scoring position. Bales finally broke up the run with a jumper, the Eagles' first points from the floor, AU down 14-3 with four minutes to play in the first.
• It would get worse for American. The Eagles would trail 23-10 through one. Lafayette's Kiewiet already had 10 points.
• American wasn't going away. Five points from Koepke and some strong Eagles' defense saw AU outscore Lafayette 7-4 through the first five minutes of quarter two, reducing the deficit to 10, down 27-17.
• The Leopards shot 47 percent to AU's 36 percent from the floor in the first half, taking 32 shots to AU's 28 attempts. Antognoli and Kiewiet had 12 and 14 points for Lafayette respectively. Kay led all players on defensively at the time with seven rebounds.
• American was down a dozen, 36-24, at the locker room break. American outscored the Leopards in the second quarter, 14-13.
• After a 6-0 run from AU, the Leopards called a timeout to regroup, and with 6:08 to play in the third quarter, the Eagles were down 10, trailing 42-32. Free throws from Kay with 4:24 to play in the third saw the first single-digit deficit of the second half, with a nine point difference between the two sides.
• At the end of the third, Kiewiet was 8-of-9 from the floor with 22 points to lead all players from both teams. Kay was at 11 points and 11 rebounds to reach her double-double.
• Nogues with two free throws and two triples started off the final frame with eight points, seeing American outscore Lafayette 12-7 early in the frame, down 61-51 with 5:23 remaining in the game.
• Bales picked up her fourth foul with 5:32 to play, but remained in the game, her on-court contributions, including 11 points at that time mark, too valuable to bench as time wound down in Kirby.
• The pushback wouldn't be enough, and American able to keep pace with the Leopards in the final three periods, would be unable to mount a comeback after going down 13 points in the opening frame. Lafayette would force the series split, taking game two 72-55 on its home court.

On the Horizon
The Eagles return home to face Loyola Maryland on Saturday, Feb. 15. First tip for the contest between the Eagles and the Greyhounds is set for 12:30 p.m. and it will be game one of two that day, the men's team facing off with Loyola as well; the late tip off will be at 4 p.m.
 
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