Women’s Hoops Hosts Loyola Maryland Saturday for Game One of A Doubleheader Celebrating Black History Month

WASHINGTON – The American University women's basketball team is slated to host Loyola Maryland on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. for its Black History Month celebration. Following the conclusion of the women's game, the men's teams for both programs will face off in Bender with that tip scheduled for 4 p.m.

Follow Along

Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 15; 12:30 p.m.
Site: Washington, D.C. (Bender Arena)
TV: ESPN+

Black History Month Celebration

The theme of Saturday's doubleheader is centered around celebrating Black History Month as AU Athletics honors Black culture with performances at both contests.
Be sure to arrive 10 minutes early to both games for special performances of "Lift Every Voice and Sing." Often referred to as "The Black National Anthem," Lift Every Voice and Sing is a poem written by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900.
Batalá Washington DC, an all-women Afro-Brazilian music band that brings Samba-Reggae rhythms and the vibrant energy of Brazil will perform, followed by a traditional stroll performed by the Divine 9 Sorority and Fraternity AU chapters. A stroll is a step routine meant to be a representation of the bond between the members of fraternities and sororities. Strolling was introduced to Greek life in the early 1900s by sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha and the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC).
At halftime of the men's game, the brothers of the Kappa Chi chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. will be performing a stroll, followed by a special Spoken Word performance by Marla Mason. Mason is a former NCAA women's basketball player, a philanthropist, and published author.

The Market Food Pantry February Food Drive Presented by Wegmans

All fans are encouraged to bring canned or non-perishable food items to the game.
AU Athletics & TEAM AU Corporate Partner Wegmans are sponsoring a February Food Drive in benefiting AU's 'The Market' student food pantry.
Members of AU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be on hand at the entrance to Bender Arena, helping to collect donations to combat food insecurity on AU's campus.

Series History

American leads Loyola 28-9 in the series overall. In the home-away split, the Eagles have come close to shutting out the Greyhounds almost entirely home in Bender Arena (14-2).
In the past five meetings, the Eagles hold a 3-2 advantage, having dropped their first meeting this year a month prior in January by a wide, 77-38, margin.
In the first meeting this year, the game started and ended with the advantage to the hosts in Reitz arena dominating, out-scoring AU by a margin of 25 in the first half and 14 in the second half, not letting the Eagles recover enough to get back into it.
AU's Cecilia Kay recorded a double-double. She finished the contest with 11 points and 12 rebounds. She also battled around the rim to tally three blocks. Freshman classmate Madisyn Moore-Nicholson set a new career high of nine points. The guard went 5-of-8 from the free throw line and had two rebounds and an assist.
Greyhound Laura Salmeron paced all players on the floor with her 19 points, a majority of which came from her 5-of-6 shooting beyond the arc. Koi Sims on the glass proved why she leads the league in rebounding, she led all players on the court with 14 to pair with her 14 points.
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.

AU Quick Hits

This Wednesday, American faced off with the Leopards of Lafayette in Easton, and despite keeping pace for three of the four quarters, AU failed to hang with the Leopards in the first period and the resulting deficit was one the team found itself unable to recover from and American fell, 72-55 in Kirby.
Lafayette opened the game on a massive run, finishing the first quarter up 23-10. Only four points separated the two sides through the remaining three periods, but AU couldn't gain enough traction to mount a challenge for the hosts. The Leopards outshot the Eagles, going 45.5 percent from the floor to the Eagles' 40.4 percent, and held the advantage in rebounds, topping AU 36-29.
Cecilia Kay once again led for American on both ends with another double-double performance. She finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Ivy Bales had with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and stuffed her stat line with four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Laura Nogues had a similar night, finding herself all over the court with 10 points, three rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block.
Kay sits atop the Eagles' stat sheet this season, averaging 11.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. The rookie forward, having started every contest of her debut campaign, in currently second in the league for blocks and third for rebounding.
Junior Nogues leads the team in distance shooting, holding a .356 percentage from deep while averaging 2.9 assists per game. The point guard had four dimes against Lafayette on Wednesday evening.
Ivy Bales is now 10th all time in AU history with 583 career rebounds. Bales was the 20th player in AU history to become a member of the 500 rebound club, having hit the milestone in December against Towson. She is also now eighth in AU history in assists with 331.
Bales is also currently tied for third all time in games played for AU with 124. The leading number of games played by an AU student athlete is 127 and there are five games remaining in the regular season.

Scouting Loyola Maryland

Loyola comes into the contest in Bender on a two-game losing streak that was preceded by a victory on the road at Boston U. The losses came against Colgate at home (74-59) and most recently, on the road at Army (64-53). In the league, the Greyhounds are 2-10 and are 3-9 overall on the road.
In the game against Army, guards Laura Salmerón (18) and Avery Simmons (8) along with forward Koi Sims (8) combined for 30 points in Christl Arena. Sims also led the team with 9 rebounds while Salmerón had an impressive six steals.
On the season, Salmerón leads the squad with an average of 14.1 ppg, putting her at fourth in the league in scoring, while her field goal percentage (.411) is good enough for fifth. She has made 35 three pointers so far this season, shooting 30 percent from beyond the arc.
Sims leads the team in rebounding, pulling down 10.7 rpg and has a team-leading 25 blocks–good enough for third in the league in the stat. After making a comeback in the league from an injury last season, the senior forward is ranked first in the PL in rebounding, by an average of two more per game than the next closest player.
Not only is she leading the team in scoring, Salmerón tops the squad with 53 assists and 39 steals as well. The senior guard is supported by Amandine Amorich, who averages 10.5 ppg, and Sims, who averages 9.2 points per contest.
As a team, the Greyhounds are tough at the rim, coming in second in the league in offensive rebounds, pulling down an average of 10.8 per game for another chance at the net, just behind Navy averaging 14 rebounds.