Women’s Basketball Celebrates Senior Day, Hosts Colgate Saturday

WASHINGTON – American University women's basketball is hosting Colgate in Bender for the second to last regular season game. Tip-off between the Eagles and the Raiders is set for 2 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN+.

Prior to the start of the game, the Eagles will honor lone senior, Bailey Garbee, in recognition of her achievements and her four years of dedication to the program.

Follow Along

Date/Time: Saturday, Mar. 1; 2 p.m.
Site: Washington, D.C. (Bender Arena)
TV: ESPN+

Series History

Overall, American holds a 39-11 advantage over Colgate, including a 19-3 series lead in Bender. Over the past three seasons, the two programs have played several close games, with two wins by just a two-point margin. One of those, in Bender in 2023, came from an Ivy Bales jump shot to put the Eagles ahead with three seconds left to play.
In their first meeting this year, the Eagles were outscored after a slow start and were outpaced by the Raiders defended their home court for an 85-43 win. It was a slow offensive start for both teams, but Colgate surged ahead, scoring 20+ points per quarter for all but the first frame.
American was held to shooting 28 percent from the floor while Colgate went 56.6 percent overall and 47 percent from three, sinking nine triples. The Raiders also outrebounded AU, 44-26.
For American, Cecilia Kay led her team for the 12th time this year, grabbing 11 rebounds and totaling seven points while teammate Laura Nogues led with four steals and four assists. Kay and Nogues, along with Bailey Garbee and Madisyn Moore-Nicholson each contributed seven points.
For Colgate, sophomore Anne Bair led her team with 17 points as one of the eleven scorers during the game. Second leading scorer, Sophia Diehl, helped the Raiders start a 10-1 run and topped out with 14 points. Two other Raiders scored in double digits, Morgan McMahon (12) and Madison Schiller (11). Schiller also had three steals and six assists.

AU Quick Hits

On Wednesday, the Eagles traveled to Annapolis to visit Navy where they saw six ties and four lead changes. The Eagles were ultimately outscored for the Mids to defend their home court.
Keeping the pace set for the first half, the Eagles were shooting 52 percent and only down by six going into halftime while Navy shot 40 percent with 43 attempts to the Eagles 23.
Navy pulled away in the second half, outscoring American 50-28 while shooting 54 percent from the field and 70 percent from 3-point range. American's 27 turnovers helped Navy surge ahead for an 88-60 victory.
Coming close to her season–and career–high, freshman guard Molly Driscoll led in scoring with 22 points for the Eagles, shooting 67 percent.
Cecilia Kay led in rebounds grabbing 11 under the basket and adding 11 points for a double-double, her seventh this season. The rookie forward has started in every game played and leads the Eagles in scoring stats from the field and at the free-throw line.
This season, Kay sits atop the Eagles' stat sheet, averaging 11.4 points, 8.8 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 both blocks and rebounding. In blocks, the freshman is tied for 10th all-time in a single season with 40. She's also third all-time on the single season rebounds list at AU with 238.
Senior Bailey Garbee is second in the team steals with 23, showing impressive skills in the defensive end.
Ivy Bales is now eighth all time in AU history with 598 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 seventh in AU history in assists with 341. The graduate student also leads his team with 28 steals.
Bales is now the Eagles who has played the most games all-time as an AU student-athlete with 128 with and with two games remaining in the regular season, she can extend that lead.
Junior Laura Nogues is also coming up with outstanding individual stats in the defensive and offensive end. Nogues has 22 steals and leads the team in three pointers scored with 36 and is 14th in the Patriot League for three-point field goal average (.353).

Scouting Colgate

Colgate, with 11 wins in conference games, sits at third in the Patriot League after a win at home against Loyola last week, outscoring the Greyhounds by 11 to defend their home court. The Raiders hold a strong record at home, with a 12-2 record, but just a moderate 9-6 advantage over opponents on the road.
In their last game, the Raiders fell to Holy Cross in a fast-paced matchup on the road in Worcester, dropping 59-55. The Crusaders put together several runs, including 24-10 in the second quarter, to put the Raiders in a deficit despite two ties throughout regulation.
Colgate finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field but shot 71 percent from the free throw line. Grabbing a total of 28 rebounds, the Raiders stayed strong to defend their basket.
Morgan McMahon, senior guard, scored a career-high 27 points, just shy of her teammates lead this season (Golembiewski with 28 points vs. BU 1/11/25). Taylor Golembiewski, leading scorer for the Raiders on the year, added 14 points to the night's efforts, while also becoming one of Colgate's top all-time scorers with nearly 1,500 career points and maintaining her top seven spot in the Patriot League in scoring with her 13.6 ppg average.
Anne Bair is also ranked in overall Patriot League standings, coming in at top three in assists, 3.6/game average, and tenth in scoring this season with a 12.3 ppg average.
As a team, Colgate holds the second highest average in scoring with an average of 68.2 points per game and an overall .783 percentage from the free throw line. The squad is also second in field goal percentage in the league, shooting 43 percent; however, they're ninth in opponent field goal percentage–behind American–allowing opponents to shoot 43 percent against them.