BETHLEHEM, Pa. –– It came down to the wire in Stabler Arena, but the American University women's basketball team was able to battle it out and finish the regular season with a 62-60 win over Lehigh on the road.
 
As the No. 9-seed in the Patriot League tournament, American is set to face off with the No. 8-seed Boston University on Saturday, Mar. 7 in Case Gym, exactly one week after the two teams met for the final regular season matchup. A matchup that saw BU win in overtime. 
 
Inside the Box Score

• Freshman Charlotte Tuhy once again led on both ends of the court for American with 22 points and 15 rebounds. She also picked up three steals and a block.
• Senior Laura Nogues picked up a season high 13 points along with five rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Classmate Anna Rescifina went perfect on the night, shooting 5-of-5 from the floor to pick up 11 points.
• The Mountain Hawks were topped Lily Fandre with a 23-point performance. Leia Edwards added 13 more to the cause.
• American outrebounded Lehigh 34-24 and shot 46.0 to Lehigh's 40.4 percent.
• The Eagles led 34-30 in points in the paint and 20-16 in bench points. The Mountain Hawks were able to pick up 23 points alone from AU's 19 turnovers.

How it Happened

• A slow start on both ends, both teams making just one basket each in the opening three and a half minutes, but when the media timeout came at 4:29 in the first, the Mountain Hawks were ahead 7-4.
• Lehigh opened shooting 3-of-8, and AU shot 2-of-8 to start off.
• Through the remainder of the first, Lehigh would make just one more basket from the floor and American would put in four more to lead 15-12 through one. Fandre had put up seven of the Mountain Hawks' points.
• The Eagles carried on their lead, up 25-17 with five minutes played in the second; Tuhy and Nogues each had eight points. Tuhy also had eight of her rebounds at this point.
• The Mountain Hawks then went on a 6-0 run to bring themselves back into the fight, down 23-25, but a Rescifina three pointer from the top of the key would have the Eagles back up five with two to play until halftime.
• Rescifina on perfect 5-of-5 shooting was on top for the Eagles with 11 points; the senior picked up seven points in the final 2:12 of the first half with Nogues assisting on two of the three baskets.
• American led by 10, up 34-24 at the close of the first half. Not only had AU taken more shots, but the Eagles were shooting more efficiently, going 14-of-30 to shoot 46.7 percent while Lehigh went 9-of-24 to shoot 37.5 percent.
• Fandre, with 12 points, held half of her teams' 24 point tally at the break.
• Still ahead by ten with four minutes gone in the third, American was up 37-27. Tuhy now on a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
• American went scoreless for a period of three and a half minutes in the middle of the third, which saw the Mountain Hawks go on a 9-0 run to make it a one-possession game, forcing the Eagles to burn a timeout to try and stop the bleeding; AU led 37-34 with 3:42 to play in the period.
• After holding the Mountain Hawks to 12 points in both the first and second period, American was outscored 17-10 in the third period; Lehigh was within three with AU leading 44-41.
• With the first possession of the fourth, Fandre tied it all up at 44-all with a three pointer from right in front of the home bench.
• With 7:26 to play, Lehigh took the 50-48 lead on a Fandre three pointer, her second of the night, Lehigh's fourth.
• At 53-all with 2:48 left, American took a timeout; the Eagles, coming out of the timeout saw Tuhy make a layup that extended the run to 7-0, American leading by two.
• After holding the Mountain Hawks scoreless for four minutes, two free throws from Edwards cut into the run. Nogues responded on the other side, but Edwards locked it back up at 57-all before Nogues with a driving layup had AU in the lead 59-57 with 38.4 to go.
• It came down to free throws, Tuhy taking American's final free-throw to make it a four-point 61-57 game. A foul on the other end on a three point attempt for Lehigh had it a one-point 61-60 game with 5.7 to go.
• Nogues went to the line and made 1-of-2 for a two point AU lead.
• The game would finish 62-60, Nogues' free throw sealing the deal and giving American the win to cap off the regular season.

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