The women's basketball team defeated the Western Michigan Broncos 65-61 Saturday night in Bender Arena.
On their first possession, the Eagles opened the scoring with a basket from senior Stephanie N'Garsanet. The team quickly went on to gain a 10-4 lead.
The Eagles' passing, led by senior Maggie Smith-Davidson, was crisp in the beginning, leading to easy points on offense. The Eagles looked to contributions from senior forward Sahar Nusseibe, who scored 11 first-half points, while junior guard Talicia Jackson added nine.
However, the Broncos were not held for long. The team came right back for the lead. A three-point play by WMU's Brenna Bankston at the end of the period gave the Broncos a 41-37 halftime lead.
At the second-half tip-off, the Broncos quickly extended their lead to nine points. However, the Eagles went on a 15-2 run to take a 53-49 lead with 11 minutes remaining. Nevertheless, WMU stayed close until the final minutes.
With one minute remaining, it was the Eagle defense that held strong. On consecutive possessions, Jackson came up with a steal, followed by a tough rebound by junior Pam Stanfield and then a block by N'Garsanet. The Eagles made their free throws down the stretch to preserve a 65-61 win.
Head coach Melissa McFerrin said she was proud of the team.
"They showed a lot of character when it would have been really easy not to put out that much effort," she said.
It was a team effort for AU as Eagle Nusseibeh led all scorers with a season-high of 18 points while adding eight rebounds off the bench. Eagle N'Garsanet contributed nine.
"We got contributions from a lot of people," McFerrin said. "And that's something I really loved about the game. It was a great team win."
The win improved the Eagle record to 4-3 on the season. The team looks forward to tallying more wins as the season continues.
"We've got great energy and great chemistry," McFerrin said. "We've got kids that want to win, and we're willing to play really hard for each other."
The Eagles will be back on the court in Bender Arena tonight at 7 p.m. against Monmouth University.
