The AU women’s basketball team earned a share of the Patriot League regular season championship after an 82-47 victory over the Lafayette Leopards on Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles also honored seniors Liz Leer, Nicole Ryan and Ashley Yencho in “Senior Day” ceremonies.
“It’s really a special day when you can honor your seniors and especially this group,” said AU Head Coach Matt Corkery. “They’ve accomplished so much and they’ve really brought a winning tradition to our team.”
It was an exceptional offensive effort for the Eagles, as Leer played in her 123rd game at AU, a program record, and registered 21 points and nine rebounds. She also shot 3-3 from three-point range. Stephanie Anya and Sarah Kiely joined Leer in double figures, scoring 15 and 12 points, respectively. Lisa Strack also contributed a career-high nine assists, while Alexis Dobbs had six.
The Eagles shot 54.8 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the three-point line. They also recorded 27 assists and eight steals while only allowing 13 turnovers.
“It was great to get a win on Senior Night,” Leer said. “Walking away from this game I know that I’m leaving a program that’s going to keep this legacy going on, and continuing this tradition of working hard, and continuing to get better every year.”
This success did not seem likely in the beginning of the first half, as the team struggled finishing plays. After a nice layup by Anya within the first minute of play, the Eagles did not regain the lead until under the 10-minute mark. A pair of Leer three-pointers spaced by an Anya layup put the Eagles up 17-13 with 7:45 left in the first half.
After this run, the Eagles would hold onto the lead for the remainder of the game.
The second half started off much better than the first for the Eagles, with an Anya jumper closely followed by a Leer layup off a steal by Ryan.
The team was able to transition from a difficult offensive performance in the first half to the strong display they put forth in the second.
“Our word for today was ‘finish’ and we started off a little rocky in the first half and so we huddled together and were like ‘Guys, we’re better than this,’” Anya said. “Coach said just compose yourselves and finish plays and we’ll get the victory.”
Navy also won on Saturday, which puts them as the top seed for the Patriot League Tournament. Lehigh University also won its final game of the season, making it a three-way tie atop the Patriot League. Lehigh will be the tournament’s No. 2 seed.
“I think the potential of this team is tremendous and our opportunities to win the tournament are very, very good,” Corkery said. “We’ve proved through 14 games that we’re as good as anyone in the league, so now you just have to do it on that night.”
AU will host the College of the Holy Cross in the quarterfinal game on Saturday, Mar. 5 at 2 p.m. in Bender Arena.
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