The American University Eagles (1-21) fell to the Patriot League-leading Lehigh Mountain Hawks (19-4) at Bender Arena on Feb. 8 by a score of 67-52.
Despite strong defensive play all game, American couldn’t get out of their own way, as 21 total turnovers sunk the Eagles' chances of winning. Standout freshman forward Cecilia Kay excelled against Lehigh, finishing the game with a career-high 24 points and 11 rebounds.
American entered this game coming off an 80-64 road loss to Army. Lehigh came into this game riding high off a seven-game winning streak, most recently defeating the Holy Cross Crusaders (15-7) on Feb. 1 by a score of 60-47.
The first quarter began with Lehigh junior forward Lily Fandre hitting a three within the first 10 seconds of the game. American got their first bucket with a layup from junior guard Laura Nogues.
Kay made her impact on the game early, driving to the basket four times and hitting from the free throw line three times, leading the Eagles with 11 points scored in the first quarter.
“It felt like a lot of the work we’d been doing in practice was shown in the first quarter,” Kay said. “All throughout the week they were really finding me well.”
The first quarter ended with Lehigh fouling sophomore guard Lexi Salazar beyond the arc with less than a second to go in the quarter, hitting two of three free throws. The Eagles trailed Lehigh by 2 after the first quarter, 17-15.
The second quarter saw American put up their best defensive showing all year, holding the Patriot League’s best offense to just 13 points all quarter. The Mountain Hawks found an easy layup in the first minute but failed to find the basket for the next eight.
The Eagles didn’t capitalize on their defensive excellence, only putting up 8 points during Lehigh’s offensive drought. The Mountain Hawks eventually ended the dry spell, putting up 10 points in the final 90 seconds of the half. American trailed Lehigh 30-26 going into the third quarter.
The Mountain Hawks came out firing on all cylinders, quickly jumping up to an 8-point lead due to senior forward Meghan O’Brien’s stellar play. American struggled offensively all quarter, only finding the basket three times.
Lehigh entered the final quarter of the game up 17 on the Eagles with a score of 50-33. Missed opportunities and turnovers prevented the Eagles from taking flight, instead finding themselves down 17 to the Patriot League’s premier offensive team with just 10 minutes to play.
American entered foul trouble in the fourth quarter as Nogues fouled out in the first minute of the quarter. Lehigh would go on to take a 22-point lead, their largest of the game.
The Eagles aggressively put up shots beyond the arc in an attempt to lower the deficit, with Salazar hitting the team’s first three-pointer with under five minutes to play. American had not made a 3-point attempt before her shot fell. American finished 2-for-16 from beyond the arc, with Salazar hitting both baskets.
The Eagles’ high-flying offense led to troubles defensively, as Lehigh exposed American on the fastbreak multiple times to stifle any attempts at a comeback. Despite the Eagles outscoring the Mountain Hawks in the final quarter, Lehigh’s interior offense was too strong for American, finishing the Eagles off with a 67-52 win for Lehigh.
Both teams shot poorly from beyond the arc, shooting 12.5 percent respectively. American led in total rebounds, but Lehigh racked up 6 more offensive boards than the Eagles, adding to their paint dominance all game.
Turnovers were American’s kryptonite, as the Mountain Hawks scored 16 points off of the Eagles’ 21 turnovers. Lehigh shot the ball 16 more times than the Eagles did, adding to their offensive dominance.
Following Kay’s 11 rebounds, graduate student guard Ivy Bales and senior guard Bailey Garbee patrolled the boards all game, with 8 for Bales and 7 for Garbee. Garbee also led the team with five assists. Bales’ eight rebounds moved her to tenth all-time in American’s record books, with 579 boards in her Eagle career.
“Their defense was extreme, it was really good for us,” American head coach Tiffany Coll said. “Both of them have done a good job rebounding through contact for us.”
American looks to brush this one off as they head to Easton, Pennsylvania to face the Lafayette Leopards (6-16) on Feb. 12, before returning home to face the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds (8-14) on Feb. 15.
This article was edited by Connor Sturniolo, Penelope Jennings and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Hannah Langenfeld, Olivia Citarella and Nicole Kariuki.
