The AU women's basketball team swept both games they played this weekend to advance to the Patriot League championship game. The Eagles will travel on the road to take on Holy Cross Wednesday night for the right to go to the Women's NCAA tournament.
AU 68, Navy 55
In the quarterfinal game, the fourth-ranked Eagles faced off against the fifth-ranked Navy Midshipmen, who hosted the first two rounds of the PL tournament.
Following a game-opening layup by Maggie Smith-Davidson, the Eagles started the game on a 12-6 run to take an early lead. Trading baskets back and forth throughout the half, AU's lead would be cut to one with eight minutes to go in the half before taking a 38-33 advantage heading into halftime.
Coming out of the break, Navy would quickly pick up the momentum. The Midshipmen went on a 6-0 run to open the half, capped by a layup by Kate Hobbs to take their first lead of the game, 39-38, and forcing AU coach Melissa McFerrin to call an early timeout.
The Eagles would respond to this break in the action by going on a commanding 10-0 run of their own. This stretch would give AU the lead for good, as the team built up a double-digit advantage over the final minutes to come away with a 68-55 victory.
Leading the way for AU was sophomore Nicole Ryan, who scored a career-high 25 points by going five of nine from three-point range. The five shots from downtown set a new AU record for most three-pointers in a single game.
Teammate Liz Hayes contributed 21 points of her own, going three of seven from behind the arc. The pair also did well from the free-throw line, going six of six and six of eight respectively.
AU 68, Lehigh 45
Heading into the semifinal game, the Eagles faced the eighth-seeded Lehigh Mountain Hawks, who had upset regular season champion Bucknell in their first game.
In the first half of play, the two teams traded baskets back and forth for a majority of the period. Entering the locker room, the game was tied up at 25.
While the game was close in the first half of play, the Eagles took over the lead for good by going on a 14-2 run to open the second half. Nicole Ryan hit back to back three-pointers and teammate Stephanie N'Garsanet hit two layups of her own to push the AU lead to 13.
The Mountain Hawks cut the deficit back down to single digits with eight minutes to play but this would be as close as they would get. A three-pointer by Hayes with four minutes to play extended the margin to 19, sealing the eventual 68-45 victory.
Hayes and Ryan again scored in double-digits for the second straight game, with fellow Eagles N'Garsanet and Pam Stanfield contributing double-digit efforts as well.
The Eagles will now play in the Patriot League championship game for the second time in five years since joining the league. AU will look to play in its first national postseason tournament since qualifying for the Women's NIT in 1998.
