Women's Basketball Visits Wagner on Saturday Afternoon

Media Information
Teams: American (3-2) vs. Wagner (1-3)
Date & Time: Saturday, November 28, 2009, 3:00 p.m.
Location: Spiro Sports Center, Staten Island, N.Y.
Web Broadcast: Wagner All-Access
Click Here for Live Stats
Click Here for Full Game Notes

The American University women's basketball team will travel to Staten Island, N.Y., to take on Wagner on Saturday, November 28 at 3 p.m.

American (3-2) is coming off a 65-57 victory over the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Tuesday evening at Bender Arena. For the fourth game this season, junior Michelle Kirk led the Eagles in scoring with 24 points on eight-of-14 shooting from the floor. She also grabbed seven rebounds. Additionally, sophomore Lisa Strack recorded career-highs with 11 points and seven rebounds in her first start of the season. Junior Liz Leer was also in double-figures for the Eagles with 10 points, while chipping in seven boards.

Prior to the NJIT contest, AU fell to East Carolina, 70-65, in its home opener last Sunday. In the game, AU was 15-of-16 from the free throw line, which was the sixth-best single-game free throw percentage (.938) in program history. Kirk, Leer and senior Nicole Ryan were all in double-figures for the Eagles with 19, 14 and 11 points, respectively. Senior Ohemaa Nyanin also recorded career-highs with eight points and nine rebounds in the defeat.

For the season, Kirk leads the Eagles with 20.6 points per game, which is tops in the Patriot League. She is also averaging a team-high 6.8 rebounds per contest, seventh best in the conference. Leer is second on the team with 13.4 ppg and 6.4 rpg. She is averaging 1.6 blocked shots per contest, which leads the Patriot League, and is currently in third place in the conference in field goal efficiency at 57.7 percent.

Wagner (1-3) comes into Saturday's contest after picking up its first victory of the season, a 63-55 win over Siena on Tuesday night in its home opener. Sha'Ron Harrison paced the Seahawks with 15 points and 12 rebounds in the victory. Ashley Olson currently leads Wagner in its first four games with 12.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. The Seahawks three loses this season came to Army, NJIT and Colgate, all on the road.

This will be the fourth all-time meeting between American and Wagner with AU holding a perfect 3-0 record against the Seahawks. Most recently, the teams met at Bender Arena on November 19, 2007, with the Eagles coming away with a 60-38 home victory. Then-senior Liz Hayes led American with 18 points, while Liz Leer was the only other Eagle in double-figures with 10 points. AU also defeated Wagner in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.

The game versus Wagner will be broadcast on Wagner All-Access for a fee. Live stats will also be available by clicking here.

Click here for the full game notes.