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American Rallies With 71-65 Win Over Colgate in PL Tournament
Hunt records game-high of 21 points for the Eagles

March 7, 2003

Updated Tournament Bracket

Chanel Hunt had a game-high 21 points for American.

Gameday Central
Colgate	65
American	71
Box Score
Points: Hunt (AU) 21; Braseth(CU) 14, Burke (CU) 14 Rebounds: Hunt (AU) 9; Braseth (CU) 9 Assists: Schuyler (AU) 3, Spriggs (AU) 3; Hanson (CU) 3, Burke (CU) 3

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Within six minutes of advancing to the second round of the 2003 Patriot League Championship, the No. 2 seeded American University women's basketball team almost threw away a lead it had held from the opening seconds.

Almost, that is, until the Eagles' experience in tight games kept the calm on their side, leading to a 71-65 win over the No. 7 seeded Colgate Raiders (9-18) Friday afternoon at The Show Place Arena.

This marks the first win in a conference tournament game since the 1997-98 season for the Eagles, who reached the 18 win plateau for only the fourth time in program history. American (18-10) will play No. 6 Army on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

American's Chanel Hunt led all scorers with 21 points and had a team-high nine rebounds on eight-for-14 shooting from the field. Joanna Barnes added 13 points but had seven turnovers in 28 minutes. Chanel Spriggs and Katryn Costenbader combined for 21 points for the Eagles. As a team, AU shot 46 percent from the floor compared with Colgate's 33 percent showing. American also committed 15 of its 25 turnovers in the second half.

The Eagles started off the second half hot with three straight field goals before the Raiders returned the favor with six points of their own to bring the score to 43-27. Milaina Lagzdins scored a layup and one at 13:25 to cut the deficit to 11 at 45-34. Colgate went on an 18-9 run that included four trips to the free throw line in a five-minute span. Spriggs went on a crusade of her own, scoring eight points to keep the Raiders at bay. Costenbader put up a trey and extended the lead to 50-34 with 12:35 remaining.

Lagzdins came off the bench for the Raiders, scoring eight points as Burke scored seven of her 14 points in the final four minutes of the game including the game-tying free throw with 2:20 to go. Barnes sank both free throws on a bonus trip to the line to regain the lead before Hunt committed her fourth foul on Malissa Burke with 1:20 left. Burke converted one for a 66-65 AU lead.

On the next possession, Spriggs received the ball in the paint, spun left and banked a shot at 1:08 to make it 68-65. Following a Colgate miss, Spriggs came up with a rebound and was fouled with 22 seconds left, making one of two from the line.

At the half, American led 37-25 behind Hunt's 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting. As a team, AU hit 10 of its 11 free throws while the Raiders missed five of seven from the line. For the Raiders, Emily Braseth, who led her team with 14 points and nine rebounds, was solid with 10 points and five boards. The Eagles held a strong presence on the board, grabbing 25 to CU's 17.

Spriggs picked up a pair of early fouls within the first three minutes of the first half, but it didn't hurt the AU defense as the Raiders scored just one basket to trail 7-5 at 15:35. Springs came back in 2:30 minutes later, jumpstarting an offense that started when Maria Werries cut onto a breakaway pass from Spriggs off a steal and converted a layup alone.

American shot almost 60 percent and went on a 13-2 run that equated to a 22-8 advantage. CU reserve Meghan Curtin put an end to the surge when she connected on a 15-foot jumper with 9:49 left to play to push her team into double digits with 10. The Raiders clamped down on the up-tempo AU offense, however, scoring 10 points in five minutes as the Eagles' shooting dropped off and their lead dipped to eight at 26-18.

The win completes the sweep over Colgate in the 2002-03 season. American defeated the Raiders, 54-51 on Jan. 24 and then recorded a 71-64 victory on Feb. 23.

In earlier Patriot League Tournament games, No. 1 seed Holy Cross defeated No. 8 seed Lafayette, 80-60 while No. 4 Bucknell recovered from a double-digit deficit to defeat No. 5 Navy in overtime, 79-69.

AU plays in the Patriot League Semifinals on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. against No. 6 Army. For Eagles fans that cannot make it to the Show Place Arena on Sunday, the game will be televised live on DIRECTV Ch. 611.