51³Ô¹ÏÍø

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The 51³Ô¹ÏÍø women’s basketball team defeated American 79-61 in a tough physical battle at Bender Arena on Sunday to avenge its one-point loss to the Eagles earlier this season.  The Raiders moved back into a tie for first place in the Patriot League with the victory.'xml:namespace prefix = o ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office' />

The score was neck-and-neck throughout the first 15 minutes of play with three ties and three lead exchanges.  The Raiders then moved out to a 33-21 lead after scoring 12 uncontested points in a period of two minutes.  American managed just three points in the final six minutes of the half and 51³Ô¹ÏÍø carried a 35-24 advantage into the locker room.

Malissa Burke ('xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = 'urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags' />Traverse City, Mich.) was hot from three-point range knocking down four-out of five tries from out deep for a team-high 13 first half points.  51³Ô¹ÏÍø was 12-for-29 from the field shooting 41.4 percent and 4-7 from three-point range shooting 57.1 percent. 

The Eagles shot 39.1 percent on 9-of-23 from the field and 20.0 percent from three-point range making one-of-five attempts.  51³Ô¹ÏÍø held the advantage in rebounds with 23 to American’s 14 and the Raiders committed 14 turnovers while forcing 15.

51³Ô¹ÏÍø came out of the blocks hard scoring the first six points of the half to increase their lead to 41-24 with 16:45 remaining.  The Raiders then outscored American 13-8 over the next five minutes to increase the gap to 22 points.  The Eagles were unable to chip away at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s lead down the stretch and the Raiders picked up the 79-61 victory.

Malissa Burke (E. Grand Rapids, Mich.) surpassed 350 points on the season with 19 to go with a career-high nine assists.  She also knocked down a career-high five three-pointers.  Emily Braseth (E. Grand Rapids, Mich.) caught fire in the second half to knock down 19 points while dishing five assists.

Milaina Lagzdins (Burlinton, Ont.) registered her second straight double-double and fifth of the season with 14 points and a career-high 19 boards.  Chigozie Ozor (Ann Arbor, Mich.) took sole possession of eighth on 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s season steals list with four.

Leandra Fuller (Harrisburg, Pa.) contributed 10 points and five rebounds to the victory.  Megan Ballard (Atlanta, Ga.) made several key defensive plays for the Raiders scoring six points and coming away with three steals.

Chanel Hunt led the Eagles with 19 points and seven rebounds.  Kim Salem and Chanel Spriggs added 10 points apiece to the effort.

The Raiders improve to 16-9 on the season and 8-4 in the Patriot League while American falls to 13-12 overall and 8-4 in conference play.  51³Ô¹ÏÍø will close out regular season next weekend at home with a Friday night match-up against Lehigh at 5:15 followed by a 3:15 game against Bucknell on Sunday.