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Eagles Maintain First-Place Tie in Patriot League with 55-48 Win Over Lehigh
Chanel Hunt's 21 points, 10 boards lead AU

Feb. 14, 2004 | Boxscore

Junior forward Chanel Hunt had her fourth double-double of the season, with 21 points and 10 boards, in a 55-48 win over Lehigh Saturday that helped the Eagles maintain a first-place tie in the Patriot League.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Chanel Hunt (Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft) scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the American University women’s basketball team past Lehigh University, 55-48, Saturday at Stabler Arena. With the win, the Eagles move to 7-3 in the Patriot League and maintain a share of first place in the league.

In a tight battle in which the lead changed hands eight times, Lehigh’s Dawn Gorynski scored three of her team-high 16 points on a trey with 5:21 left in the game to give the Mountain Hawks a 48-46 lead. However, AU held Lehigh scoreless for the remainder of the contest and the Eagles finished off the Mountain Hawks with a 9-0 run to end the game.

American started the game off slowly, hitting just two of its first seven shots, but still held a 4-2 lead at the 16:30 mark. The Eagles’ defense then stiffened, forcing seven turnovers over the next seven minutes and allowing the Mountain Hawks to score just three points. At the 8:54 of the first half, AU held an 18-5 lead.

Lehigh responded with a 19-2 run to end the half. AU went one-for-15 during the run, and the Eagles trailed 24-20 at halftime. American shot just 25 percent (nine-of-36) in the first stanza.

The Mountain Hawks desperately tried to pull away from American in the early part of the second half, going up by five at 17:01 and 15:24, but the Eagles hung tight. AU chipped away at the lead, and took its first lead since the 2:00 mark in the first half on a jumper by Hunt with 14:24 left. The two teams traded the lead five times over the next nine minutes, leading up to Gorynski’s three-pointer.

American shot 56 percent in the second half and held the Mountain Hawks to just 29 percent shooting in the latter period to help the Eagles eventually pull away.

Hunt’s double-double was her fourth of the season. She hit eight-of-16 from the field and five-of-seven from the line. Chanel Spriggs (Sunderland, Md./Northern) added 10 points, a season-high seven steals, four rebounds and three assists. The three assists vaulted her into AU’s top-10 all-time for career assists, with 216. In addition, Joanna Barnes (Washington, D.C./Dunbar) added nine points and tied her career-high with 11 boards.

With wins of their own Saturday, Colgate and Holy Cross are now tied with American atop the Patriot League standings. AU next hosts Holy Cross on Friday, Feb. 20, beginning at 5:30 p.m. and Colgate on Sunday, Feb. 22, at 3 p.m. in a weekend that could determine which team earns the top seed in the league championship tournament. Both games will be broadcast live on AUEagles.com. For more information, click here.