EMAIL THIS PAGE

Big First Half Gives Eagles 71-58 PL Semifinal Victory
Barnes, Schuyler chip in 13 points a piece

Senior guard Kaitlin Schuyler had 13 points in a 71-58 win over Lehigh in the PL Semis Sunday at Show Place Arena.

March 7, 2004 | Boxscore

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. – Senior guard Kaitlin Schuyler (Baltimore, Md./Mercy) and junior guard Joanna Barnes (Washington, D.C./Dunbar) each contributed 13 points, leading four American (16-13) players into double figures, as the second-seeded Eagles advanced to the championship game of the 2004 Patriot League Women's Basketball Tournament with a 71-58 victory Sunday over third-seeded Lehigh (13-16).

American will visit Hamilton, N.Y., Wednesday at 7 p.m. for the championship game against top-seeded host Colgate (20-9), which downed fifth-seeded Bucknell in Sunday's other semifinal contest, 61-57.

It is the first time in three seasons as a member of the Patriot League that AU advanced to the women's title game. It's is also just the third time since the inception of the program in the 1966-67 season that the Eagles advanced to a league championship game. AU's two other title-game appearances were in 1987 and 1998 as members of the Colonial Athletic Association.

Senior guard Chanel Spriggs (Sunderland, Md./Northern) added 12 points and junior forward Chanel Hunt (Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft) chipped in 10 for the Eagles, who went on an 8-0 run to end the first half to take a 36-22 lead at the break.

Lehigh, led by junior forward Jessica DePalo's game-high 22 points, cut American's lead to nine points with 3:30 left (62-53). But the Eagles closed out the game with a 9-5 run to clinch the berth in the title game.

Colgate and American split their two regular-season games. The Eagles won at CU 58-57 on Jan. 23, but the Raiders answered with a 79-61 win at American on Feb. 22.