TOWSON, Md. – Sunday afternoon the Towson University women's basketball team will host American in SECU Arena at 2 p.m.
 
Sunday's matchup holds a connection for both of the head coaches involved, as head coach Diane Richardson coached at American as an assistant and the Eagles' head coach Megan Gebbia played at Towson from 1990-94.
 
This week the Tigers are partnering with A Can Can Make a Difference and will be collecting nonperishable food items at Gate A of SECU Arena to give back for the Thanksgiving holiday. Sunday's game will be streamed on FloSports.com and live stats will be available on TowsonTigers.com.
 
Last Time Out
Towson is coming off its first win of the 2019-20 campaign over Mount St. Mary's last Saturday, led by sophomore Myasia Jones who dropped 17 points and Q. Murray who grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds. The Tigers came out hot and after a back and forth first three minutes went on a 10-1 run to take and hold the lead the rest of the game, shooting 38.4 percent from the field. Nukiya Mayo and Kionna Jeter continued their success in scoring with 15 points from each of them.
 
Scouting the Tigers
Senior Nukiya Mayo continues to lead the Black and Gold's offense with 17.3 points per game followed by Kionna Jeter with 16.3 per game and Q. Murray with 10.3 per game. Mayo also paces the Tigers in rebounds, averaging 8.3 a night she has an advantage on defensive boards with 6.5 per game. Murray has 18 assists this season averaging 4.5 per game and Tess Borgosz leads the team in blocks with 1.8 per game, seven on the year. Murray has also been a force on defense with a team-best 2.5 steals per game.
 
Scouting the Eagles
American comes to campus with a 2-2 record after falling to George Mason on Thursday night 73-55 on the road. Leading the Eagles' offense is Jade Edwards averaging 19.8 points per game, she has scored 24 points on two occasions this season. American's wins this season are over Villanova (76-54) and High Point (56-48). As a team the Eagles are averaging 64 points per game, shooting 44.6 percent from the field. Edwards also leads the team in rebounds averaging 6.0 per game. American has a fairly young roster with three seniors and one junior, the sophomores and freshmen make up eight of the players.
 
The American Series
Sunday will be the 17th meeting between these two teams. American holds the series advantage 9-7. Towson took down the Eagles in the last matchup on Nov. 18, 2005, a 67-54 victory in the Towson Center. American's last win over Towson was Dec. 4, 2002 at home.
 
Megan Gebbia Returns
This is a makeshift homecoming for American's head coach Megan Gebbia who played four seasons as a Tiger, she graduated in 1994. Gebbia saw a 48-64 record through her collegiate career including a 17-11 season her senior year. She has been the head coach of the Eagles since 2013.
 
Nukiya Mayo and the Chase to 1,000
Senior Nukiya Mayo has not-so-quietly made her permanent mark on the record books and history of Towson women's basketball. In her sophomore season the Bronx, New York native recorded the eighth-most rebounds in a single year with 263. Last year the dual guard-forward player was named the CAA Championship MOP after she scored 22 points to lead Towson to its first program CAA title. Mayo has tallied 973 points through last Saturday's game and is looking at the 1,000 mark with still the entire conference slate ahead. The 27 remaining points will be heavily anticipated as the Tigers face American at home and then hit the road next week for the Puerto Rico Clasicó to face Iowa and Iona.
 
Tigers in NCAA Stats
Four games into the season and Towson is seeing another strong showing in the blocks category of national statistics. Currently the Black and Gold are 21st in the nation in blocks per game averaging 5.8 as a team. Tess Borgosz is in the top-100 of blocked shots per game, she is 79th in the category with 1.75 per game. Towson is 20th nationally in total blocked shots with 23.
 
Towson in CAA Stats
Nukiya Mayo and Kionna Jeter are both in the top-10 scoring in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), sixth and seventh respsectively. Mayo is fourth in rebounding while Jeter is seventh. Q. Murray is second in assists and assist/turnover ratio. Tess Borgosz is second in the CAA in blocked shots while Mayo is third and Ryan Holder is sixth, Towson is the only team with three players in the top-10 of blocked shots. Murray and Jeter appear once again in the top-10 steals category, fifth and seventh respectively.
 
Tigers in the Community
The Towson University athletics department deems community service as one of its highest priorities to give back to the Greater Baltimore area. For the seventh consecutive year, the department exceeded 10,000 hours of community service to the Greater Baltimore region, finishing with 11,162 hours of community service in the 2018-19 academic season. Towson ranked No. 1 nationally for community service and won the 2018 National Championship for Community Service through the Helper Helper NCAA Team Works Competition. Towson had a 97% participation rate, attended 118 community service opportunities and volunteered with 19 organizations. Towson won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.
 
Looking Ahead
Towson returns to the skies to play in the Puerto Rico Clasicó during the week of Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving Day the Tigers are slated to face 2019 Elite Eight team Iowa and on Friday, Nov. 29 will play Iona. After the holiday tournament the Tigers are home twice more and travel to Rutgers as they close out the nonconference schedule.