Box Score Sand and sun didn't agree with the AU women's basketball team.
The Eagles lost to Mars Hill, 74-73 Thursday (Dec. 30) in San Diego at the Surf and Slam Classic in San Diego. Ashland went 0-2 on the trip to the west coast. The loss to Mars Hill (8-2) was Ashland's (8-4) third straight.
Ashland and Mars Hill were tied 41-41 at halftime and the teams were deadlocked, 71-71 with 1:44 to play in regulation. The game was tied 13 times and featured 12 lead changes.
Mars Hill took a 72-71 lead with 1:19 to play on a free throw by Taylor Deal. That lead expanded to 74-71 on a jumper by Margaret Harvey with 1:09 to play.
The Eagles fought back to within 74-73 on a field goal by junior guard Jena Stutzman (Berlin, Ohio/Kent State) with 50 seconds to play. Ashland's last attempt to win the game came with seven seconds to play when Stutzman misfired on a three-point attempt. Stutzman led all players in the game with 29 points. She was 9-for-21 from the floor and 5-of-11 from three-point range. The junior is AU's leading scorer at 16.3 ppg.
Stutzman was the only AU player to make a three-pointer in the game. The Eagles went 5-for-17 from three-point range. Mars Hills was 2-for-17 on three-point tries.
AU got 19 points and six rebounds from senior forward Liz Tyler (Monroeville, Ohio) and 12 points and six boards from sophomore forward-center Beth Mantkowski (Fairlawn, Ohio/Copley). Senior guard Rachel Poorman (Zanesville, Ohio/Maysville) had a team-high seven rebounds and led the Eagles with four assists.
The Lions outrebounded the Eagles, 51-39. The North Carolina school led in points in the paint, 18-10 and in second chance points, 14-11. The Lions had four of five starters reach double digits in scoring. Brittini Young and Jocelyn Williams scored 16 points apiece. Tyler Carlson had 11 points and Margaret Harvey had 10 points. Jessica Jones came off the bench to score eight points and pull down 11 rebounds. Five Mars Hills players had five rebounds or more.
Mars Hills is coached by Jennifer Nance, a former AU assistant coach under Sue Ramsey.
The Eagles return to the court on Wednesday, Jan. 5, with a GLIAC game at Findlay.
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