Box Score Sometimes a milestone can become a millstone. A player, coach or team is in pursuit of a landmark figure and the journey to that destination ends up being like a trip to the Bermuda Triangle.
Sunday (Nov. 13) at California's Hamer Hall, AU head coach Sue Ramsey won the 350th game of her career when the Eagles rolled past Indianapolis, 74-69 in the consolation game of the California Convocation Center Tipoff. Ramsey is in her 17th season at Ashland and this is her 25th season as a collegiate head coach. This was her 255th victory on the AU bench and it came in the second game of the 2011-12 season. This special number didn't become a drag on the team or the coach. It's the first of the season and it could be a major step forward for a unit that has high expectations.
"It means I've been coaching for a lot of years," replied Ramsey when asked to comment on the win. "I'm worn out. This is the first road trip of the season and I'm exhausted."
It's easy to see why Ramsey would be feeling some fatigue. In the opener of the tourney the Eagles lost to Minnesota State-Mankato, 63-46. The Minnesota school upended California on Sunday to win the tournament title. Just three years ago, the program won a national title.
"They are just a hard-nosed defensive team," said Ramsey of Mankato. "This tournament was a great learning experience. We learned a lot from playing that (Mankato) game. It will benefit us down the road. We felt good coming back today. This was a great experience for us, playing two tough opponents. It told us what we need to work on."
On Sunday, the Eagles (1-1) played from behind for much of the game, but were at their best in the closing minutes. AU outscored the Greyhounds (0-2), 15-9 in the final 6:57. The Eagles took the lead for keeps with 5:12 left in regulation on a layup by junior guard-forward Kari Daugherty (Fresno, Ohio/Dayton). That bucket gave Ashland a 64-63 lead. Daugherty had a double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds. She had 12 points and eight boards in the second half. Daugherty was 8-of-14 from the floor and 6-of-6 at the free throw line. She had five assists.
Ashland also got a stellar performance from senior guard Jena Stutzman (Berlin, Ohio/Kent State). Stutzman had 18 points and five assists. The 5-7 guard scored 16 points after halftime. In the final 20 minutes she was 4-for-5 from three-point range. The Eagles shot 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from three-point distance. In the second half, AU clicked on 5-of-7 shots (71.4 percent) from beyond the three-point stripe.
There's not much fault to be found with the way the Eagles shot the basketball against Indianapolis. AU shot 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the floor. The Eagles went 9-for-10 from free throw line in the game and were 7-of-8 (87.5 percent) at the stripe in the second half.
The Eagles scored the game's first five points, but Indy bounced back and led, 17-13 with 13:12 left in the half. The teams traded the lead back and forth until the Greyhounds opened up a 30-25 lead with 3:48 to go before halftime. At the intermission Indianapolis was in front, 35-32.
The Greyhounds expanded their lead to eight points in the early stages of the second half. The last time they enjoyed that margin came with 15:14 left to play in regulation. After that, AU's defense pulled together and did a better job of forcing the Greyhounds out of their comfort zone. The Greyhounds found themselves shooting jumpers for much of the game – they did not shoot a free throw in the second half and for the game, visited the free throw line five times.
After the Daugherty layup at the 5:12 mark, AU forward Beth Mantkowski (Fairlawn, Ohio/Copley) blocked a jumper by Eliza Wortman and Daugherty grabbed the rebound. That led to a three-pointer by Stutzman, which upped the Ashland lead to 67-63. The Greyhounds got the lead down to 67-66 on a triple by Shelby Wall with 3:16 to go. AU junior guard Lindsay Tenyak (Wadsworth, Ohio) made one of two free throws with 2:54 left in regulation and the Eagles led, 68-66. Tenyak had 11 points in the game.
Neither team scored again until Daugherty dropped in a pair of free throws with 43 seconds remaining to put the Eagles ahead, 70-66. Stutzman blocked a three-point attempt by Wall and Daugherty collected the rebound. Daugherty was fouled and hit two more free throws for a 72-66 lead.
Indy had one last gasp. Wall hit her second triple of the game with 10 ticks on the clock and Ashland led, 72-69. On the in-bounds play the Greyhounds fouled Daugherty. She was good on two more free throw tries and Ashland had a five-point lead with eight seconds left.
"The biggest thing is we're just getting to know each other," said Ramsey. "As far as the kids playing together, there are a lot of newcomers. I think we have all the pieces, we just have to play together more. There are bright spots. We'll continue to grow as we learn to play with each other."
One of the newcomers, freshman forward Delanie Wolf (Minster, Ohio), had eight points in 11 minutes. Redshirt freshman guard Chelsea Laporte (Miamisburg, Ohio) had five points and two assists in 12 minutes.
Megan Gardner, a 5-9 senior guard and Sydney Weinert, a 6-1 junior forward, scored 12 points each for Indianapolis. Weinert also had six rebounds. Kristin Turner, a 5-7 junior guard, added 11 points.
This was the first of three games AU will play against GLVC schools in the season's first few weeks. Indianapolis, as usual, should be one of the league's tougher teams. Early last week, in a preseason game, Indy lost to Indiana by three points in Bloomington, Ind.
The Eagles are idle until they play at GLVC entrant Kentucky Wesleyan next Saturday (Nov. 19).
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