Box Score It was Dwight D. Eisenhower who once proclaimed, "All plans look good on paper."
The former general's point was that once the plan had to be put into action, that was when problems occurred. Life can get in the way of the perfect plan.
Such is the case with scouting reports being put together by women's basketball coaches around the GLIAC. For much of this season, the report on AU freshman guard Alyssa Miller (Zanesville, Ohio/Tri-Valley) was to give her the outside shot. She was on the floor because of defense and her playmaking ability.
It may be time to revise that strategy. Saturday (Feb. 12) afternoon at Kates Gymnasium, Miller scored a season-high 17 points and dished out five assists as the Eagles won for the third time in four games, shutting down Ferris State, 68-58.
The win gives the Eagles a 15-7 card, 10-5 within the GLIAC. Thanks to the AU win and Findlay's loss Saturday at Ohio Dominican, AU and Findlay are tied for the fourth spot in the overall GLIAC standings. The team that finishes fourth gets a first-round GLIAC playoff game. Both Findlay and AU are just one game behind Grand Valley State, which has a tentative hold on third place.
Ferris State (11-11/7-9) is still in contention for one of those eight postseason spots and came to Ashland playing its best basketball of the season. Miller did a lot to make sure the Bulldogs didn't leave town with a win. She scored all of her points after halftime, going 6-of-8 from the floor and 5-of-6 from three-point range. At halftime, the Eagles were clinging to a 27-23 lead.
Miller had scored 13 points against Ohio Dominican on Feb. 3, which demonstrates that in the last three weeks, her comfort level on offense is increasing. While she still looks for her shot last on her progression of options, her ability to become a multiple threat has kept the Eagles afloat offensively, especially with the loss of junior guard Jena Stutzman (Berlin, Ohio/Kent State).
Miller played 36 minutes against Ferris State, including all 20 minutes in the second half. As a team, the Eagles shot 52 percent after the break, including 75 percent (6-of-8) from three-point range. A three by Miller at the 15:01 mark of the second half put AU ahead, 42-27. That deficit was too much for the 'Dogs.
When Miller did distribute the ball, she had no shortage of legitimate scoring threats to utilize. Sophomore forward Daiva Gerbec (Dublin, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) notched her 13th double-double of the year with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Gerbec had a string of eight straight double-doubles before just missing on Thursday against Grand Valley State (20 points, eight rebounds).
The Eagles also received 13 points from sophomore guard Lindsay Tenyak (Wadsworth, Ohio) and 10 points from freshman forward Mikaela Lengal (Brunswick, Ohio). The AU reserves outscored the FSU bench, 12-7 and Lengal really accounted for that edge. She also pulled down three rebounds.
Defensively, the Eagles had a pretty good week, holding GVSU to 54 points on Thursday and FSU to 58 on Saturday. Entering Saturday's game, the Eagles were yielding 63.9 ppg. Grand Valley State shot 34.5 percent from the field and Ferris State managed 33.3 percent.
Guard Becci Houdek led the Bulldogs with 18 points. She was 6-for-6 at the free throw line. As a team, FSU went 11-for-11 at the free throw stripe. Forward Tricia Principe had 14 points. The Eagles did a stellar job on defending forward Tiara Adams, FSU's leading scorer. She began the week producing 13.0 ppg., and 7.0 rpg. The Eagles limited her to seven points and four rebounds.
AU faces a major road trip this coming week, visiting Michigan Tech (Thursday, Feb. 17) and Northern Michigan (Saturday, Feb. 19). Tech is currently the top seed in the league and ranked eighth in the country.
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