This Week's Schedule
Thursday, Feb. 17 – ASHLAND (15-7/10-5 GLIAC) at Michigan Tech (19-2/14-1), 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 19– ASHLAND (15-7/10-5) at Northern Michigan (9-13/4-11), 3 p.m.
A Quick Look at the Eagles
Ashland starts this week with a two-game winning streak and with victories in three of its last four games. This week finds the Eagles on the road for a pair of games. AU went 2-0 last week with a win over 23rd-ranked Grand Valley State. Ashland is tied for first place in the GLIAC South Division with Findlay. In the overall GLIAC standings, the Eagles are tied with Findlay for fourth place. Grand Valley State is just a step ahead (11-5). AU has four regular season games left and three of those are on the road. AU is 6-3 away from home and 0-2 on a neutral court.
AU was ranked ninth in the Midwest region last week. The top eight teams from the region will advance to the NCAA playoffs. That field will be determined after the GLIAC Tournament ends on Mar. 5-6.
Flight Patterns
Both games this week can be heard live on WNCO (1340 AM) with Ken Carman on the call.
Head Coach Sue Ramsey
Ashland University head coach Sue Ramsey is in her 23rd season as a collegiate head coach. Her overall record is 345-321. At Ashland, Ramsey is 250-193. This is her 16th season at AU. Ramsey is the program's career leader in victories and she has guided the Eagles to the NCAA Division II playoffs twice (2003-04, 2005-06). She is the only coach in the program's history to lead the Eagles to the Division II playoffs. Ramsey's 2003-04 team won a school record 23 games.
Prior to arriving at AU, Ramsey spent eight seasons as the head coach at the University of Dayton (1986-1994). The AU head coach is a 1978 Miami (OH) graduate. She earned her master's degree from Dayton in 1988.
More on Ramsey
Ramsey earned her 250th win on the AU bench last Saturday when the Eagles upended Ferris State, 68-58. Here are some other benchmarks from Ramsey's AU career.
First Win – Nov. 21, 1995, at Tiffin – Ashland 92, Tiffin 47
First Loss – Jan. 18, 1996 at Lake Superior State – LSSU, 89, Ashland 81
First GLIAC Win – Dec. 9, 1995, Hillsdale – Ashland 92, Hillsdale 90 (OT)
100th Win – Dec. 5, 2002 – Ashland 81, Saginaw Valley State 67
200th Win – Feb. 16, 2008 – Ashland 95, Mercyhurst 69
Most Wins, Season – 23, 2003-04
20-Win Seasons – 3, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06
Noteworthy – Ramsey won the first 12 games she coached at Ashland. She was named as AU's head coach on Oct. 11, 1995, four days before the start of practice. Ramsey succeeded Melanie Balcomb.
Eye on the Eagles
Sophomore forward-center Daiva Gerbec (Dublin, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) is the GLIAC's leading rebounder (11.3 rpg.) and she's fifth in scoring (15.3 ppg.). The sophomore is fifth in free throw percentage (.848) and 11th in field goal percentage (.490). Gerbec has 13 double-doubles (points-rebounds) this season and has led the Eagles in rebounding in 10 consecutive games. She has 10 or more boards in nine of the last 10 games. Gerbec is 14th in the country in rebounds per game…freshman guard Alyssa Miller (Zanesville, Ohio/Tri-Valley) scored a career-high 17 points in last week's 68-58 win over Ferris State. In the game before that, last Thursday against Grand Valley State, Miller posted a career-high seven assists. Against Ferris State, Miller went 5-for-6 from three-point range. Miller is averaging 4.3 ppg. However, in the last five games, she has produced 10.0 ppg. The five triples against FSU represents almost half of Miller's season total. She has 14 triples for the season…senior forward Liz Tyler (Monroeville, Ohio) scored a career-high 21 points last Thursday in the win over Grand Valley State. Tyler scored 13 points in the second half, including five in the final 16 seconds. Tyler is 13th in the GLIAC in field goal percentage (.471/73-of-155)…sophomore guard Lindsay Tenyak (Wadsworth, Ohio) is second in the GLIAC in three-point field goal percentage (.465/33-of-71). …sophomore forward-center Beth Mantkowski (Fairlawn, Ohio/Copley) is eighth in the GLIAC in blocked shots (27/1.2 bpg.)…senior guard Rachel Poorman (Zanesville, Ohio/Maysville) had a career-high seven assists against Ferris State. Poorman has a team-high 72 assists (3.3 apg.)…junior guard Jena Stutzman (Berlin, Ohio/Kent State) is the GLIAC leader in free throw percentage (.927) and three-point field goals (2.4 per game). Stutzman is third in the league in scoring (16.2 ppg.). Now the bad news - Stutzman suffered a leg injury in the first half of the Jan. 29 against Findlay and hasn't taken the court since then.
Streaks, Strings and Things
AU had one of its best weeks of the season defensively last week. Grand Valley State came to Kates Gymnasium ranked second in the GLIAC in scoring and managed just 54 points and shot 34.5 percent from the floor, 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from three-point range. Two days later, Ferris State scored 58 points and shot 33.3 percent from the field…in the two games last week, AU outscored the opposition, 57-41 in the first half. AU's record when leading at halftime is 13-3…the Eagles have been outrebounded once in the last nine games…Ashland has put together winning streaks of six and four games this season. The six-game string came over the season's first six games. AU's longest losing skein is four games (Dec. 19-Jan. 5, Hillsdale, Assumption, Mars Hill and Findlay)…AU has played three overtime games and is 1-2 in those games. This is the most OT games the Eagles have played since they had three overtime games during the 2001-02 campaign…Gerbec has scored in double digits in 10 consecutive games. The last time she didn't score 10 or more points came in San Diego against Mars Hill on Dec. 30 when she had five points.
Facts and Figures
- AU is 9-2 at Kates Gymnasium with the losses coming to Hillsdale (Dec. 19) and Findlay (Jan. 29). A year ago, the Eagles were 9-6 at home.
- Ashland is first in the country in free throw percentage. AU has made 77.1 percent of its free throws. There are 294 schools in the country playing Division II women's basketball.
- AU has held five teams this season to 53 points or less.
- Ashland is 12th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (37.7). A year ago, AU shot 30.9 percent from three-point distance. The national leader is Quincy, at 44.5 percent.
- In the four games since Stutzman injured her knee, the only player to lead the team in scoring more than once is Gerbec (twice). Miller, Tyler and Mantkowski have also been at the top of the scoring chart (Gerbec and Mantkowski tied for high scoring honors against Ohio Dominican).
- Two players – Gerbec and Poorman – have started every game this season. Last season the only player to start all 28 games was guard Lindsey Gaut.
- AU is first in the GLIAC in scoring (72.4 ppg.) and free throw percentage (77.1). The Eagles are second in field goal percentage defense (36.0), three-point field goal percentage (37.7) and assists (341/15.5 apg.).
- AU is 5-0 against the GLIAC North Division this season.
Ashland vs. Michigan Tech
The Huskies lead the series with the Eagles, 12-7. This series began in 1995-96. AU went 0-2 against Tech last season, losing in Ashland, 88-65 and in Houghton, Mich., 73-34. Tech owns a three-game winning streak against the Eagles. Ashland's last win over MTU came on Feb. 7, 2009, 80-77 in Ashland. The last time the Eagles won in Houghton, Mich., was on Jan. 24, 2008, 61-60.
Scouting Michigan Tech
The Huskies, ranked eighth in the country, will bring a six-game winning streak into Thursday's game. Tech has had 23 consecutive winning seasons and was ranked eighth in the country last week. With one more win, Tech will secure its 15th 20-win season in the 36-year history of the program. Tech is the top seed in the GLIAC and as of last week, was second in the regional rankings, trailing only Quincy. Tech is 10-0 at home this year and has a 24-game home winning streak.
MTU is the GLIAC leader in scoring defense (54.7 ppg.), scoring margin (+14.7), field goal percentage (.466), field goal percentage defense (.351), three-point field goal percentage (.411), blocks (120/5.7 bpg.), assist-turnover ratio (1.2) and three-point field goals (173/8.2 per game).
Tech's Lucy Dernovsek, a 5-11 senior forward, is averaging 12.2 ppg. She's third in the conference in rebounding (8.3 rpg.) and blocks (43/2.0 bpg.), fifth in three-point percentage (.438/32-of-73), sixth in assist-turnover ratio (1.6) and eighth in field goal percentage (.514). Sam Hoyt, a 5-5 sophomore guard, averages 11.0 ppg. She's third in the league in three-pointers (48/2.3 per game), seventh in three-point percentage (.425/48-of-118) and assist-turnover ratio (1.5) and eighth in assists (74/3.5 per game).
Lindsey Lindstrom, a 6-0 junior forward, averages 7.2 rpg., while Lisa Staehlin, a 6-2 senior center, is second in the conference in field goal percentage (.595) and sixth in blocks (28/1.3 bpg.). Angela Guisfredi, a 5-5 senior guard, is the league leader in three-point field goal percentage (.534/39-of-73). She averages 8.1 ppg.
Kim Cameron is in her first season as the MTU head coach. She spent the last five years as an assistant coach at Tech.
Ashland vs. Northern Michigan
The Wildcats own a 15-6 lead in the series with the Eagles. Ashland has never won in Marquette, Mich. The series began in 1995-96 and AU's record at NMU is 0-10. A year ago, the Eagles defeated the 'Cats in Ashland, 69-64. In the regular season meeting at NMU, the Wildcats won, 81-65. The teams played in Marquette in the first round of the GLIAC playoffs and NMU prevailed, 71-50.
Scouting Northern Michigan
The Wildcats were 22-10 last season, 16-6 in conference play. Much of the firepower from that team is gone and NMU is in a rebuilding mode. The 'Cats begin the week tied for sixth place in the GLIAC North Division.
Northern Michigan has lost three of its last four games. The last time NMU won was on Feb. 5, 68-55 at Findlay. NMU played once last week, losing to Lake Superior State, 68-46. NMU will host Lake Erie on Thursday (Feb. 17).
NMU's leading scorer is 5-8 junior guard Chelsea Lyons. She averages 12.1 ppg., and 5.3 rpg. Staci Beckel, a 5-11 junior forward, averages 11.5 ppg., and 5.3 rpg. Steffani Stoeger, a 5-7 senior guard, averages 9.8 ppg., and is tied for eighth in the conference in steals (41/1.9 spg.). Erin Powers provides strength inside, the 6-1 senior center is averaging 5.8 rpg., and is fourth in the conference in free throw percentage (.855).
Troy Mattson is in his sixth season as the NMU head coach.
In the GLIAC
AU fans will be paying close attention to Findlay this week. The Eagles and Oilers begin the week tied for first place in the GLIAC South Division. UF plays this week at Grand Valley State (18-5/11-5) and Ferris State (11-11/7-9). Ferris State is locked in a fight for one of the last spots in the eight-team GLIAC playoffs. One of the teams battling the Bulldogs is Tiffin. The Dragons play once this week, visiting Ohio Dominican on Saturday.
On Deck
Next Thursday (Feb. 24), AU plays at Ohio Dominican. The regular season ends next Saturday (Feb. 26) at Kates Gymnasium against Lake Erie. AU owns wins over both ODU and LEC this season.
AU
WBB/ALK
