Box Score
An economic downturn can cause a sense of panic. A drop of a percentage point or two in the market can cause sweat to run like a river.
After Sunday's 85-76 loss to Indianapolis, it's fair to say that that Ashland University women's basketball team is a little down. It would be inaccurate to say it is out. This is still prime stock. This was no Black Sunday.
The Eagles saw a 44-game home winning streak end on Sunday (Nov. 17) with an 85-76 non-conference loss to Indianapolis. This was AU's first setback at Kates Gymnasium since losing to Findlay, 81-73 in overtime on Jan. 29, 2011. This loss also put an end to a 14-game winning streak dating back to last season. Again, it was the Oilers who handed the Eagles' their lone loss last season when AU won the national championship.
Those figures might seem to add up to one big downer. But here's where this story gets uplifting. At halftime Sunday, the Eagles (1-1) were behind, 44-33. With 4:09 left in regulation the Eagles trailed by 11 points, 73-62. Ashland went on a 9-2 run and with 1:39 left, the Eagles were behind, 75-74.
Indianapolis then went 8-for-8 at the free throw line while the Eagles missed a pair of field goal tries and turned the ball over once. That finally put an end to a streak that ranks among the most impressive highlights in AU's athletic history.
"We were down, but didn't lose it," said AU head coach Sue Ramsey. "We didn't lose our poise. That's one of the great takeaways from this game."
By year's end, Indianapolis (4-1) figures to be ranked in the nation's Top 25. Ashland entered this game ranked 15th in the nation. AU's backcourt tandem of Taylor Woods and Alyssa Miller demonstrated again that it is one of the best combinations in the country. Woods scored a career-high 29 points. She was 9-for-19 from three-point range.Those nine triples are a school, single-game record, eclipsing the record of eight, set by Bridget Donovan against Mercyhurst in 1999.
Miller had 18 points, five rebounds and four assists.
What the Eagles must find in the coming weeks are players who can support those two veterans in the backcourt. That won't happen overnight. As Ramsey has repeatedly said, this is a learning process. Against Indianapolis, two impressive candidates stepped forward. Sophomore guard McKenzie Miller had 15 points and a team-leading nine rebounds. Freshman forward Suzy Wollenhaupt had 10 points and five rebounds.
Indianapolis got 19 points from guard Kelly Walter, 15 points off the bench from guard Shelby Wall and 14 points from guard Princess German. The Greyhounds out-rebounded the Eagles, 34-26, led in points in the paint, 31-10 and in bench points, 34-4.
"Every game we'll have challenges on how to defend because we're undersized," said Ramsey.
Both teams on Sunday fired with abandon from three-point range. The Greyhounds were 13-for-30 and AU was 15-for-35. The teams combined to shoot 43 percent from long range. At times, this looked like a game of H-O-R-S-E and there were no nags to be found.
The two teams were tied, 24-24 with 8:20 left in the first half. From that point until the intermission, Indianapolis went on a 20-9 run to take a 44-33 lead at the break. The Greyhounds shot 54.8 percent (17-of-31) from the field over the first 20 minutes. Walter had 13 first-half points and forward Kirsten Gliesmann had four points, six rebounds and two blocks at the intermission.
"They have weapons from everywhere," noted Ramsey.
That arsenal made life difficult for AU. The Eagles mounted several charges in the second half, but couldn't draw even or take the lead. Indianapolis helped itself by going 12-for-12 at the free throw line. That and just 11 total turnovers, meant that the Greyhounds were not beating themselves.
The Eagles don't figure to beat themselves up over this setback either.
"It's a great learning lesson from a great team," Rasmsey said. "We'll get better every opportunity we have to get on the floor."
Walking off this floor on the wrong side of the score was surely a strange feeling for the Eagles. It's been more than two years since that occurred. Between that loss in January of 2011 to Findlay and this setback Sunday the Eagles won two GLIAC championships, a pair of regional crowns and a national championship.
"It's been two and a half seasons since we've lost at home," said Ramsey. Just look, seven new faces out there, it's a different team. We do need to declare our own identity, so to speak."
The next step in that process comes at Mercyhurst on Nov. 30.
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