Box Score What's the blood type of the Ashland University women's basketball team?
Whether it's A, B or O, this much is certain. It's positive, not negative.
Early in Wednesday's game against Wayne State at Kates Gymnasium, AU guard McKenzie Miller had to leave the floor with a cut over her eye that wouldn't stop bleeding. She ended up playing 22 minutes.
Senior guard Alyssa Miller, a first team All-GLIAC selection a year ago, never even suited up due to a hand injury.
All of this came against one of the GLIAC's bluebloods, a Wayne State team that met the Eagles in the Midwest Region championship game last spring.
The Eagles put up a spirited fight on Wednesday, but couldn't get past the Warriors, who improved to 5-1, 4-0 in the GLIAC with an 87-78 win. The loss put an end to a four-game AU winning streak. The Eagles are 5-2, 3-1 in the conference.
Freshman forward Suzy Wollenhaupt continued her string of strong performances with 26 points, six rebounds, five assists and a blocked shot. Wollenhaupt was 10-of-11 at the free throw line.
Guards Melanie Poorman and Taylor Woods also had six rebounds apiece. WSU outrebounded the Eagles, 41-28 and had 13 offensive rebounds, but that didn't result in a big edge in second chance points. WSU led in that category, 11-9.
Woods scored 21 points, McKenzie Miller had 11 points and Rachelle Morrison chipped in with 10 points.
What hurt the Eagles on this night was that the talented Warriors had the ability to keep fresh players in the game all the time. Eight WSU players logged 10 or more minutes. This is a deep, talented team that can wear down the opposition.
WSU guard Ondrea Hughes had 26 points and eight rebounds and Kayla Bridges came off the bench to score 12 points and pull down 12 rebounds. Guard Jackie Jones had 15 points and six rebounds.
The Warriors led, 9-2 with 16:17 left in the first half. WSU had that same seven-point margin at halftime, 40-33.
McKenzie Miller played two minutes in the first half, but returned to play all 20 minutes in the second half. Her return gave AU a boost as she scored all 11 points after the intermission. The Eagles cut the WSU lead to 45-44 with 15:35 left on Miller's jumper and tied the game, 51-51 on a Woods jumper with 13:17 to go.
AU's lone lead of the second half came with 12:45 to play, 53-51, on a Wollenhaupt hoop. A Hughes bucket with 12:25 remaining tied the game, 53-53. With 10 minutes left in regulation the score was knotted, 57-57.
The Warriors went on a 6-0 run to take a 63-57 advantage with 8:51 to play. The Eagles got as close as three points three times after that, the last time with 6:14 on the clock.
Even in defeat, the Eagles were solid in the parts of the game where they have excelled this season. AU had 10 turnovers, compared to 13 for Wayne State. The Eagles were 24-of-29 (82.8 percent) at the free throw line.
The Eagles will play a non-conference game at New York Institute of Technology this Saturday (Dec. 21, 12 p.m.).
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