Box Score For the Ashland University women's basketball team, a tight game on Saturday (Feb. 1) ended up bringing the same kind of pain as a tight shoe. That would mean a heel rubbed raw or a fatigued arch in need of support.
Thanks to the Tiffin Dragons, the Eagles definitely stubbed their toe, losing, 83-80 at Kates Gymnasium. The loss puts AU at 10-8, 8-6 in the GLIAC. With the seback, the Eagles dropped out of a first place tie in the GLIAC South Division with Malone. The Pioneers defeated Findlay on Saturday, 71-65.
The Dragons went ahead to stay on a three-pointer by Karli Mast with 20 seconds to play. That triple wiped out a 77-76 Ashland lead and put the Dragons ahead, 79-77.
With eight seconds left in regulation AU guard Alyssa Miller hit one of two free throws to cut the lead to 79-78. Ashland guard Kelsey Peare fouled Jordan Fraley with seven seconds to go. Fraley canned both shots for an 81-78 Tiffin advantage.
With 1.6 seconds to play, Miller put in a layup to cut the Tiffin lead down to 81-80. With six tenths of a seconds to play, Mast was good on a pair of free throws. AU guard Taylor Wood got off a desperation three-pointer near half court as the buzzer sounded.
Mast had a spectacular game for the Dragons, going 7-for-13 from the field, 7-of-11 from three-point range. Mast had 14 second half points. She was a constant in a game where the lead changed hands nine times and there were seven ties.
Tiffin didn't have any answer for AU freshman forward Suzy Wollenhaupt. Wollenhaupt scored a season high 29 points and pulled in nine rebounds. She was 8-for-14 from the floor and 13-of-15 at the free throw line. Ashland shot 88 percent (22-of-25) at the free throw line.
Tifin is 6-11 and 3-10 in the GLIAC, but on this day, the Dragons looked far better than those numbers indicate. In addition to Mast, who is regarded as one of the league's top shooters, the Dragons got a big game from forward Jillian Adams, who had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Center Bre Nauman had nine points and eight rebounds.
While Tiffin out-rebounded the Eagles by just two boards, 38-36, the Dragons hurt the Eagles on the offensive glass. Tiffin had 13 offensive rebounds and led in second chance points, 16-7.
In addition to Wollenhaupt, AU received 15 points from Woods and 14 points, nine assists, six rebounds and two blocked shots from Miller. Guard Rachelle Morrison scored 10 points.
Tiffin led, 40-38 at halftime. In the second half, AU shot 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from the floor.
The Eagles will play at Lake Erie on Monday (Feb. 3, 6 p.m.).
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