Box Score Over the last four years, the Ashland University women's basketball backcourt hasn't taken a back seat against anyone.
Thursday night (Feb. 27) at Kates Gymnasium, Ashland's perimeter players were the driving force again as the Eagles won their eighth straight game with ease, 95-48 over Lake Erie. AU is 18-8 and 16-6 in the GLIAC. The Eagles are the GLIAC South Division champions.
Come Friday morning, the Eagles will also find out where they are in the overall GLIAC playoff picture. The Eagles are one of the top four seeds in the eight-team playoff field, which means they will host a first round game on Wednesday, Mar. 5 at 7 p.m. AU will not be the top seed, but right now, the tie-breaking system will have to be utilized to determine the pecking order for seeds two through four.
Against Lake Erie, junior guard Taylor Woods scored 26 points and became the 17th player in program history to score 1,000 points. The player who became the 16th member of that elite club, senior guard Alyssa Miller, had seven points, eight rebounds and six assists and may have set a record for adulation before, during and after the game.
"We wanted this to be a celebration for Alyssa and this was the perfect script," said AU head coach Sue Ramsey. "She brought the kind of game tonight she's brought the last four years.
"Taylor got most of her points in the first half," continued Ramsey. "That gave her a chance to rest in the second half. That was key."
At halftime, Ashland led, 53-22. Woods outscored the Storm (10-18/5-17) by herself in the opening half. She had 23 points at the break.
Earlier this year against Indianapolis, Woods established the school single-game record for three-point field goals (9). Had she been needed late in this game, she could have challenged that record. Woods was 7-of-12 from three-point range. She played 10 minutes in the second half.
AU shot 54.8 percent (34-of-62) from the field and 60 percent (15-of-25) from three-point range. Over the last two games - against LEC and Tiffin - Ashland has scored 119 points in the first half. Against Lake Erie, the Eagles dominated the glass by a 53-25 margin and led in second chance points, 14-4.
Freshman forward Suzy Wollenhaupt led the assault inside with 15 points and eight rebounds. Guard Emma Hostetler came off the bench to score 11 points (3-of-5 from three-point range). All nine Ashland players scored in the game and no player had less than four points.
That's the way it's gone for AU over the last three weeks. Every game, the Eagles seem to get the early lead and get everyone involved in the act.
"It's confidence," remarked Miller. "We all understand our roles, we've grown into our roles."
"Number one is rebounding," said Ramsey. "The statistics show, we out-rebound the other team and we win.
"Number two is the way our younger players have grown and matured. They've continued to work and I think we've meshed and we are playing AU basketball. There's a clear definition of what AU basketball is and they just continue to go in the gym and work."
Miller scored her 1,000th point during the last homestand two weeks ago. There was little doubt that Woods was going to get there this season. In the first half against LEC, she went 7-of-10 from the field, 6-of-9 on threee-pointers and 3-of-3 at the free throw line.
"We've played together for three years and we've had different roles each year," said Miller of her teammate. "It's amazing, she's scored 1,000 points and she's a junior. It was a joy to be out there tonight when she scored her 1,000th point."
Chloe Irish was Lake Erie's leading scorer with 12 points. LEC shot 31.1 percent (19-of-61) from the floor, 14.3 percent (3-of-21) beyond the arc and 50 percent (7-of-14) at the free throw line.
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