Box Score All-time win No. 700 wasn't assured after the first 20 minutes on Saturday (Jan. 2), but Ashland University's women's basketball team left little doubt in the second 20 minutes that it would leave Midland, Mich., with the milestone.
Trailing at halftime for the first time this season, the No. 11-ranked Eagles outscored Northwood 48-32 in the second half en route to an 83-68 victory. AU maintains a first-place tie with Findlay in both the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference overall standings and in the GLIAC South Division by improving to 11-0 overall and 5-0 in the conference.
The Timberwolves fall to 6-5, 2-3.
According to the NCAA, 19 Division II women's basketball programs had won at least 700 games all-time prior to the 2015-16 season. Of those 700 Eagle victories, 143 have come since the start of the 2010-11 season (143-31, .822).
The 11-0 start is tied for the fourth-best in Ashland program history. Head coach Robyn Fralick has tied Sue Ramsey for the second-best start to an AU women's basketball head coaching career, and is just one game behind Beth Conway for the best beginning in program history.
Ashland's offense was paced by its three sophomore forwards – Andi Daugherty (18 points), Laina Snyder (15) and Julie Worley, who came off the bench for a season-high 12 points. Daugherty added a team-high seven rebounds, while Snyder added four boards, a game-high five steals and three blocks in just 20 minutes.
All 10 AU players who took the court on Saturday scored, and six posted at least seven points.
The Eagles shot 53.2 percent from the field for the game, and a scorching 65.5 percent in the second half. AU had a 39-29 rebounding advantage, and scored 17 points off 17 Timberwolves turnovers.
The Eagles and Timberwolves were tied at 15 in the first quarter before AU went on a 7-0 run en route to a 22-20 lead at the end of the period. The scoring pace slowed in the second quarter, as Ashland didn't post a point in the first 3:47 of the stanza. Northwood led 32-27 with 4:20 to go until halftime, and led at the break, 36-35.
It was the first time the Eagles trailed at the half since March 8, 2015 at Michigan Tech. And it clearly didn't agree with them.
Down 38-35 early in the third quarter, Ashland went on a 15-4 run to regain the lead at 50-42 with 4:46 to go in the period. The Eagles outscored the Timberwolves 24-16 in the third, and went into the fourth with a 59-52 advantage.
AU led by as many as 19 points during the fourth quarter en route to the win.
The Eagles will finish their back-to-back GLIAC Michigan road trip on Sunday (Jan. 3) at 2 p.m. at Lake Superior State (3-8, 2-3).
EAGLE NUGGETS: Ashland is 27-9 (.750) in games in Michigan since the start of 2010-11…The trio of Daugherty, Snyder and Worley have led or co-led Ashland in rebounds in a game in all 45 of their contests as Eagles…The 53.2-percent showing from the floor was AU's best since Nov. 21 at home against Southern Indiana (58.1).
AU
WBKB/DS
