Box Score The number 20 is a hallowed number in college basketball.
The No. 3-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team reached the 20-win plateau this season as quickly as is possible, improving to 20-0 overall and 14-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference following a 68-55 win over Tiffin at Kates Gymnasium on Saturday (Jan. 30).
"I was proud of the team, especially in the second half," said Ashland head coach Robyn Fralick. "I thought we did a much better job of stringing together consecutive defensive stops. I was proud of the kids for once again stringing together possessions and finding a way to win."
Coach Robyn Fralick Comments (Assisted By William Fralick)
AU is three games ahead of Michigan Tech in the overall GLIAC standings with eight games to play, and four games ahead of Ohio Dominican in the South Division.
The Dragons are 5-14, 3-11.
The Eagles' 20-game winning streak to begin 2015-16 is the second-longest in program history, only trailing the 24 in a row by the 2012-13 Division II national title-winning squad. AU also won its 24th consecutive regular-season game, its 18th GLIAC regular-season game in a row and its 22nd straight game at Kates Gymnasium.
This marks the eighth time in program history Ashland has won 20 or more games in a season.
Ashland came into Saturday's game as one of three undefeated women's basketball teams in Division II, and with the nation's longest current winning streak. It is 133-21 (.864) in its last 154 games.
Sophomore forward Laina Snyder collected game-highs in points (20) and rebounds (12) in turning in her 22nd career double-double.
Both junior guard Alex Henning and senior guard McKenzie Miller added 10 points in the victory, while Henning also collected six assists and four steals.
Ashland boasted a 37-29 rebounding advantage, and turned 19 Dragon turnovers into 16 points.
The Eagles led by as many as 13 points at 22-9 late in the first quarter, but the Dragons went on a 19-7 run to make it a 29-28 deficit with 4:37 left in the first half. Tiffin, however, went scoreless for the remainder of the half, and AU took a 33-28 lead into the break.
The Dragons went nearly seven minutes without a field goal, and Ashland had a 43-33 advantage due mostly to that. The Eagles didn't lead by less than seven points the rest of the way.
Ashland will finish its three-games-in-five-days stretch on Monday (Feb. 1) at 5:30 p.m. at Lake Erie (7-13, 4-10).
EAGLE NUGGETS: The Eagles finished January at 10-0, giving them their first 10-0 month since March 2013, when they won the Division II national championship…The sophomore trio of Snyder, Andi Daugherty and Julie Worley have led or co-led Ashland in rebounds in all 54 games together…Ashland has scored at least 60 points in 23 straight games.
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