Box Score It wasn't ending the Eagles were hoping for, but it was an ending nonetheless.
Ashland University's women's basketball team, ranked No. 3 in Division II, lost 86-60 to No. 14-ranked Drury in a 2016 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional semifinal on Saturday (March 12) night at Kates Gymnasium. The Eagles' season ends at 31-2 after having their 30-game home winning streak snapped.
"Disappointing, obviously, to lose. Any time it's your last game, it's hard," said Ashland head coach Robyn Fralick. "I thought Drury played really well. I think it came down to we need to do a better job executing. We made mistakes, and they're a good team. When we made mistakes, they capitalized on those.
"But I'm really proud of the kids. One game doesn't define your season, and we lost to a good team."
The Panthers (26-4) will play Grand Valley State (24-9) in the regional championship game on Monday (March 14) at 7 p.m. at "The Kates."
Sophomore forward Andi Daugherty had 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line, and added four rebounds and two assists.
"No one wanted to lose tonight," Daugherty said. "In the locker room, we were discussing how tonight can't define our season. We won games this year that maybe we shouldn't have, and it was just a fun ride. Thirty one-and-two is amazing."
Junior point guard Alex Henning posted 11 points, three boards, three assists and two steals, while sophomore forward Laina Snyder added 10 points, a team-high nine rebounds and a game-high-tying five assists.
Ashland, while hitting 11-of-12 from the free-throw line, shot just 40.7 percent from the field and 23.8 percent from 3-point range. In contrast, Drury made 51.7 percent from the floor and 44.0 percent from downtown.
The loss also marks the end of the Eagle careers of senior guards McKenzie Miller and Jamie Sobczak. Miller, the last player link to the program's 2013 Division II national championship, won 111 games in four seasons.
"Not many people get to be a part of a program that's a winning program," Miller said. "I was lucky enough to have teammates that got me here."
Sobczak, a transfer from Wheeling Jesuit, was a part of 84 wins in three campaigns.
"We don't have the season we have unless we have the seniors we have on our team," Fralick said.
Ashland ran off the game's first five points, but Drury came back to take its first lead at 10-9. The Panthers' biggest first-quarter leads was 25-13 late, but the Eagles scored five points in the period's final 18 seconds.
AU cut its deficit to two points at 27-25 with 6:22 to go until halftime, but Drury extended its advantage to 40-30 at the break.
In the third quarter, the Eagles could get no closer than 55-46 in the final minute of the period. The Panthers were ahead 64-50 in the fourth before going on a 13-2 run to pull away.
As for what Fralick initially will take away from her first season as a collegiate head coach, Fralick said, "I get to coach great kids, so it's made my first year pretty simple. I'm really, really fortunate that I get to coach great kids."
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