Box Score DETROIT – The Ashland University women's basketball team scored the first 11 points on its way to an 84-65 win over Wayne State on Saturday (Jan. 26) afternoon at the Matthaei Center.
The Eagles (18-1, 10-1 GLIAC), ranked No. 5 in the WBCA Division II coaches' poll, have now won 11 straight games heading into a couple key home games next week at Davepnort and Wayne State.
Junior guard Jodi Johnson led the Eagles with 28 points and eight rebounds while junior forward Sara Loomis registered a double-double with 22 points and 10 boards.
The Eagles never trailed in the game as they burst out to an 11-0 start, capped by Loomis' layup. Ashland forced three turnovers and three missed shots during the opening stretch.
"They're a first-quarter team, they like to come out and play hard," Johnson said. "We wanted to have that energy. Our goal was to make them call the first timeout and that's what we did."
The Warriors (10-9, 5-6 GLIAC) stayed close as Ashland took a 20-12 lead into the second quarter.
Johnson helped the Eagles take command of the game in the second quarter, scoring 10 points in the period and scoring a layup at the buzzer to give the visitors a 40-26 lead at the break.
"Just running our offense allows people to get open and we were able to attack the basket," Johnson said. "The way our offense flows, we're able to get open looks."
Ashland closed the half on a 16-5 run before sophomore forward Karlee Pireu scored the first five points of the second half to push the Eagles' advantage to 45-26.
Wayne State was still able to whittle the lead down to 10 at 47-37, but Ashland used an 18-8 run to push it back to 20 points, 63-43.
Junior guard Renee Stimpert, Loomis and Johnson combined for eight points in the first 86 seconds of the fourth quarter to give Ashland a 71-50 lead to effectively put the game away.
Senior guard Maddie Dackin joined Johnson and Loomis in double figures with 10 points while Stimpert filled up the stat sheet with six points, five rebounds and six assists. Pireu had nine points and six rebounds and junior guard Sarah Hart had seven points and six rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.
The Eagles forced Wayne State to shoot just 33.8 percent (22-for-65) from the field.
"They're a driving team, all attack and very quick," said Johnson. "Coach P said it. We did a pretty good job of keeping them out of the lane and having success."
Ashland had 16 assists on 29 field goals and out-rebounded the Warriors, 46-41.
The Eagles will look to extend their winning streak next week, beginning Thursday (Jan. 31) at 5:30 p.m. against Davenport at Kates Gymnasium. Grand Valley State will visit Ashland on Saturday (Feb. 1) at 1 p.m. as the Eagles look to avenge their only defeat of the season.
"We're excited to get back into our Eagle gym," Johnson said. "We have two big teams coming up, we just have to have a good week of practice and bring the energy to our gym."
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