Box Score LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE
It was the best time for Ashland University's women's basketball team to play its best fourth quarter of the season.
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Game of the Year was contested on Thursday (Jan. 9) night at Kates Gymnasium, and the No. 4-ranked Eagles came away with a 77-68 victory over No. 3-ranked Grand Valley State. Ashland has the solo lead in the GLIAC standings at 14-0 overall and 6-0 in the league, while the Lakers are 13-1, 5-1.
"I'm really proud of our team's effort," said Ashland head coach Kari Pickens. "There were ebbs and flows in the game, and times where we didn't execute as well as we could have, but that happens in the game of basketball. There are mistakes, but for the most part, our fight and our drive, that never wavered the entire game."
Trailing 66-63 in the fourth, the Eagles closed out the game with a 14-2 run to remain undefeated.
"That's what you get when you have such an experienced team," Pickens said. "These players have been here before. They know what it looks like. They know what it takes to get the job done, and they did a great job."
Ashland has won 14 of the last 17 matchups with Grand Valley State, and the Eagles are 8-1 all-time at home against the Lakers as a Top-25 squad.
THE MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
- Ashland led 10-7 in the first 4½ minutes – a scoring total which included a pair of outside jumpers from senior forward Sara Loomis. Senior guard Jodi Johnson and Loomis then hit back-to-back triples to extend the Eagle advantage to 16-9, and yet another triple, from senior forward/guard Sarah Hart, made it a 19-11 game.
- By the end of the first quarter, the Eagles clung to a 23-20 lead, thanks to an offensive showing which included 10-of-18 shooting from the field and just two turnovers. Johnson (nine) and Loomis (seven) combined for 16 of AU's first-period points.
- The Eagles took a timeout with 8:13 to go until halftime, leading 25-24 after consecutive Laker buckets. Ashland trailed 31-25 when Grand Valley State's 11-0 run was over, but by halftime, the Eagles and Lakers were tied at 39 thanks to a last-second corner triple from AU freshman forward Annie Roshak.
- Ashland and GVSU maintained a tight scoreboard in the third quarter, and at the media timeout with 4:17 to go, the Lakers' slim lead was 54-53. There were five lead changes in the first half, and eight in the first 5:43 of the third stanza.
- Heading into the final quarter, Grand Valley State led 59-58, and the score stayed that way for the first two minutes of the period, when the Lakers made it a 61-58 contest. Sophomore guard Hallie Heidemann's floater made it a 61-all game with 7:30 to go.
- The back-and-forth continued throughout the fourth, and the scoring pace slowed significantly. At the media timeout at the 4:07 mark, the Lakers led 66-65, but on the ensuing possession out of the break, Hart nailed a 3 for a 68-66 AU advantage.
- With 3:05 remaining, Loomis connected on another triple to put the Eagles ahead 71-66, forcing a GVSU stoppage. At 1:54, Stimpert made both charity tosses for a 73-68 Ashland lead, and at 1:02, Johnson's driving layup extended the lead to 75-68. Johnson essentially iced the game with two more free throws with 37.8 to go for the final margin of victory.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Johnson played all 40 minutes, finishing with a team-high 21 points. She became the fourth player in program history to reach 1,900 career points (1,911) in the victory.
- Despite foul trouble, Loomis ended with 19 points, giving her 1,200 for her career, and tying her with Gail Wasmus for 16th place on Ashland's all-time scoring list. Loomis also had a plus-minus (points for minus points against while in the game) of +19 in the win, best of any player on either team.
- Senior guard Renee Stimpert finished with another double-double (16 points, 10 assists). In the last three games, Stimpert has posted 52 points.
- Roshak rounded out four Eagles in double-digit scoring with 11 points off the bench.
- The Eagles finished the night hitting 50.0 percent from the field and 80.0 percent from the free-throw line, while committing just 11 turnovers. Ashland also had a slim 32-30 rebounding margin, meaning AU has out-rebounded all 14 of its opponents in 2019-20.
- For Grand Valley State, Cassidy Boensch paced all players with 28 points.
- Ashland has won 40 straight games played in the month of January.
UP NEXT
Another GLIAC home game on Saturday (Jan. 11) at 1 p.m. vs. Davenport (5-9, 0-6).
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