Box Score LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE
On Saturday (Feb. 1) afternoon at Kates Gymnasium, the No. 2-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team ended its four-game home stand with a dominant 99-34 win over Lake Superior State.
The Eagles remain one of three undefeated teams in NCAA Division II women's basketball at 21-0 overall and 13-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. In the process, they clinched a spot in the 2020 GLIAC Tournament – giving Ashland 13 straight tournament berths and 21 in the program's 25 seasons in the GLIAC.
"It was a really well-balanced scoring and defensive effort," said Ashland head coach Kari Pickens, who has begun her head-coaching career with a 50-3 record. "When a look down at the stat sheet, we had seven players almost reach double figures, and it was very unselfish basketball. We took care of the ball, and on the defensive end, we forced 27 turnovers, which is excellent.
"I was extremely pleased with how well we defended for 40 minutes today."
The Lakers are 6-14, 2-11.
Ashland's win over Lake Superior State on Saturday is its 13th consecutive in the series. The 34 points are the fewest the Eagles have allowed in a game since…34 at home vs. LSSU on Nov. 29, 2018.
21 STRAIGHT FIRST-QUARTER POINTS SET EARLY TONE
It took the Eagles 1:56 to get on the scoreboard, but once they did, a 2-0 Lakers lead turned into an 8-2 Ashland advantage following back-to-back turnover-turned-fast break layups by junior forward Karlee Pireu and senior point guard Renee Stimpert.
That run eventually ended at 21 consecutive points, and Ashland went into the second quarter with a 21-5 advantage. Nine Lake Superior State turnovers resulted in 14 Eagle points in the game's first 10 minutes.
EAGLES EXTEND LEAD TO 34 POINTS AT HALFTIME
By the second-quarter media timeout, the Eagles' lead was increased to 37-14. At halftime, it was 48-14, and the reasons were easy to figure out – 62.1-percent shooting from the field, 3-of-5 from 3-point range and making all nine free throws offensively, and forcing 15 turnovers and keeping the Lakers to 22.7 percent from the floor defensively.
THE SUMMARY
Four Eagles scored in double figures, paced by a career-high 21 points from freshman forward Annie Roshak off the bench. Roshak was 8-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
Senior guard Jodi Johnson scored 17 points, senior forward Sara Loomis added 13 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and three steals, and Pireu chipped in with a dozen points. Johnson now has 2,026 career points, moving into third place all-time on Ashland's scoring list, and Loomis' 1,314 career points now are 10th all-time.
With five assists, Stimpert's 768 for her career are 15th-most in the history of Division II women's basketball.
Ashland shot 62.1 percent from the field, and at 53.2 for the season, the Eagles would set a new single-season D-II record. AU also was 19-for-21 from the charity stripe in Saturday's win.
Defensively, the Eagles kept the Lakers to 23.9-percent shooting from the floor and forced 27 turnovers, leading to 39 Ashland points.
UP NEXT – DAVENPORT
It's back on the road for another GLIAC regular-season game on Thursday (Feb. 6) at Davenport (6-15, 1-12).
The Eagles have a 6-0 all-time mark against the Panthers.
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