Box Score LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE
In a matchup between the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference leader and the co-GLIAC North Division pacesetter on Thursday (Feb. 13) night at Kates Gymnasium, the No. 2-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team topped Parkside, 77-51, to move to 24-0 overall and 16-0 in the league.
"That was a great and hard-fought team win," said Ashland head coach Kari Pickens, who is 50 games over .500 in her head-coaching career through just 56 games (53-3). "Parkside's a very good team, they're scrappy on both ends of the court, and for us, when we maybe didn't have the best shooting night, we relied our defense and came up with three really good defensive quarters."
The Rangers are 13-11, 10-6.
Ashland is 8-0 all-time vs. Parkside.
EAGLES LEAD AFTER FIRST DESPITE RANGERS RUN
Senior guard Jodi Johnson, who was honored in pre-game for recently scoring her 2,000th career point, got the game's first basket seconds into the game, then the next bucket on her own put-back, for an early 4-0 AU advantage. It was a 6-0 lead, then the Eagles increased that to 10-2, but by the game's first media timeout, that advantage was gone – Parkside went up 13-12.
Another senior, guard/forward Sarah Hart, gave Ashland the lead back out of the stoppage with a long jumper, but the Eagles and Rangers stayed locked in a tight one in the first 10 minutes. AU led 24-18 going into the second period, thanks in large part to 11-of-17 shooting from the field, and a 11-4 rebounding margin.
ASHLAND PULLS AWAY TO END FIRST HALF
The Eagles were up 26-24 early in second quarter prior to running off six points in a row to extend the lead to eight. Johnson's layup around the two-minute mark gave AU its first double-digit lead of the night at 37-27, and by halftime, that became 40-29.
In the first 20 minutes, Ashland, which hasn't been outrebounded all season, out-caromed Parkside to the tune of 28-9. The Eagles also kept the Rangers to 33.3 percent from the field, and turned 12 turnovers into 14 points.
EAGLES EXTEND ADVANTAGE TO END THIRD QUARTER
Ashland had a hard time turning in one of its patented long runs against the Rangers in the third quarter, but its lead at the media timeout was 47-34 following a fast-break layup from junior forward Karlee Pireu.
Through three, the Eagles led 59-40, and final bucket was a triple from sophomore Hallie Heidemann which bounced up and in as the buzzer sounded. The defense, however, led the way for Ashland in the third, as Parkside made just 25 percent from the field and 1-of-6 from downtown.
Starting the fourth quarter, the Eagles went on a 11-3 run to finish off the victory.
ASHLAND CONTINUES DOMINANCE OVER THE NORTH
Thursday night's win was the Eagles' fifth this season against the team leading the North Division at the time.
THE SUMMARY
Johnson ended the night with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting from both the floor and the free-throw line. She now has 2,086 career points, one shy of Amber Rall for No. 2 on the program's all-time scoring list.
Pireu recorded her second career collegiate double-double, posting 14 points and a career-high-tying 11 rebounds.
Rounding out the four Eagles in double-digit scoring were senior forward Sara Loomis and freshman forward Annie Roshak with 10 points each.
With both 52 rebounds and a plus-24 rebound margin, AU finished with season-bests on both counts on Thursday night.
"That's a huge difference-maker," said Pickens, whose team out-rebounded the Rangers on the AU defensive end of the floor by a 39-7 margin. "Rebounding is underrated, because you can't start a good offensive possession unless you secure a rebound, and you give yourself more possessions if you get an offensive rebound."
Ashland forced 17 Parkside turnovers, marking the 10th consecutive game the Eagles have turned their opponents over at least 16 times in a game.
Thursday night's win was AU's 270th since the start of 2011-12, meaning the program has averaged 30 wins a year for the last nine seasons.
UP NEXT – PURDUE NORTHWEST
Ashland will play its final regular-season home game of 2019-20 on Saturday (Feb. 15) at 1 p.m. vs. Purdue Northwest (6-18, 5-11). It will be the Eagles' Senior Day.
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