Box Score LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE
The No. 2-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team isn't looking too far ahead, taking care of business on Thursday (Feb. 20) night to the tune of a 94-69 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win at Saginaw Valley State.
With two regular-season games to play, the Eagles are 26-0 overall and 18-0 in the GLIAC, while the Cardinals are 12-14, 8-10. Ashland has clinched at least a share of its sixth conference regular-season championship in the last nine seasons, and locked down hosting the GLIAC Tournament Final Four with a win in the tourney quarterfinal at Kates Gymnasium on March 3 at 5:30 p.m. vs. a team to be determined.
Thanks to their 14th consecutive victory over the Cardinals, the Eagles also have extended these other winning streaks – 33 in the regular season, 26 overall, 25 in the GLIAC regular season, 22 in the regular season away from home, 20 on the road, 17 in the GLIAC regular season on the road and 12 overall away from home.
ASHLAND RESPONDS AFTER EARLY DEFICIT
Trailing 6-2 early, the Eagles worked the score back to tied at 10-all on a jumper from sophomore guard Hallie Heidemann, then took the lead 15-10 on a 3-point field goal from freshman forward Annie Roshak and a layup by junior forward Karlee Pireu.
By the end of the first quarter, Ashland had a 23-14 advantage thanks to a 21-8 surge. The Eagles made three triples in the game's first 10 minutes, while keeping SVSU to 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.
EAGLES EXTEND LEAD GOING INTO HALFTIME
Thanks to six quick points, the Cardinals cut their deficit to 23-20 early in the second quarter. Ashland did counter sharply, and it took a double-digit lead for the first time, 32-22, on senior point guard Renee Stimpert's triple outside of the seven-minute mark.
By halftime, the Eagle lead had grown to 44-29, and the reasons were simple – 64.3-percent shooting from the field and 5-of-9 from 3-point range on offense, and a defensive showing in which the Cardinals were kept to 40 percent from the floor and 2-of-10 from the triple line.
LOOMIS' BIG THIRD PERIOD HELPS WIDEN GAP
Senior forward Sara Loomis had an impressive third quarter, scoring 19 of Ashland's 31 points as the Eagles' lead grew to 75-53 heading into the fourth. In just eight minutes in the stanza, Loomis was 6-of-6 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
The Eagles' largest lead of the game was 30 points at 87-57 late in the fourth.
THE SUMMARY
Five Ashland players finished in double-digit scoring, paced by Loomis, who had 21 points to go with nine rebounds and two blocks. She moved into ninth place on AU's all-time scoring list with 1,387 career points.
Senior guard Jodi Johnson scored 19 points on 7-of-8 from the field and 5-of-5 from downtown, and collected seven assists. She became the second player in program history to score at least 2,100 career points (2,116).
Roshak made all seven shots from the field en route to 16 points, Stimpert went for 12 points and nine assists, and Pireu added 10 points. Stimpert now has 807 career helpers, tying her with Pace's Jody Hill for 10th place all-time in NCAA Division II history.
Ashland already led the nation in field-goal percentage, 3-point field-goal percentage and assists per game, and did nothing on Thursday night to hurt those totals – the Eagles hit 64.2 percent from the field, 50.0 percent from beyond the arc and recorded 25 assists on 34 made field goals.
For the Cardinals, Mariah Cook and Maddie Maloney each scored a team-high 16 points.
UP NEXT – NORTHWOOD
Ashland's next-to-last regular-season game of 2019-20 will be on Saturday (Feb. 22) at 1 p.m. at Northwood (9-17, 7-11). The Eagles have topped the Timberwolves in 10 straight meetings.
AU
WBKB/DS
