Box Score LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE
It was another championship afternoon for Ashland University's women's basketball team, as the No. 2-ranked Eagles clinched the outright 2019-20 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season title following a 77-56 win on Saturday (Feb. 22) at Northwood.
Ashland is 27-0 overall and 19-0 overall in the GLIAC with one regular-season game to play, while the Timberwolves are 9-18, 7-12.
The Eagles, now one of only two undefeated teams in NCAA Division II women's basketball, along with Drury, have topped Northwood in 11 straight meetings.
AU'S NEAR-DECADE OF GLIAC EXCELLENCE CONTINUES
The Eagles' conference regular-season title is their sixth all-time, all since the 2011-12 season.
Also in the last nine seasons, Ashland has an overall mark of 273-27 (.910), to go with two NCAA Division II national championships, two NCAA Division II national runner-up finishes, six GLIAC Tournament championships, and seven GLIAC South Division titles.
Currently, Ashland is in the midst of the third-longest winning streak in program history at 27 games, bested only by the 73-gamer from Nov. 11, 2016-March 21, 2018 (the NCAA Division II basketball record) and the 33-gamer from Nov. 13, 2011-March 21, 2012.
SLOW START DOESN'T GROUND EAGLES IN OPENING QUARTER
Ashland trailed 5-0 in the early going, but senior forward Sara Loomis erased that entire deficit to five straight points of her own. A 3-point field goal from freshman forward Annie Roshak lifted the Eagles to their first lead of the contest at 8-7.
An overall run of 14-4 after falling behind by five early gave AU a 14-9 lead through the first 10 minutes. In the opening period, the Eagle defense turned Northwood over nine times, and kept the Timberwolves to 2-of-10 shooting from the field and 1-of-7 from beyond the arc.
ASHLAND SEPARATES FROM NORTHWOOD IN SECOND PERIOD
Four quick points in less than a minute made the Eagles' advantage 18-9, but the Timberwolves had an answer spurt of 5-0 of their own to cut their deficit to four points. By halftime, however, Ashland had used another extended run (22-9) to take a 40-23 lead into the break.
In the second quarter along, the Eagles made 11-of-16 shots from the field.
EAGLES KEEP T'WOLVES AT ARM'S LENGTH IN THE SECOND HALF
Ashland led 53-35 with three minutes left in the third quarter, but Northwood concluded the stanza with an 8-2 spurt to cut their deficit to 12 points at 55-43.
Early in the final quarter, the Timberwolves had made it a 57-46 game, then the Eagles scored the next 14 points to effectively end the game.
THE SUMMARY
For the second consecutive game, Loomis scored at least 20 points. On Saturday, it was 24 points to go with nine rebounds and two blocked shots. With 1,411 career points, Loomis is three away from her head coach, Kari Pickens, for eighth place on Ashland's scoring list.
Senior point guard Renee Stimpert didn't just break the tie with Pace's Jodi Hill for 10th place on the Division II women's basketball all-time assists list, she blew past her. With 14 assists on Saturday, her 821 helpers all-time are just one away from Northwest Missouri State's Pam Cummings for ninth place on that list.
Another senior guard, Jodi Johnson, added 17 points and five steals, while junior forward Karlie Pireu and sophomore guard Hallie Heidemann each added 10 points in the victory.
Ashland shot 53.3 percent from the field, and had 21 assists on 32 made field goals.
Defensively, the Eagles kept the Timberwolves to 35.7 percent from the field and 4-of-20 from 3-point range, and forced 21 turnovers, leading to 23 points.
NEXT UP – WAYNE STATE
Ashland will finish the regular season on Thursday (Feb. 27) at 5:30 p.m. at Wayne State. That will be followed by a 2020 GLIAC Tournament home quarterfinal game vs. a team to be determined on March 3 at 5:30 p.m.
AU
WBKB/DS
