Box Score LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE
It's become a habit Ashland University's women's basketball team isn't willing to kick.
The No. 2-ranked Eagles advanced to their sixth consecutive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship game on Saturday (March 7) afternoon following a 95-72 win over Parkside at Kates Gymnasium. Ashland improves to 30-0 in 2019-20, the Eagles' sixth 30-win season in the last nine years, while the Rangers' season ends at 16-14.
"They're a really good team, and I thought we came out and beat a really good team," said Ashland head coach Kari Pickens. "There were obviously ebbs and flows in the game where the teams went on runs. I was proud of our team. I was proud of our fight. We got a big win today. Looking forward to being able to play on a championship Sunday."
Ashland will play in the 2020 GLIAC Tournament championship game on Sunday (March 8) at 3 p.m. at "The Kates" against No. 4 Grand Valley State - the 12th meeting between the Eagles and Lakers since the start of the 2016-17 campaign (Ashland leads, 9-2).
The Eagles have won 14 consecutive GLIAC postseason contests, and now is 9-0 all-time vs. Parkside. Ashland is looking to win an unprecedented fifth consecutive GLIAC Tournament in women's basketball.
STRONG OFFENSE, DEFENSE GUIDE AU IN FIRST
After a couple-possession feeling-out by both teams, the Eagles got on the board first at the 8:47 mark on a free throw from senior point guard Renee Stimpert. That point was the beginning of a 9-3 Eagle run, and Ashland parlayed that into a 15-6 advantage at the first-quarter media timeout.
The strong start at both of ends of the floor extended throughout the first 10 minutes, as the Eagles took a 24-13 lead into the second period. Ashland made 7-of-9 free-throw attempts, while Parkside didn't go to the line once, and the rebounding margin was 11-6 in AU's favor.
EAGLES TAKE EIGHT-POINT LEAD INTO THE BREAK
The offensive pace picked up for both teams to start the second, and with six minutes to go until halftime, Ashland's lead was trimmed to five points at 30-25, then 32-29 with 4:41 until the break.
At the 3:54 mark, sophomore guard Hallie Heidemann nailed a corner 3. Stimpert followed that with an old-fashioned triple at 2:37 to extend the lead back nine points at 38-29. A 6-0 Ranger spurt was stopped late in the first half by a trey from senior guard/forward Sarah Hart, and that was the impetus for a 45-37 halftime lead.
Hart had seven rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench, as the Eagles had a 22-15 boards advantage in the first 20 minutes. Ashland scored 14 points off eight Ranger turnovers.
HEIDEMANN'S TREYS LIFT AU TO LARGEST LEAD AFTER THREE
Stimpert, who scored 12 points to lead all players in the first half, posted Ashland's first two points of the second half. Just past two minutes into the third, Stimpert scored again to give AU a 51-40 lead, then a blocked shot by senior forward Sara Loomis got the crowd to its feet at the 7:03 mark.
The Eagles' defensive prowess which has been on full display all season returned in the third, and they extended their largest lead of the game to 58-43 following two Loomis free throws at the 4:24 mark. Parkside kept coming, but a 7-1 spurt was ended by another Heidemann 3.
Through three, Ashland's advantage was 16 points at 69-53 when Heidemann nailed a corner triple at the buzzer.
"The play at the end of the third quarter was huge," Pickens said. "Hallie does a lot of things well, and one of them is knocking down big buckets from 3."
The fourth quarter was academic, as the Rangers only got as close at 17 points.
THE SUMMARY
Stimpert finished with a career-high-tying 24 points, and, in the process, moved past three AU Hall of Famers (Gail Wasmus, Darla Plice and Jackie Mason) into 15th place on the program's all-time scoring list.
"There's a lot of scorers here at Ashland," Stimpert said. "It's an honor."
Six Eagles scored in double figures – Stimpert, senior guard Jodi Johnson (17), Heidemann (14), Loomis (12), junior forward Karlee Pireu (10) and freshman forward Annie Roshak (10). The Eagles scored 28 points off 15 Rangers turnovers.
"It's a credit to our girls, because they worked for it," said Pickens. "It was a total team effort."
Ashland's rebounding margin ended at 43-31, and the Eagles turned the ball over just 10 times.
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