OPENING TIP: Stop us if you have heard this before - Ashland's and Grand Valley State's women's basketball teams are playing for the possibility of being in first place in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's South Division by the end of the weekend.
The Eagles and Lakers are two of the quad-leaders in the South entering the second week of conference play in 2020-21, both at 2-0 overall and in the GLIAC. Ashland will go to Allendale, Mich., to play GVSU on Saturday (Jan. 16) at 1 p.m. and Sunday (Jan. 17) at 3 p.m., coming off a pair of opening-weekend home victories over Ferris State, 79-55 and 60-45.
"The teams are different," said Ashland head coach Kari Pickens. "I was, obviously, preparing for the games this weekend, and when I'm watching them, no one who played really meaningful, impactful minutes last year have returned, but they're the same Grand Valley. They still are a tremendous defensive team, they still rebound the ball really well, they're still really long and athletic.
"We're excited for rivalry week. We told our freshmen this week, if you've never really had a big rival, get ready for one, because Grand Valley is ours."
The Eagles have won three in a row in the series, and 12 of the last 14 matchups with the Lakers. Last season, Ashland prevailed 77-68 at home and 77-52 on the road in the regular season, then 61-53 at home in a slugfest GLIAC Tournament championship game before 2019-20 abruptly ended due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
EAGLES CLIMBING PROGRAM WINNING STREAK LADDER: Ashland enters the weekend at the Lakers on a 33-game winning streak. The Eagles currently are tied for the second-longest such stretch in program history, and AU is one of only two programs (Bentley) to have three winning streaks of 30-plus games in NCAA Division II women's basketball history.
Long win streaks have become a habit for the Eagle women, particularly over the last decade:
STREAK/TIME PERIOD
73 - Nov. 11, 2016-March 21, 2018 (NCAA record)
33 - Nov. 8, 2019-current
33 - Nov. 13, 2011-March 21, 2012
HEIDEMANN SHOWCASING ALL-AROUND GAME: Junior guard Hallie Heidemann is the top active career 3-point shooter in NCAA Division II at 48.3 percent - which also is the best in program history. But, in Game 2 against the Bulldogs last weekend, Heidemann set a new career-high in single-game rebounds with 11, and drew 11 FSU fouls, including three charges. "She's put in the work, and it's definitely shown," Pickens said. "She was a good rebounder in high school, she just has a knack for it. I'm so excited for her year. This weekend was a testament to what she's capable of."
EAGLES WANT TURNOVERS TO COME DOWN: It is a small sample size, but Ashland had 36 turnovers in two games, and is tied for seventh in a 12-team conference in fewest turnovers per game. "The area of growth that I want to see the most in is our turnovers," said Pickens. "We just had too many turnovers in both games. We just made silly decisions, so we have to clean a couple of those things up."
FRESHMEN GET THEIR FIRST TASTE OF COLLEGE BALL: Two of Ashland's six freshmen - forward Erica Warren and guard Sydney Jacobsen - were in the regular rotation in the first weekend of play. Warren averaged 8.0 points and 2.5 rebounds and shot 60 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free-throw line, while all nine of Jacobsen's points came from beyond the 3-point arc. "It was exciting," Pickens said. "We're going to have to rely on them. When you graduate as many as we did, you're going to have to rely on some young kids, and I thought they stepped up. I was also really proud of our returners, for setting the tone of what it looks like to play Ashland basketball, and giving our freshmen the chance to go in and not feel like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders."
LAKERS' SPITZLEY GARNERS WEEK 1 GLIAC HONOR: Grand Valley State was paced in the opening weekend by junior guard Emily Spitzley, the Week 1 GLIAC South Player of the Week who averaged 17.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in two wins.
FANS AND SPECTATORS: Based on the current COVID-19 climate, and in order to best protect institutions' ability to compete safely in GLIAC contests, the GLIAC COPC has adopted the COVID-19 Task Force recommendation that events will be held without spectators, bands, mascots, cheer teams and promotional activities. GLIAC administrators will continue to monitor and evaluate the COVID climate, and will make future determinations for fans and spectators at a later date.
