Roshak, Pireu Strong Inside, But Eagles Fall At Lakers

Career-high efforts from forwards Annie Roshak and Karlee Pireu were not enough on Saturday (Jan. 16) afternoon, as Ashland University's women's basketball team lost, 73-68, at Grand Valley State to start the second weekend of 2020-21 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.
 
The Eagles are 2-1 overall and in the GLIAC, as their 33-game winning streak, tied for the second-best in program history, is snapped. The Lakers improve to 3-0, 3-0.
 
Roshak, a sophomore playing for the first time this season, came off the bench and posted a career-high 32 points (10-of-19 from the field, 3-of-4 from 3-point range, 9-of-9 from the free-throw line), to go with six rebounds, two blocks and four steals in just 23 minutes. Pireu, AU's lone senior, grabbed a career-best 17 rebounds, six more than her previous high, and went for 17 points while adding three thefts.
 
LAKERS' EARLY RUN LEADS TO ADVANTAGE AFTER ONE
The Lakers didn't waste any time getting out on top, scoring nine points in a row to take an 11-2 advantage to force an Eagle timeout. The run ended up being 11 points for a 13-2 lead before Roshak scored six quick points to stem the tide.
 
Roshak finished the opening stanza with 11 points, helping Ashland cut the deficit to 22-16 heading into the second.
 
FORWARDS PACE EAGLES IN FIRST HALF, LAKERS EXTEND LEAD
Grand Valley State kept pulling away from the Eagles to take a 33-20 lead, but Ashland countered with eight points in a row of its own to cut the deficit to five at the second-quarter media timeout. The counterpunching continued, with the Lakers going on a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 14 points at 42-28.
 
Ashland went into the locker room down 12 at 42-30, and shooting from the floor was the major difference – 51.5 percent to 33.3 percent overall for the Lakers, 5-for-10 to 3-for-14 from 3-point range in favor of GVSU. Roshak (14), Pireu (11), and freshman forward Erica Warren (five) scored all of AU's points in the game's first 20 minutes.
 
14-0 THIRD-QUARTER RUN GETS ASHLAND BACK IN THE GAME
Grand Valley State started the second half with its largest lead of the game at 44-30, but the Eagles then started toward their longest run of the game to that point. A 14-0 run into the third-quarter media timeout at 3:28 knotted the game at 44, and by the time the fourth and final period rolled around, the AU deficit was only three at 51-48.
 
Ashland kept the Lakers to 4-of-14 shooting overall and 0-of-6 from downtown in the third, and Roshak had a career-high 25 points in just 15 minutes off the bench going into the final quarter.
 
LAKERS KEPT EAGLES AT ARM'S LENGTH IN THE FOURTH
It was a seesaw start to the fourth, and a triple from junior guard Erin Daniels cut AU's deficit to four at 57-53 with seven minutes to play. The scoring pace slowed, and the Laker lead was 59-53 at the media timeout, with 4:46 to go.
 
Ashland continued to work to pull even with the Lakers as the clock ticked down, but Grand Valley kept answering, including a Hannah Kulas jumper at the 1:24 mark to keep the lead at six points, 68-62. The Eagles couldn't get any closer than four points the rest of the way.
 
THE SUMMARY
The Eagles enjoyed a 46-36 rebounding advantage, but made just 33.8 percent from the field and 24.0 percent from downtown. Ashland did hit 16-of-17 from the charity stripe.
 
Four Lakers scored in double figures, paced by Brooke McKinley's 20 points.
 
NEXT UP – ANOTHER AU/GVSU CHAPTER
The Eagles and Lakers are back in action to finish the two-game weekend set on Sunday (Jan. 17) at 3 p.m. in Allendale, Mich.