Continuing its run of non-conference regional games prior to the start of Great Midwest Athletic Conference play, the No. 6-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team lost at Southern Indiana on Wednesday (Nov. 24) afternoon, 63-58.
The Eagles are 3-1 heading into Thanksgiving, while the Screaming Eagles are 4-1.
WHAT HAPPENED
- Ashland trailed 17-8 after the first quarter, turning the ball over seven times and making just 3-of-12 from the field.
- In the second period, the Eagles worked the deficit down to a single point at 24-23 just outside of the media timeout, but the Screaming Eagles scored the last 11 points of the half to go up 35-23 at the break.
- The first two quarters saw USI shoot 62.5 percent from the field, while AU made 37.5 percent and turned the ball over a dozen times. Senior guard Hallie Heidemann scored nine of her team-high 12 first-half points in the second stanza.
- Ashland worked its deficit down to nine at 43-34 halfway through the third quarter before Southern Indiana countered with back-to-back-to-back layups for its largest lead of the contest to that point at 49-34.
- The Screaming Eagles had a 17-point advantage at 53-36 late in the third, but Ashland scored the last five points of the period to trail by a dozen at 53-41 going into the final quarter.
- Continuing to work their deficit down, the Eagles trailed 53-45 at the fourth-quarter media timeout at the 6:55 mark. At that point, USI had gone scoreless for nearly five minutes.
- Trailing 55-47 outside of the four-minute mark, Ashland went into the bonus at the free-throw line. The Eagles got the game to a four-point margin at 55-51 thanks to charity tosses, but could get no closer.
- Heidemann ended with a career-high 26 points, which included six 3-pointers, and added four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Junior forward Annie Roshak chipped in with 13 points, and freshman forward Hayley Smith added a career-high 11 points off the bench.
- Ashland made 41.2 percent from the field, 30.4 percent from beyond the arc and 9-of-10 from the foul line, turning the ball over 22 times. USI made just 2-of-14 from the floor in the final period to end at 48.1 percent, but scored 19 points off Eagle miscues.
UP NEXT
Ashland will return to the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium on Sunday (Nov. 28) at 1 p.m. to take on No. RV Wayne State (4-0).
AU
WBKB/DS
