It was yet another win for Ashland University's women's basketball team at Kates Gymnasium – and yet another Eagle 1,000-point scorer.
The Eagles completed a weekend sweep of Purdue Northwest on Saturday (Feb. 13), 73-57, to improve to 8-5 overall and in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, dropping the Pride to 3-10, 3-10.
"It was a great team win," said Ashland head coach
Kari Pickens. "I was so pleased that we were able to put it together on the offensive end and the defensive end."
The win, however, was only part of the story. In the third quarter, senior forward
Karlee Pireu became the 25
th player in Ashland women's basketball history to reach 1,000 career points – thanks to a game in which she posted a game-high 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line, to go with 10 rebounds. Pireu now stands at 1,009 career points, 24
th on AU's all-time list.
"It was a great accomplishment. Grateful to be able to accomplish it in the Eagle gym," said Pireu. "It's just a testament to this program. I've been able to play in a lot of games, play with a lot of great players. It's a great honor to be a part of that group now."
Since the start of the 2010-11 season, Ashland is 167-13 (.928) at "The Kates." This season, the Eagles are 8-1 at home, pending a potential home GLIAC Tournament contest.
ROSHAK NEAR-PERFECT AS EAGLES LED THROUGH ONE
The early scoring pace on Saturday was slower than it was on Friday (Feb. 12), and the score was tied at 11 just out of the media timeout. By the end of the first quarter, the Eagles led Purdue Northwest, 21-15, as sophomore forward
Annie Roshak scored 11 points on 4-of-5 from the field and 3-of-3 from the foul line.
Ashland was efficient in the opening stanza, making 8-of-9 from the charity stripe and 6-of-10 from the field.
ASHLAND COUNTERS LATE PRIDE RUN FOR EIGHT-POINT HALFTIME LEAD
The Eagles took their first double-digit lead of the contest early in the second quarter at 28-17, but as was the case on Friday, a late Pride run cut the AU lead to 35-31.
But unlike on Friday, the Eagles answered, scoring the last four points of the first half to lead 39-31. Roshak (15 points) and Pireu (12) accounted for the majority of AU's offense in the first 20 minutes.
PIREU'S MILESTONE HELPS EAGLES KEEP AWAY FROM PNW
Ashland extended its lead to a game-high 13 points at 49-36 in the third quarter, then Pireu's 1,000
th and 1,001
st career points came on a layup with 2:41 left in the period to put AU back up by 11 at 51-40.
After three, the Eagles led 55-43, as the Pride was kept in the third to 4-of-14 from the field and 2-of-10 from downtown.
THE SUMMARY
Backing up Pireu's offensive output was Roshak, who scored 23 points. As of the end of the game, Roshak (22.5 ppg.) and Pireu (19.5 ppg.) were the GLIAC's top two scorers in 2020-21.
"Karlee and Annie both did a great job of finishing strong, and you've got to give a lot of credit to our guards," said Pickens. "They did a great job of getting them the ball in an area where they could score."
"Our guards get us in a position to score," Pireu said. "We (Annie and I) work really well together."
NEXT UP – BACK ON THE ROAD
Ashland will play its last five regular-season games on the road, starting on Tuesday (Feb. 16) at 6 p.m. at Wayne State (7-6, 7-6).
AU
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