On Tuesday (Feb. 16) night at Wayne State, Ashland University's women's basketball team nearly completed a comeback from 17 points down in the second quarter, but ended up on the wrong end of the 65-64 final score.
The Eagles are 8-6 overall and in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and the Warriors are the same.
SEESAW FIRST QUARTER WENT TO THE WARRIORS
Wayne State jumped out to a 10-3 lead, and after the Eagles scored consecutive buckets to make it a 10-7 game, the Warriors scored the next nine points to pull out to a 12-point advantage.
The end of the first period saw Ashland trailing, 22-11.
DEFENSE ALLOWS ASHLAND TO GET CLOSER BY HALFTIME
The Warriors' largest lead was 30-13 just outside of the halfway point of the second quarter, but it was at that point that the Eagles' fortunes turned. Outscoring Wayne State 13-8 for the remainder of the half, Ashland went into the locker room down 38-26 – thanks to a second-quarter defensive effort which kept WSU to just 5-of-14 from the field.
Another key for AU in the first 20 minutes was defense-to-offense, as nine Warrior turnovers resulted in 11 Eagle points.
EAGLES' THIRD-QUARTER RALLY NEARLY PULLS AU EVEN
Wayne State moved its lead back to 12 points at 42-30 early in the third quarter, then Ashland cut its deficit down to six points with a 10-4 spurt. The Eagle rally continued when junior guard
Hallie Heidemann's 3-point field goal made it a 50-45 game late in the third, forcing a Warrior timeout.
Another Heidemann triple made it a two-point game as the third-quarter clock was ticking away, but the Eagles eventually would go into the final stanza down 52-48.
LENGTHY ASHLAND COMEBACK FALLS ONE POINT SHORT
Freshman guard
Sydney Jacobsen's triple got the Eagles to within three points at 54-51 early in the fourth, then Heidemann's fourth trey of the contest brought AU all the way back to 54-all with 7:15 left in regulation.
Senior forward
Karlee Pireu's layup at the 6:30 mark of the final period gave the Eagles their first lead of the night, then junior guard
Erin Daniels' jumper lifted Ashland to a 58-54 lead at the 4:10 mark. Back and forth the two teams went, and a Warriors 3-pointer put them back on top, 64-62, with 2:04 to play.
With 1:47 left, Pireu made two free throws to re-tie the score at 64. Wayne State made 1-of-2 from the free-throw line in the final minute to go ahead, and with 7.7 seconds left, the ball and no timeouts, Ashland had a chance to win at the end – but a shot at the buzzer fell short.
THE SUMMARY
Pireu posted a game-high 22 points, Heidemann finished with 14, and Daniels added 10 to go with six assists.
The Warriors were led by Kate Sherwood with 19 points, and Sam Cherney, the reigning GLIAC South Division Player of the Week who ended with 12 points, 19 rebounds, three assists and eight blocked shots.
NEXT UP – TWO AT NORTHWOOD
Ashland will continue its regular-season-ending road swing with two games at Northwood (9-5, 9-5) on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 19-20).
AU
WBKB/DS
