Returning to the road for most of the month of February starting on Saturday (Feb. 6), Ashland University's women's basketball team lost at Parkside, 80-71.
The Eagles' four-game winning streak comes to an end, and they are 6-4 overall and in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Rangers improve to 5-5, 5-5.
RANGERS' LATE-PERIOD RUN GIVES PARKSIDE LEAD
The two teams traded baskets for an extended period, and when freshman guard
Sydney Jacobsen hit a 3-point field goal, that gave Ashland its first lead at 11-10. The scoring pace slowed after that early surge, and at the end of the first quarter, an 8-0 Rangers spurt left it on top, 18-13.
Ashland made 6-of-11 shots from the field, but turned the ball over eight times, leading to eight Parkside points.
ON-FIRE SECOND QUARTER LIFTS AU TO HALFTIME LEAD
A 29-point second quarter righted the Eagle ship, and put Ashland ahead 40-33 at the break. The Eagles made 13-of-19 from the floor in the second 10 minutes, but more importantly, they turned the ball over just one time.
Going into the locker room, senior forward
Karlee Pireu posted 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and sophomore forward
Annie Roshak also already was in double-digit scoring with 10 points.
EAGLES CONTINUE TO HAVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH THREE
Sharp shooting and taking care of the ball were hallmarks of the third quarter, as well, as the Eagles were shooting 59.1 percent from the floor through three, and turned the ball over just four times in the stanza. Pireu had her fourth double-double of 2020-21 (23 points, 10 rebounds) with 10 minutes to go.
RANGERS FOURTH-QUARTER COMEBACK DOWNS EAGLES
Parkside worked its deficit down to three points at 60-57 just 2½ minutes into the fourth quarter, then two points at 60-58 with seven minutes to play, and 62-60 with 6:12 to go before the Eagles stopped play to talk things over.
The two teams continued to do what they did to start the game – trade points. The Rangers led 66-65 halfway through the fourth before Pireu's two charity tosses but AU back on top. Inside of two minutes and with the game tied at 69, however, Parkside went on an 11-2 run to pull away for the victory.
THE SUMMARY
Pireu finished with game-highs of 27 points and 13 rebounds, and added four assists, while Roshak ended with 24 points. Both shot 11-of-19 from the floor.
For Parkside, Alyssa Nelson scored 24 points, and Maddy Harrison added 17.
NEXT UP – ANOTHER AT PARKSIDE
Ashland and Parkside will finish the two-game weekend series on Sunday (Feb. 7) at 2 p.m. East (1 p.m. local).
AU
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