Not every remarkable story has a happy ending.
On Thursday (Feb. 17) night at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium, the No. 2-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team lost to No. 23 Walsh, 83-76. That came after the Eagles forced overtime after trailing by nine points inside of six minutes left in the fourth quarter.
"What a great basketball game," said Ashland head coach
Kari Pickens. "It was so much fight, a lot of talented basketball players on the floor. Obviously, we came up on an end we didn't want to be, but I believe we are going to learn a lot from this game, and we're going to grow a lot.
"The fight that those girls had, to be down nine that late and to come back and push it into overtime, was incredible."
The loss snaps Ashland's 19-game overall winning streak and its 19-game home win streak, and moves AU to 22-2 overall and 17-1 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, still leading the league by a half-game over the Cavaliers (22-3, 17-2).
It also was Ashland's first loss in overtime since the 2012 NCAA Division II Championship Game.
WHAT HAPPENED
- It was a tournament-type atmosphere from the jump, and the play from the jump reflected that. Ashland led 19-11 after one quarter, and the biggest stat in AU's favor in the first was keeping the Cavaliers to 4-of-14 from the field. The Eagles also had a 14-8 rebounding advantage to open the game.
- Walsh, as expected, wasn't going to let Ashland pull away easily. Leading 30-26 late in the first half, the Eagles put the clamps down on Walsh's offense, and took a 32-26 lead into the locker room. The two top teams in NCAA Division II in terms of field-goal percentage entering the game (AU 49.1, Walsh 48.9) didn't show it in the first 20 minutes (AU 41.2, Walsh 37.9).
- With 7:06 left in the third quarter, a Cavalier triple put Walsh ahead, 37-36. Junior forward Annie Roshak did her best to keep the Eagles in the game, scoring six quick points, but Walsh led 41-38 at the third-quarter media timeout.
- The Cavaliers' largest lead was 42-38 before senior forward Karlee Pireu's top-of-the-circle triple cut that lead to one at 42-41. Walsh upped that advantage, however, to 49-43 by the end of the third – marking just the second time in 2021-22 that the Eagles trailed going into the fourth.
- Ashland was forced into a timeout with 8:12 to go, trailing by its largest margin of the game to that point at 51-43. It was at that time, however, when the Eagles began to warm up offensively – and the result was a 53-50 deficit with 6:39 left following a Roshak triple.
- Walsh kept coming, scoring three straight buckets for a 59-50 lead – and another Eagle timeout. The Eagles got as close as 59-54, 61-56 and 63-58 down the stretch, but then, following yet another AU stoppage, sophomore guard Sydney Jacobsen hit a trey for a 63-61 deficit inside of the final minute, followed by a Walsh miss with 42.3 ticks to play.
- That set up sophomore guard Macy Spielman's game-tying layup with 25.6 second remaining. Following four Ashland fouls, Walsh had a chance to win the game with 4.4 seconds left, a missed shot sent the game into the extra period.
- Pireu started OT with a layup to put Ashland ahead for the first time since early in the third quarter. Walsh countered to re-tie the game, but Roshak's straight-on triple at 3:38 put AU ahead 68-65.
- Jacobsen nailed a corner triple for a 71-67 advantage, but the Cavaliers refused to go away, making back-to-back shots to re-tie at 71. Two Walsh free throws put it back ahead at 73-71, then a tough Pireu offensive rebound led to two free throws for yet another tie at 73-all.
- At the 51.3 mark of overtime, two Cavalier charity tosses made it 75-73 in favor of Walsh, then an old-fashioned 3-pointer following an Eagle turnover increased Walsh's lead to 78-73. Roshak's layup with 22 ticks left got AU to within three at 78-75, but the Cavaliers went up by four on 1-of-2 from the line.
- Jacobsen's 1-of-2 made from the line with 15.6 seconds left set the score at 79-76, then Walsh made two for an 81-76 advantage to effectively end the game.
THE WRAP-UP
- Roshak (24 points) and Pireu (20) provided the bulk of the Eagles' offense on Thursday, and each grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
- Ashland finished at 44.8 percent from the field, and Walsh 44.9. The Eagles' rebounding advantage was 43-37, but 20 AU turnovers led to 28 Walsh points.
UP NEXT
Ashland will go to Malone (12-10, 8-8) on Saturday (Feb. 19) at 1 p.m. to take on the Pioneers.
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