No. 5 AU Women Hold On At Home For Pickens’ 100th Career Win

Ashland University's women's basketball team is used to milestones.
 
On Wednesday (Feb. 23) night at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium, there was another milestone, as, thanks to the No. 5-ranked Eagles' 67-60 win over Findlay, head coach Kari Pickens earned her 100^th career win in just her 114^th game overall.
 
"That is a testament to the hard work that my players and staff have put in. I think we all know I get to work with some of the best of the best," said Pickens of her coaching staff – associate head coach Stephanie Gehlhausen, graduate assistant Jodi Johnson and volunteer assistant Maddie Dackin. "I have players who work their tails off, and it wouldn't be possible without all of them. I am thankful to be a part of this program."
 
Ashland improves to 24-2 overall and 19-1 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, while the Oilers are 13-13, 11-9. The Eagles are looking to finish off a Great Midwest regular-season title, and the right to play host to the Great Midwest Tournament Final Four on March 4-5.
 
WHAT HAPPENED

• Ashland found its long-range shooting touch right away, taking a 9-0 lead and forcing an Oilers timeout following 3-pointers from senior guard Hallie Heidemann (two) and sophomore guard Macy Spielman. Findlay, however, countered with eight straight points.
• Inside of the two-minute mark of the opening quarter, the Oilers went up 14-13. Not long after, sophomore guard Sydney Jacobsen hit a 3 to put the Eagles back on top, then a driving layup by Spielman helped AU take an 18-16 lead into the second period.
• Ashland turned the ball over seven times in the first 10 minutes, but only three in the second 10. Thanks to a defensive effort which kept Findlay off the board for almost 4½ minutes, the Eagles took a 32-24 lead into the break.
• Findlay missed seven of its last eight shots from the floor in the first half, and hit 29.0 percent overall.
• Ashland's largest lead to that point was 42-26 just inside of the six-minute mark of the third stanza, but the Eagles' lead at the end of the third was almost as big at 52-37. AU, which came into the game as the No. 2-shooting team in the country at 48.8 percent, made 51.2 percent through the first 30 minutes.
• "I thought the first three quarters, we put together a really strong basketball game," Pickens said.
• With 5:53 to play, a back-door layup cut the Oiler deficit to single digits at 58-49. A triple with 5:19 left forced an Eagle timeout, as the AU advantage had been trimmed to 58-52 thanks to an 8-0 Oiler run.
• Junior forward Annie Roshak had the answer coming out of the stoppage, hitting a straight-on trey to make the lead nine points. Findlay, however, wasn't going away, and cut the gap to five points at 61-56 inside of the three-minute mark, then to 61-58 on the next possession.
• With 1:26 left, senior forward Karlee Pireu made a last-ditch shot as the shot clock was hitting zero, then grabbed the defensive rebound on the other end. Then, with 37.2 ticks left, Pireu made two charity tosses for a 66-60 lead, as the Eagles went on to victory from there.
• "That fourth quarter, obviously, was not what we needed to do to finish down the stretch," Pickens said.

 
THE WRAP-UP

• Roshak ended with a game-high 20 points, and, in the process moved into 15^th place on AU's all-time scoring list with 1,244 career points.
• Spielman followed with 16 points, and Pireu rounded out three Eagles in double-digit scoring with 13 points to go with nine rebounds and three steals.
• Jacobsen set a new career-high in assists with eight in the victory.
• "She did a great job running the show out there and making some really, really strong passes," said Pickens.
• Ashland made 46.3 percent from the field, and outrebounded the Oilers by a 38-29 margin.
• Ashland is 17-0 all-time as the No. 5 team in the nation.

 
UP NEXT
Ashland and Findlay will turn around and play each other again on Thursday (Feb. 24) at 5:30 p.m. in Findlay.
 
"A basketball game is a basketball game," Pickens said. "They're going to make adjustments, we're going to make adjustments, whether that is one day apart or one month apart. We need to find a way to get that big win on the road."