It's one thing to have to beat a team three times in a season.
It's another thing to have to beat a team three times in 10 days.
That's what was in front of the No. 4-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team on Friday (March 4) night in a Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium. And win for a third time the Eagles did, 71-67.
"I'm just proud of our team's grit down the stretch," said Ashland head coach
Kari Pickens. "Credit to Findlay, because they're a good team and they played really well.
"Down the stretch, we made some big free throws, we got some big rebounds, and we're excited that we get to survive and advance. The scores were very similar in all three games, but we were able to come out on top."
Ashland is 27-2 going into the 2022 Great Midwest Tournament championship game at home on Saturday (March 5) at 3 p.m. against No. 15 Walsh (26-3).
The Oilers' season ends at 15-15.
"They are really good," Pickens said.
In the three matchups, Ashland had largest leads of 16, 15 and 13 points, and ended up winning by seven, six and four points.
WHAT HAPPENED
- The Oilers put up the game's first four points, but the Eagles quickly countered with four of their own. At the first media timeout of the contest, Ashland had an 8-6 advantage – and that was a portent of things to come later in the first half.
- Ashland's largest lead of the opening period was nine points at 17-8, and that lead at the end of that period was 22-15. Both teams shot well to open the game (AU 58.8 percent, UF 58.3), but the Eagles forced twice as many turnovers as they committed (6-3).
- Junior forward Annie Roshak's layup gave Ashland its biggest lead at that point at 30-19. The Oilers got to within five points at 34-29 before senior guard Hallie Heidemann's 3-pointer put the advantage back to eight.
- At the break, Ashland had a 41-35 lead thanks to a Roshak jumper at the buzzer. She had a game-high 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting, and added three steals. The Eagles had 11 points off 11 Oiler turnovers in the first 20 minutes, and shot 58.1 percent from the field (16-for-20 from inside the arc), but Findlay made 64.0 percent to stay in the contest.
- Ashland was able to pull away from Findlay to start the third quarter, a 7-0 spurt put the Eagles on top by a 48-35 count. The Oilers, however, weren't about to go quietly, cutting their deficit to seven points with a 6-0 spurt of their own.
- By the end of the third quarter, another last-second Roshak basket gave Ashland a 52-43 lead going into the last 10 minutes. To that point, Roshak had 24 points, six rebounds and four steals.
- The Eagles went back up by 13 points at 56-43 early in the final stanza, but as was the case in both games last week, the Oilers kept coming. Findlay trailed 61-55 with three minutes to play, but Roshak came to AU's rescue again with a put-back for another eight-point lead.
- As the Oilers continued to push the Eagles at the end, Ashland's work at the charity stripe was the difference. Sophomore guard Sydney Jacobsen and Roshak combined to go 6-for-6 at the line in the final 61 seconds.
THE WRAP-UP
- Roshak ended with a game-high 32 points on 14-of-20 shooting, to go with 10 rebounds and four steals. In the last two conference tournament semifinal games she has played in, Roshak has scored a career-high 40 (2021 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) and 32 points.
- "There's nothing better than playing in March," said Roshak. "You are going to get everybody's best game."
- Roshak now has 1,290 career points, moving her into 13th place on Ashland's all-time scoring list.
- Senior guard Erin Daniels came off the bench to score 10 points and draw seven fouls.
- "Erin's playing like a senior," Pickens said. "She stepped up to the free-throw line and knocked down some big shots down the stretch. She's playing with so much confidence."
- Freshman forward Hayley Smith, in her first career postseason game, added nine points and was 4-for-4 from the field off the pine.
- "I love just the community that we have coming in, and the atmosphere," Smith said. "This is what it's all about. It's a new season right now, and I had so much fun today."
- Ashland was 15-for-16 from the foul line in the victory.
- Since the start of the 2015-16 season, the Eagle women are 113-4 (.966) at home.
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