And after 643 days, Ashland University's women's basketball team finally lost again.
The No. 1-ranked Eagles lost a 66-62 decision to No. 10-ranked Ferris State on Saturday (Dec. 16) afternoon at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium – their first defeat since March 12, 2022.
Ashland, with its 45-game winning streak snapped, is 8-1, and the Bulldogs are 6-1.
One highlight from Saturday was fifth-year forward
Annie Roshak, who became the fifth player in program history to score 2,000 points in a career. She finished with a team-high 23 points, and has 2,001 as an Eagle.
"A loss doesn't take away anything from what
Annie Roshak has accomplished in her career here," said Ashland head coach
Kari Pickens. "She's a special player, and she's given a ton to this university, to this program, and to this community. I'm really happy for her, and we still have a long season left, so I'm excited to see how far she can go."
Both teams wouldn't let the other get too far away early on, and at the first-quarter media timeout, the Eagles had a slim 9-7 advantage. After the first 10 minutes, Ashland had a 17-13 lead – which was the largest advantage for either team to that point.
At the second-quarter timeout, the Bulldogs had their biggest lead to date at 26-22 – and had forced 11 AU turnovers. The halftime break saw Ferris State with a 34-30 lead, as Ashland's 12 turnovers led to 11 Bulldog points, and FSU made 57.1 percent from the field.
Roshak scored 15 points in the opening half, and she and junior point guard
Morgan Yoder (10 points) accounted for 25 of Ashland's 30 points in the first 20 minutes.
The Eagles came out of the locker room for the third quarter having trailed at halftime for the first time in 2023-24 – but a 9-0 run on three consecutive 3-pointers gave Ashland its biggest lead of the day at 41-36, and forced the Bulldogs into a timeout.
Outscoring the Bulldogs 17-4 in the third period, the Eagles went into the final stanza up 47-38. Ferris State, however, scored the fourth quarter's initial six points. Ashland's advantage was just four points at 52-48 with a stoppage at the 4:19 mark, then FSU took a 55-52 lead inside of the three-minute mark.
The Bulldogs' lead was 57-54 after two free throws, then 60-56 following a triple. It was a 62-58 game with 26.5 seconds left, then Ashland missed a shot and the Bulldogs made two more at the charity stripe. With 7.4 seconds to go, the Eagles had the ball back trailing by four points, and didn't have enough time to rally.
"Our ball-screen defense in the fourth quarter was very poor," noted Pickens. "There are a multitude of reasons for that. I want to give Ferris a ton of credit. They are a tough team, and they exposed us in areas that we struggled with throughout the game.
"In the fourth quarter for us, unfortunately, that ball just didn't want to go in the hoop, but when that happens, you have to be able to lock down and get some stops."
POST-GAME NUGGETS
- Yoder joined Roshak in double-digit scoring for the Eagles, finishing with 16 points.
- The Eagles had 16 points on 16 FSU turnovers, but turned the ball over 19 times themselves.
- Ashland now has allowed less than 75 points in 20 consecutive games.
UP NEXT
The Eagles will be back at home on Monday (Dec. 18) at 5:30 p.m. against West Liberty (5-6).
