Ashland University's No. 1-ranked women's basketball team came back from its first loss of 2023-24 on Saturday (Dec. 16) afternoon, and recorded a 100-68 victory over West Liberty on Monday (Dec. 18) night at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium.
The Eagles go into the NCAA Division II "dead period" at 9-1, and the Hilltoppers do the same at 5-7.
"The part about the game that I loved is how hard we played," said Ashland head coach
Kari Pickens. "There were still a lot of things that weren't great. The biggest thing we challenged the team with after the loss was that we needed to play harder. Everyone who stepped out on to the court…just played tougher and harder."
Monday night's game was the 21
st straight in which Ashland kept an opponent to less than 75 points. The victory also meant the Eagles haven't had a two-game losing streak in a non-COVID pandemic season since 2014-15.
The first quarter was tightly-contested and high-scoring, and it ended with a 23-23 tie. Most of the key statistics were close in the opening quarter, and the Eagles made 61.1 percent from the field.
Ashland began to pull away to start the second half, and earned a double-digit lead for the first time at 35-25. By halftime, the Eagles had scored 31 second-quarter points and shot 75.0 percent for the period, and took a 54-35 lead into the break.
Junior forwards
Hayley Smith (13 points) and
Zoe Miller (12 points) accounted for nearly half of AU's 54 first-half points, as the Eagles shot 67.6 percent from the floor. Ashland's defense kept West Liberty to 41.4 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, and 11 Hilltopper turnovers resulted in 13 Ashland points.
The Eagles kept the Hilltoppers at bay throughout the second half, eventually taking a 30-point lead in the fourth quarter and going on to victory from there.
POST-GAME NUGGETS
- Smith finished with a career-high 31 points on 14-of-18 from the floor, and added seven rebounds – in only 22 minutes.
- "For us, a lot of teams we face, we get double- and triple-teamed in the post," said Smith. "I think that, in those games, we have full trust in our guards to shoot the ball really well. In games where we are 1-on-1 in the post, the guards trust the posts to go 1-on-1 and finish strong. It was super fun tonight."
- "I thought Hayley just had an outstanding performance," Pickens said. "She was really poised inside."
- Miller added 20 points and eight rebounds in only 18 minutes off the bench, while fifth-year forward Annie Roshak and senior guard Macy Spielman each added 11 points. Roshak has 2,012 career points, four away from passing Andi Daugherty (2,015) for fourth place on the program's all-time scoring list.
- Freshman guard Kylie Leibacher, making her first collegiate start on Monday night and finding out about it on Sunday (Dec. 17), finished with two points, two rebounds, one assist and one block in 20 minutes.
- "It's a lot of fun. Just surrounded by a lot of good teammates that help me with the details that I miss as a freshman," Leibacher said.
- "Kylie did some great things," Pickens noted. "I thought Kylie, as well as she did on offense, I loved her defense. She contested when she needed to."
- The Eagles made 62.0 percent from the field, kept West Liberty to 41.4 percent from the floor, doubled up the Hilltoppers on the boards (44-22), and turned 19 turnovers into 28 points.
- Of Ashland's 100 points, 82 came in the paint.
- The Eagles are 5-2 all-time vs. the Hilltoppers.
UP NEXT
Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. at Davenport (2-7).
