No. 1 Ashland Women Fend Off Pioneers, Finish Undefeated Regular Season

The No. 1-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team most likely wasn't looking for a tournament-type game against Malone on Thursday (Feb. 23) night at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium.
 
It got one, however.
 
The Eagle women earned the fourth undefeated regular season in program history with a 59-55 home win over the Pioneers. Ashland, still the only unbeaten NCAA Division II women's hoops team, heads into the 2023 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament at home at 28-0 overall and 20-0 in the league, and Malone is 19-8, 13-6.
 
After Malone scored the first three points of the game, Ashland responded with an 11-0 run. The Eagles made their first five shots from the floor, but the Pioneers forced three early AU turnovers and trailed by a 13-10 count with 3:21 left in the opening period.
 
The end of the first quarter saw Ashland with a slight 15-13 advantage, and turnovers were the story – seven Eagle miscues to just 12 field-goal attempts (6-of-12). AU's defense, however, forced five Malone turnovers, and kept the Pioneers to 5-of-14 from the floor.
 
Starting the second quarter, both teams struggled to score, and four minutes in, Ashland had the only two points to that point in the stanza. At the second-quarter media stoppage, the Eagle lead was one point at 17-16.
 
Malone took an 18-17 lead with four minutes left until halftime. Two free throws from sophomore forward Sarah McKee put AU back on top, but by the break, the Pioneers led 27-23 – just the second time in 2022-23 that the Eagles trailed going into the locker room after 20 minutes.
 
The first half was, in a word – disjointed. Ashland made 37.5 percent from the field (4-for-19 after hitting the first five) and turned the ball over 14 times, and Malone hit 35.5 percent from the floor and coughed the ball up 11 times.
 
An off-balance jumper from fifth-year guard Maddie Maloney started the second-half scoring, but Malone led 30-25 early in the third quarter. That's when Ashland began to rally, and when sophomore forward Zoe Miller hit a trey from the top of the key, the Eagles regained the lead at 34-32.
 
There wasn't much space between the two teams for the rest of the third, and heading into the fourth quarter, Ashland and Malone were tied at 43 – the first time the Eagles hadn't led after three all season. AU made 8-of-12 from the floor in the third quarter.
 
The Pioneers took a 48-46 lead inside of the seven-minute mark of the final quarter, then had a 49-46 advantage with 5:48 left in regulation. A 30-foot triple from fifth-year guard Hallie Heidemann lifted AU to a 51-49 lead heading into the last three minutes of the game.
 
A Malone offensive foul was followed by a layup by sophomore forward Hayley Smith for a four-point lead, then and a layup from senior forward Annie Roshak made it a six-point lead. Smith went to the line with 52.3 ticks left – and made both to put Ashland on top, 57-51.
 
Back-to-back Pioneer baskets cut the Eagle advantage to 57-55 with 35.9 seconds left, and Smith's offensive rebound then subsequent Malone foul put Roshak at the line with 1.7 seconds left. Roshak finished off the victory with two charity tosses.
 
NOTABLES

• Heidemann led Ashland with 19 points on 7-of-11 from the field and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, and added four rebounds and two blocks. Smith also scored in double digits (11 points), and had seven rebounds.
• The Eagles kept the Pioneers to 38.3-percent shooting from the floor, despite Alexis Hutchison's game-high 29 points.
• Ashland also earned an undefeated regular season in 2019-20, 2017-18 and 2016-17. The Eagles also have their fifth undefeated conference regular season, along with 2019-20, 2017-18, 2016-17 and 2011-12 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
• Prior to Thursday night, Ashland's lowest scoring half in 2022-23 was 27 points (at Drury on Nov. 23).
• Ashland is 105-3 all-time as the No. 1 team in the country, and 287-18 as a ranked squad.

 
QUOTABLES

• "I thought that we had some huge toughness plays down the stretch, that we were able to pull ahead," said Ashland head coach Kari Pickens. "Just some really big plays. It definitely wasn't our best game. I thought the team weathered the storm, and we found a way to win."
• "It feels like every game, we go up against a double- or a triple-team," Smith said. "When it came down to it, we did what we needed to do."
• "I knew that the shot clock was going down. I said, 'Why not, let it fly?," Heidemann said of the long go-ahead 3.
• "It just came down to wanting it more," said Smith of the last rebound.

 
UP NEXT
Ashland will play host to a 2023 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal game on Tuesday (Feb. 28) at 5:30 p.m. against an opponent to be determined.