No. 1 AU Women Again Survive Against Game Pioneers, Go On To Regional Semis

On Friday (March 10) night, the No. 1-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team had the task of trying to beat a conference rival for the fourth time in a season, as the 2023 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament was underway at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium.
 
The Eagles needed a fourth-quarter push, but they did top Malone for a fourth time in a month and a half, 72-65, to move on to the regional semifinals on Saturday (March 11) night. Ashland is 32-0 overall (fifth time in program history with at least 32 wins), and Malone's season ends at 22-9.
 
Despite the fact that Ashland and Malone were playing for a fourth time in 2022-23, there was an early feeling-out process. Back-to-back Pioneer triples lifted them to an 11-6 lead at the first-quarter media timeout at the 3:47 mark.
 
The Eagles kept Malone without a point for the remainder of the opening period, and fifth-year guard Hallie Heidemann's last-second corner 3-point field goal put AU ahead 13-11 after the first 10 minutes. The Pioneers made just 4-of-13 shots from the field in the first quarter, but three of the makes were triples.
 
Ashland's run was extended into the second quarter to 12-0 – and with the Eagles leading 18-11. AU's advantage became a game-high nine points at 25-16 after an old-fashioned 3-point play from junior guard Macy Spielman, and by halftime, Ashland took a 33-23 lead into the locker room.
 
Heidemann racked up 12 points and seven rebounds in the first 20 minutes, as the Eagles made 50 percent from the field. By contrast, the Pioneers were kept to 30.8 percent from the floor in the first two quarters.
 
Ashland led 38-24 early in the third quarter, only to see Malone respond with a 7-0 run to cut its deficit in half. The Eagles continued to keep the Pioneers at arm's length for the remainder of the third, and by the end of the stanza, Ashland continued to lead at 50-39.
 
Malone worked the deficit down to five points at 55-52 with 6:20 left in regulation, forcing an Ashland timeout. The Eagle lead was a single point at 55-54 thanks to a 12-0 Pioneer run, but sophomore forward Zoe Miller's layup at the 5:03 mark temporarily stopped the Malone momentum.
 
The Pioneers took a 59-57 lead on a triple outside of the four-minute mark, then Spielman's layup and traditional triple put AU back on top at 62-59. Leading 64-61 going into the last 90 seconds, senior forward Annie Roshak stepped to the line and made her fifth and sixth free throws without a miss – putting the Eagles on top by five.
 
Malone got the ball back with 35.9 seconds left and trailing 66-63 following an Eagle shot clock violation. A Pioneer air ball was followed by a Pioneer foul, then junior guard Savaya Brockington's two charity tosses to effectively end the game.
 
NOTABLES

• Heidemann ended with 18 points and nine rebounds, Roshak added 16 points on 8-of-8 from the charity stripe and four assists, and Spielman came off the bench for 10 points.
• The Eagles made 47.1 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from beyond the arc and 88.9 percent from the foul line.
• Malone's Alexis Hutchison ended the night with 32 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals.
• Ashland is 30-9 all-time in the NCAA postseason, becoming the 11^th D-II program with at least 30 NCAA playoff wins.
• The Eagles are 109-3 all-time as the No. 1 team in the country, and 291-18 all-time as a ranked team.

 
QUOTABLES

• "Malone's a really good team. They played really hard," said Ashland head coach Kari Pickens. "A ton of credit to them. I'm really proud of this team to take a punch, and respond. The fact that we were able to win by seven when we had gotten down, I was proud of our team's resilience."
• "A lot of the teams we face hone in on our posts, and it was a great skip pass," Spielman said of her late 3. "I'm really glad it went in."
• "Alexis Hutchison is an incredible basketball player, and we didn't contain her well," Pickens said.

 
UP NEXT
Ashland will play a regional semifinal at home on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against Trevecca Nazarene (22-9).