FINAL FOUR-BOUND! No. 1 Eagles Beat Patriots To Begin Elite Eight

On Monday (March 20) night in St. Joseph, Mo., the No. 1-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team held off the University of Texas at Tyler and won, 81-72, to begin the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
 
Playing in their fifth D-II Elite Eight, the Eagles improved to 35-0 to extend the program's second-longest winning streak (and ninth-longest streak in D-II women's basketball history), and move on to their fifth D-II Final Four. Ashland is 33-9 all-time in NCAA postseason games, 11-2 at the Elite Eight, and 5-0 in national quarterfinals.

Ashland now has four different seasons with at least 35 wins all-time. No other NCAA Division II women's basketball program has more than two such campaigns.
 
The Patriots' season ends at 27-8.
 
Ashland jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the game's first 90 seconds, and it was an early 11-2 advantage thanks to three 3-point field goals, two by fifth-year guard Hallie Heidemann.
 
Five treys put the Eagles on top at 17-9 at the first media timeout of the contest, and by the time the first quarter ended, AU led 22-16 thanks to a 6-of-11 showing from beyond the arc. Fifth-year guard Maddie Maloney hit all three of her shots from downtown for nine points in the first 10 minutes.
 
The second-quarter score was stuck at 24-20 in AU's favor for a couple minutes, but a triple by senior forward Annie Roshak gave the Eagles their first double-digit lead at 36-26. The halftime score was 36-29, thanks to eight 3-pointers and a 52.2-percent showing from the field – and no thanks to 10 first-half turnovers.
 
Roshak had 10 points and five rebounds at the break.
 
Conversely, the Patriots made 38.5 percent from the field and 3-of-12 from downtown, but coughed the ball up just four times.
 
Sophomore forward Zoe Miller gave Ashland its largest lead to that point at 48-37 outside of the five-minute mark in the third quarter, then another Miller triple moved the Eagles to a 12-point advantage at 51-39.
 
Ashland led 55-39 before Tyler scored eight consecutive points to get its deficit back to single digits, but Roshak stopped the run with a layup and two free throws, helping AU to a 59-50 lead going into the fourth quarter.
 
The Eagles' advantage was 11 points at 61-50 just 15 seconds into the final period, but the Patriots worked the spread back to seven points at 63-56, then to six points at 65-59 following three charity tosses. Miller once again came up with a big shot, a triple, to give AU a nine-point lead with outside of five minutes remaining.
 
Ashland led 71-65 coming out of a Tyler timeout at the 1:07 mark. Junior guard Savaya Brockington made three of four free throws to keep the Eagles at arm's length at 74-67, then Roshak iced the victory with two more from the foul line.
 
NOTABLES

• Roshak's strong game saw her finish with game highs of 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Miller came off the bench for 15 points, all in the second half, on 6-of-8 shooting from the field.
• Heidemann, now alone in first place in AU history having played in her 151^st career game, added 14 points and seven rebounds. Her 1,653 career points move her into seventh place on the program's all-time scoring list.
• The Eagles tied their single-game record for threes in an NCAA postseason game with 13, making 50 percent of their attempts. Ashland hit 54.5 percent from the field and 20-of-24 (83.3 percent) from the free-throw line, and had 18 assists on 24 made field goals.
• The Eagles are 112-3 all-time as the No. 1 team in NCAA Division II, and 294-18 as a ranked team in D-II.

QUOTABLES

• "We're one of about to be four teams left playing in Division II, and I'm really excited about that," said Ashland head coach Kari Pickens. "The second half, our defense wavered pretty significantly, but we still found a way to win."
• "I thought we shot the ball very well," Pickens said. "We took high-percentage shots. We needed to clean up some of our defensive errors, but at this point in the season, it is totally survive and advance, and I could not be more thrilled that we're going to be playing again on Wednesday."

UP NEXT
A national semifinal in Missouri on Wednesday (March 22) at 9:30 p.m. East/8:30 p.m. local against No. 4-ranked Glenville State (33-2), the defending D-II national champion and a 78-68 victor over No. 3-ranked Tampa on Monday night.
 
In the other national semifinal on Wednesday, No. 20-ranked Catawba, a 77-70 winner over No. 8-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills on Monday, will take on No. 6-ranked Minnesota Duluth, a 61-41 winner over No. 21-ranked Assumption on Monday.