DALLAS, Texas – In Saturday's (April 1) NCAA Division II national championship game, the No. 1-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team was going against No. 6-ranked Minnesota Duluth – led by the 2022-23 national Player of the Year, Brooke Olson.
Perhaps the biggest matchup of the game would be Olson against the Eagles' three main forwards – senior
Annie Roshak and sophomores
Hayley Smith and
Zoe Miller. And while Olson concluded a fantastic season with 26 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in 28 minutes, Ashland's forward trio combined for 46 points and 26 rebounds – and a 78-67 win for a national title.
Roshak, the national tournament's Most Outstanding Player, posted 20 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, while making 5-of-6 from the field and 10-of-10 from the free-throw line. She scored double-digit points in all nine NCAA tournament games, and grabbed 33 rebounds in the Elite Eight, Final Four and title game combined.
"Annie is a remarkable basketball player," said Ashland head coach
Kari Pickens of Roshak, a D-II All-American in her own right.
"I'm really proud of her, because she was on a team where we asked her to average 14 points a game, and that that was what was going to be needed from her. Even though I know she is capable of scoring more than that, what was going to be best for this team was a well-rounded team.
"And, today, she took six shots, and she had 20 points. She was going to do whatever the team needed, and today was no different. And, on top of that, 13 rebounds. She played fearlessly. She played like someone who wanted to go out and make a mark today."
HEIDEMANN GOES OUT ON TOP
Following her 153
rd and final game as an Eagle, fifth-year guard
Hallie Heidemann ended her collegiate career as a national champion.
In 2020, Heidemann and the Eagles had a potential national title run stopped due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Three years later, she is a national champ – as well as Ashland's all-time leader in games played and 3-point field goals (367), the latter number ninth all-time in D-II history.
Heidemann is seventh on AU's all-time scoring list with 1,677 career points. She also is one of only three players in program history to rack up at least 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 200 steals in a career, along with
Laina Snyder and
Jodi Johnson.
CLOSING THE BOOK ON THE LAST DOZEN SEASONS
Here are the numbers on Ashland women's basketball over the last 12 seasons (2011-12 to 2022-23):
- 359-39 (.902) overall record
- 194-13 (.937) record at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium
- Three national championships
- Five national title games, Final Fours and Elite Eights
- Three undefeated seasons
- NCAA Division II-record 73-game winning streak
- Seven 30-plus-win seasons
- 11 NCAA Division II postseason qualifications
- Nine conference tournament titles
- Eight conference regular-season championships
NATIONAL CHAMPION MERCH AVAILABLE
Ashland national championship merchandise is available at the Ashland Campus Store, and online at
http://www.ashlandbookstore.com/MerchList.aspx?ID=40157.
