On Thursday (Dec. 19) night at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium, the No. 21-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team earned a hard-fought 68-54 win over No. RV Indiana, Pa..
The Eagles improve to 10-3 on the season, giving the Crimson Hawks their first loss of 2024-25 (9-1).
"It was a strange game, but just in everything, proud of the girls' fight down the stretch," said Ashland head coach
Kari Pickens. "They cut it to three, and we could have crumbled, and I thought we came together, got some big stops, knocked down some free throws down the stretch when it really mattered, and came away with a really big win against a good team."
Ashland is 5-0 at home this season, and 215-14 at The Kates since the start of the 2011-12 campaign. The Eagles also have won at least 10 games in each of the last 25 seasons.
The Eagle defense kept the Crimson Hawks off the board for the first 3:19 of the game – taking a 9-0 lead in the process. Ashland's first double-digit lead was 12-2 following a 3-point field goal by sophomore guard
Lexi Howe, and when the first quarter came to an end, AU led 17-8.
IUP scored seven straight points in a second-quarter stretch, but when freshman point guard
Ashley Mullet hit an elbow triple in the first half's waning seconds, it was a 33-24 Eagle lead at the break.
When senior guard
Morgan Yoder hit a triple as the shot clock was winding down, Ashland was back on top by 10 at 38-28. And when senior forward
Hayley Smith knocked down a free throw outside of the two-minute mark of the third quarter, it was a 10-point AU lead again at 45-35.
The Crimson Hawks kept it close throughout the third, however, and going into the final 10 minutes of regulation, the Eagle advantage was 47-41.
IUP cut the Ashland lead to three points at 48-45 early in the fourth, then senior forward
Zoe Miller responded with a layup. Then, graduate guard
Lydia Sweeney knocked down 6-of-7 from the line in the first five minutes of the fourth period to get it back to a nine-point contest at 56-47.
Smith's running layup at the three-minute mark put Ashland ahead 61-50 – and the Eagles went on to victory from there.
SWEENEY GETTING AFTER IT…AND THE REST OF THE STORY
- Sweeney scored a game-high 19 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the foul line, and added three rebounds, three assists and two steals. She is averaging 15.2 points over the last five games, as the Eagles continue to have just one instance this season with the same leading scorer in consecutive games.
- "Coming into a new program, you've got to not only learn the girls you are playing with, but kind of the system," Sweeney said. "I'm able to go out there and play free. There's nothing like playing in Kates. It's great to be on this side, with the Purple Swarm cheering for you."
- Miller added 18 points and nine rebounds, and is going for 17.7 points over the last three contests. She now is 26th on AU's all-time scoring list with 1,083 career points as an Eagle.
- Smith had her fourth consecutive game with at least 11 boards (16), and her fifth double-double (12 points) of 2024-25.
- "We had great performances," Pickens noted. "People came in, and when their name was called, they were ready to step up to the challenge."
- Ashland is 7-4 all-time vs. IUP.
- Thursday marked the Eagles' first-ever game as the No. 21-ranked team in NCAA Division II.
- The game featured a combined 44 fouls.
UP NEXT
The last game of the first semester, Sunday (Dec. 22) at 2 p.m. at home vs. No. 22 Northern Michigan.
