No. 10 AU Women Lose Great Midwest Opener At Northwood

On Thursday (Dec. 5) night in Midland, Mich., the No. 10-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team lost at Northwood, 69-58, to begin 2024-25 Great Midwest Athletic Conference play.
 
Following just the second loss within the Great Midwest in four seasons in the league, the Eagles are 6-3 overall and 0-1 in conference play. The Timberwolves are 2-5, 1-0.
 
Northwood ran out to an 11-5 lead in the game's first three minutes, then had a 16-7 advantage after making each of its first seven shots from the field. The Eagles trailed 23-10 going into the second quarter, as the Timberwolves shot 76.9 percent from the floor in the first 10 minutes, and AU made 25.0 percent.
 
Just outside of the eight-minute mark of the second period, Ashland trailed 31-12 – prompting an Eagle timeout. At halftime, Northwood's lead was 38-22.
 
The tide looked like it was beginning to turn to begin the second half, as a 7-2 spurt got the Eagles to within 11 points at 40-29. Senior forward Zoe Miller's old-fashioned 3-point play late in the third quarter got AU's deficit down to single digits at 46-38, but the Eagles found themselves down 10 at 48-38 heading into the final stanza.
 
Graduate guard Lydia Sweeney's trey got Ashland back to within seven points at 56-49 halfway through the fourth, but the Eagles got no closer.
 
…AND THE REST OF THE STORY

• Sweeney scored a season-high 21 points and added four rebounds and three steals.
• Senior forward Hayley Smith added 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and collected seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Smith moves into 25^th place on AU's all-time scoring list with 1,077 career points.

UP NEXT
Back to the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium on Saturday (Dec. 7) at 1 p.m. vs. Tiffin (4-2, 0-0).