No. 1 Eagles Use Defense, Bench To Get To Great Midwest Tourney Title Game

Ashland University's women's basketball team is one of the best in NCAA Division II in bench scoring per game.
 
On Friday (March 8) night at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium, the No. 1-ranked Eagles needed every single point from their 10-player rotation to top Thomas More, 67-56, in a 2024 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal.
 
Ashland improves to 29-1, and the Saints' season ends at 18-11. The Eagles won all three meetings in 2023-24.
 
"Thomas More is, I think, an exceptionally well-coached team," said Ashland head coach Kari Pickens, who passed Thomas More head coach Jeff Hans as the head coach with the best career NCAA women's basketball winning percentage at any level (.9144, 171-16), minimum 185 games. "They pushed us to the limit, and I think we responded very well."

Of the Eagles' 67 points on Friday night, 41 came from those coming off the pine.
 
The Saints started the game leading 9-2, and the Eagles missed nine of their first 10 shots from the field. A 3-point field goal by junior forward Sarah McKee temporarily got Ashland out of its funk, but by the end of the first quarter, Thomas More led 14-8 – only the third time in 2023-24 that AU trailed after the opening period.
 
Ashland worked its way back to the lead at 15-14 when fifth-year guard Erin Daniels hit a trey, then fifth-year forward Annie Roshak nailed a triple for a four-point lead – leading to a Saints timeout. The Eagle defense was strong throughout the first half (allowing just four second-quarter points), and by the break, Ashland led 27-18.
 
In that first half, the Saints were kept to 6-of-25 from the field and 2-of-11 from beyond the arc, and the Eagles turned six Thomas More turnovers into 11 points.
 
Ashland took a 40-26 lead halfway through the third quarter, as the 3-pointers started to fall. The Saints got back to a single-digit deficit at 42-36, and the Eagle lead heading into the fourth quarter was 45-38.
 
The Eagle advantage was cut to two at 45-43 early in the fourth quarter, and Daniels made her fourth triple of the game to push AU's lead to 52-45. McKee then made it a nine-point lead with a layup, and a Daniels baseline jumper put the Eagles back on top by double-digits.
 
POST-GAME NUGGETS

• The top two Eagle scorers came off the bench on Friday – senior guard Savaya Brockington (18 points in 21 minutes) and Daniels (14 points in 20 minutes).
• "One of the things that we pride ourselves on is going up to the free-throw line and shooting with confidence," said Brockington, who was 7-for-10 at the line, mostly down the stretch.
• "Our coaches, they believe in us, and they want us to shoot the ball within our offense when we are open," Daniels said. "It's a confidence thing."
• Another member of the bench crew, McKee, finished with five points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks in 18 minutes.
• "I know my role on this team is to bring that defensive energy off the bench," McKee said. "It was a full team win tonight."
• While making just 41.5 percent from the field, the Eagles finished 11-for-24 from beyond the arc, and scored 22 points off 15 Saints turnovers.
• Ashland has won 136 of 140 all-time games as the No. 1 team in the country, and 310 games over .500 (325-15) as a ranked team.

 
UP NEXT
Saturday's conference tournament title game at 3 p.m. vs. Trevecca Nazarene (19-10).