No. 6 Eagle Women Prep For New Season With Exhibition Loss At D-I Iowa

Fifteen days before the official start of the 2025-26 season, the No. 6-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team played an exhibition game at NCAA Division I No. 23 Iowa, losing 104-63.
 
Ashland scored the game's first two points, then the Hawkeyes followed with the next nine. At the end of the first quarter, Iowa's lead was 26-15, and sophomore guard Corri Vermilya had nearly half (seven) of the Eagles' point total through the game's first 10 minutes.
 
At the half, Iowa led Ashland by a 51-27 count. Junior guard Lexi Howe scored a dozen points heading into the break, eight of those coming in the second stanza.
 
Through three quarters, the Hawkeyes led the Eagles, 81-46.
 
Eagle women's basketball, the preseason Great Midwest Athletic Conference favorite in 2025-26, finished 32-4 overall and 19-1 in the conference in 2024-25, winning both the conference regular-season and tournament titles for a fourth straight year. Ashland also reached the NCAA Division II Sweet 16 for the eighth time in program history.
 
Last season, Iowa, a season removed from Caitlin Clark's graduation, finished 23-11 overall and 10-8 in the Big Ten - and played in both the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments.
 
WRAPPING IT UP

• Three Eagles finished the night in double-digit scoring – Vermilya (16 points in 19 minutes), Howe (14 points in 21 minutes), and senior guard Alysa Lopez (10 points in 18 minutes).
• Ashland forced 15 Iowa turnovers, turning them into 11 points.

NEXT UP
The 2025-26 regular season will begin on Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. vs. Indianapolis at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium.