No. 11 AU Women Win On Senior Day, Run Win Streak To 14

The No. 11-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team kept two lengthy winning streaks intact on Saturday (Feb. 1) afternoon at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium, as the Eagles topped Thomas More, 78-47, on Senior Day.
 
Ashland improved to 20-3 overall and 12-1 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, thanks to a 14^th straight win overall and 24^th consecutive victory at "The Kates." The 20-win season is the Eagles' 16^th in program history – 15^th since 2003-24.
 
"Our offense really clicked," noted Ashland University head coach Kari Pickens, whose team had 23 assists to 10 turnovers on Saturday. "I thought the first half showcased some of the best offense that we've seen for the last couple of games."
 
The Saints are 8-13, 5-8.
 
Ashland scored the game's first five points, and led 9-2 at the first-quarter media timeout. The first double-digit lead came at 14-4, and at the end of the opening period, the Eagles' advantage was 19-9 – thanks in large part to senior forward Zoe Miller's 11 points.
 
Freshman point guard Ashley Mullet's 3-point field goal gave Ashland its largest lead to that point at 27-13, then senior forward Hayley Smith's triple made the lead 21 points at 34-13.
 
At halftime, with both offense and defense clicking, the Eagles sported a 46-23 lead. Both Miller (13 points) and fellow senior forward Hayley Smith (10 points, seven rebounds, two blocked shots) already were in double-digit scoring, and Thomas More turned the ball over 10 times while making just 33.3 percent from the field.
 
Mullet's triple in the corner pushed AU's lead to 61-29 late in the third quarter, and the Eagles went on to victory from there.
 
SENIOR STARS…AND THE REST OF THE STORY

• Miller ended with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting, and with 1,219 career points, moves into 20^th place on AU's all-time scoring list.
• Smith added 16 points and nine rebounds, and with 1,245 career points, now is 17^th in Eagle career scoring annals.
• Along with Miller and Smith, senior forward Sarah McKee ended with nine points, eight rebounds and two blocks; graduate guard Lydia Sweeney added six points, six boards and four assists; and senior guard Morgan Yoder finished with four helpers.
• "All five of them came with a pep in their step, as they have all year," Pickens noted. "I'm excited to see what we can do for this (senior) class."
• The Saints were kept to 32.7-percent shooting from the field, while 18 Thomas More turnovers resulted in 20 Eagle points.
• Ashland is 5-0 all-time vs. Thomas More since the Saints joined the Great Midwest.

UP NEXT
A game for first place in the Great Midwest on Thursday (Feb. 6) at 5:30 p.m. at Malone.