No. 8 AU Women Win 19th Straight, Clinch Share Of League Title

There was no need for a fourth-quarter comeback this time.
 
After rallying for a victory in the final stanza in each of its last two games, the No. 8-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team took care of business early on Thursday (Feb. 20) night, topping Cedarville, 83-34, at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium.
 
"I was really proud of our team's effort," said Ashland head coach Kari Pickens. "I thought that, on both ends of the court, we executed really well. We were aggressive, we were disciplined, and we saw changes that needed to be made across the board, which is really exciting.
 
"Things have really started to come together."
 
A 19^th consecutive win and an NCAA Division II-best 26^th straight home victory moved Ashland to 25-3 overall and 17-1 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference – clinching at least a share of the league's regular-season title.
 
Ashland also has won at least 25 games in a season for the 12^th time – all since 2011-12.
 
The Eagles kept the Yellow Jackets (11-14, 7-10) off the scoreboard for the game's first 3:11, going up 5-0 in the process. Ashland went ahead by double digits at 14-4 late in the first quarter, and when the first 10 minutes were over, thanks in large part to eight turnovers forced, AU led 17-8.
 
To begin the second period, the Eagles reeled off nine straight points for a 26-8 advantage, and a Cedarville timeout. By halftime, the Ashland lead had grown to 37-10 – as the Yellow Jackets went 1-of-12 from the field in the second quarter.
 
SMITH KEEPS MOVING UP THE CHARTS…AND THE REST OF THE STORY

• Coming off a career-high 33-point game at Tiffin, senior forward Zoe Miller finished Thursday night with 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting, and added eight rebounds and four assists.
• Senior forward Hayley Smith ended with her 15^th double-double of the season (13 points, 13 rebounds), and those caroms put her in second place on AU's all-time list with 944.
• Smith also has 1,311 career points, moving into 14^th place on that AU's career list.
• Senior guard Morgan Yoder added 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting, to go with five assists.
• "Just every night, contributing what I can, depending on what the defense throws at us, we get different looks," said Yoder, who said she enjoys both scoring and setting up her teammates to score. "But being confident in the shots that I can get for my teammates. Just seeing our team come together in such a great way tonight is super encouraging going into the postseason."
• Ashland made 62.3 percent from the field, out-rebounded Cedarville by a 37-20 margin, and kept the Yellow Jackets to 27.3 percent from the field and 0-of-14 from beyond the arc.
• Thursday night was the Eagles' 13^th consecutive win over Cedarville.

UP NEXT
A week between games, then the 2024-25 regular-season home finale on Feb. 27 at 5:30 p.m. vs. Findlay.
 
"We're really excited for the match-up with Findlay," Pickens said. "We know that they're fighting not only for conference standings, but also NCAA Tournament standings. And we are thankful for the opportunity to really focus on us for the next day or two.
 
"This team is special. And I think the best is yet to come, and we want to make sure we are prepped and ready to roll for when it does."