The No. 5 Ashland University women's basketball team opened the 2025 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional tournament with a 62-50 win over Ferris State on Friday (March 14) afternoon at Grand Valley State.
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A 25
th consecutive win moves the Eagles to 31-3 overall, and to the regional semifinal on Saturday (March 15) at 5 p.m. vs. Northern Michigan (23-8) at GVSU. That marks AU's fifth 25-plus-game winning streak since 2011-12.
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Ashland has won at least 31 games in three straight seasons, and the Eagles are three victories away from 1,000 in program history.
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The Eagles jumped out to an 11-2 lead, as Ferris State (21-12) made just one of its first nine shots from the field. At the end of the game's first 10 minutes, the Eagle advantage was 16-10.
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Ferris State went on a 9-2 run to begin the second period, and pulled to within a single point at 19-18. Both teams went on lengthy scoreless streaks in the second, and by halftime, Ashland's lead was 23-20.
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In that first half, the Bulldogs were kept to 27.6 percent from the field, but the Eagles turned the ball over 11 times.
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At the third-quarter media timeout, Ashland's lead remained slim at 30-26. Going into the fourth and final period, the Eagles were up 38-32, as they kept FSU to 25.0 percent from the floor in the third stanza.
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Graduate guard
Lydia Sweeney's 3-point field goal early in the fourth gave Ashland its first double-digit lead at 44-34. The Bulldogs worked their deficit down to 44-41, but senior guard
Morgan Yoder's triple made it a 47-41 game halfway through the final quarter.
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The Eagles led by three again at 51-48 before sophomore guard
Lexi Howe's layup just inside of the two-minute mark. Following a Howe steal, she hit a triple to lift AU to an eight-point lead with 1:09 to play.
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HOLDING THEM DOWN ONCE AGAIN…AND THE REST OF THE STORY
- Ashland kept FSU to 31.0 percent from the field and to 3-of-23 from 3-point range on Friday.
- In the final quarter, the Eagles were 8-of-10 from the field, 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, and made all four charity tosses.
- Senior forward Zoe Miller led the way with 15 points and eight rebounds, and Yoder followed with 13 points on 5-of-7 from the floor. Senior forward Sarah McKee continued her strong postseason off the bench, posting 12 points and nine boards, while Sweeney ended with 10 points.
- With eight rebounds, senior forward Hayley Smith (1,003) became just the second AU women's player to grab 1,000 in a career.
- The Eagles are 37-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
- Ashland moves to 31-1 all-time as the No. 5-ranked team in the nation, and 335 games above .500 (358-23, .940) as a ranked team.
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