Anyone who's had the misfortune to occupy the middle seat on an airplane for a four-hour flight can understand the dynamics of this year's Hillsdale-Ashland women's basketball series.
Saturday (Feb. 14) on Senior Day at Kates Gymnasium, the Eagles broke open a close, uncomfortable game for a 65-53 triumph. This comes on the heels of the meeting between the two teams on Jan. 24 in Hillsdale that went down to the final seconds with the Chargers emerging with a 53-52 decision.
The win ups Ashland's record to 14-9, 10-7 in the GMAC. The Chargers are 13-9 and 9-7.
Saturday's game was much closer than the final margin indicated. The game was tied 18-18 after one quarter and Hillsdale led, 30-29 at the intermission. The Eagles were in front, 47-42 after three quarters.
The first major separation between the teams came with 8:12 left to play when AU guard Gia Casalinova buried a triple for a 54-42 Ashland advantage. At one point, the Chargers cut that down to seven points. Then Casalinova hit a three from in front with 1:15 to go and AU led, 63-53. That was the ballgame. Ashland outscored Hillsdale, 18-11 in the fourth quarter.
When the teams met in Hillsdale, the Chargers piled up 33 points in the paint. This confrontation was much different. AU outscored Hillsdale, 38-18 in the key. Ashland freshman forward Jenna Slates terrorized Hillsdale all afternoon. She had 18 points and eight rebounds, 10 points and six boards in the second half.
AU out-rebounded Hillsdale 41-34 and coaxed the visitors into 14 turnovers. Ashland gave the ball away just seven times. Hillsdale stayed close over the first three quarters by connecting on long range shots. For the game, the Chargers were 8-of-22 on three-point attempts (36.4 percent).
Savannah Smith, Sarah Aleknavicius and Emilia Sularski scored 11 points apiece for Hillsdale. Aleknavicius also had nine rebounds.
For Ashland, guard Alyssa Lopez had 15 points and Casalinova finished with 13 points and a team-high five assists. Casalinova was 5-for-5 from three-point range.
The Eagles return to the court on Thursday, Feb. 19 at Malone
