Eagle Women Knock Off Saints At Home, 62-59

On Thursday (Feb. 5) night at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium, the Ashland University women's basketball team earned a key Great Midwest Athletic Conference victory, 62-59, over Thomas More.
 
"It was a big team win, too," said Ashland head coach Kari Pickens, whose team improved to 12-8 overall and 8-6 in the league. "It wasn't one person that kind of led the way or carried the charge. It was a group of people. I think that this win could really just carry a lot of momentum for our team."
 
The Eagles were paced statistically, however, by their three starting forwards:

• Freshman Jenna Slates ended with 14 points and 11 rebounds, picking up her 13^th double-double of the season – one of the top marks in NCAA Division II.
• Junior Katelyn Harabedian added 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.
• And redshirt freshman Kyra Hill ended with a career-high 15 boards to go with 10 points, five blocked shots an two assists.

"They're able to contribute in different ways," Pickens said.
 
An offensive struggle on both sides in the opening quarter resulted in Thomas More (18-3, 10-3) taking a 14-11 lead into the second. Neither team had a lead of more than four points in the game's first 10 minutes.
 
It was more of the same in the second stanza, and by halftime, the two teams were tied at 23. Slates was well on her way to yet another double-double with eight points and seven rebounds.
 
Ashland began the second half with consecutive 3-point field goals from Harabedian and junior guard Gia Casalinova to take its largest lead to date, but by the under-5 media timeout, the Saints had regained the advantage at 34-33.
 
The Eagles hit five treys in the third, and that helped lift them to a 48-42 lead heading into the final quarter.
 
Graduate guard Natalie Thomas' triple put AU up by seven at 53-46, but Thomas More worked its deficit down to a single point with 12.1 ticks to go. Slates made both charity tosses with 9.5 seconds left to cement the win.
 
Pickens mentioned Thomas (eight points in 18 minutes) and graduate guard Benedetta Dell'Orto (six points in 14 minutes) as key contributors off the bench.
 
"I thought they stepped up and played some really big minutes for us tonight," she said.
 
The Eagles kept the Saints to 0-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
 
COMING UP
Remaining at home for a conference game vs. Kentucky Wesleyan (13-7, 9-5) at 1 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 7).