For the full PDF version of the Midwest Regional game notes, go to http://goashlandeagles.com/sports/wbkb/2015-16/files/MWREGWBKB.pdf.
Opening Tip
The magic number is down to six.
Ashland University's women's basketball team will play host to the 2016 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional tournament at Kates Gymnasium on March 11, 12 and 14 - and can earn three of the six wins it needs for a second national championship in four seasons at home.
The No. 3-ranked Eagles (30-1) will begin regional play on March 11 at 5 p.m. against Ursuline (25-3) in a matchup of head coaches who were former AU assistants - Ashland's Robyn Fralick and Ursuline's Shannon Sword.
The Eagles come into the regional tournament on a nine-game winning streak, and on a 29-game home winning streak - the second-longest active streak in Division II behind Limestone's 42.
Ashland's 30 wins are third-most in program history (37 in 2012-13, 33 in 2011-12).
Eagles On The Air
- All Ashland Midwest Regional tournament games can be heard on WRDL-FM 88.9.
- Head coach Robyn Fralick appears on "The Early Bird's Word" on WRDL every Friday morning at 8:15 a.m. during the season.
A Look Back At The GLIAC Tournament Final Four
In the 68-59 semifinal victory over Walsh, sophomore forward Andi Daugherty led the way for AU with 23 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Freshman guard Maddie Dackin came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Sophomore forward Laina Snyder added 11 points, a team-high seven boards, two assists and two steals.
The Eagles made 26-of-34 free throws (76.5 percent) and turned 16 Cavalier turnovers into 16 points.
The 70-53 title game win over Grand Valley State saw Daugherty post her 14th career double-double – 17 points and 10 rebounds – en route to earning GLIAC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors.
Daugherty ended the game with 900 career points.
Senior guard McKenzie Miller scored 12 points, and has 803 for her career – and conference titles as a freshman and a senior.
Joining Daugherty on the all-tournament team were Snyder (eight points, 10 boards, two steals) and junior point guard Alex Henning (nine points, six rebounds, two assists, three steals).
Ashland finished the game 12-for-12 at the free-throw line, and with a decided 44-28 rebounding advantage. The Eagles kept GVSU to 29.6-percent shooting from the floor.
"It was a really fun weekend," said Ashland head coach Robyn Fralick, "to be here at Kates, to have that little bit of time where you can really pause and kind of soak it in and celebrate winning the tournament. Cutting down the nets - there's a real joy that's saturated in that. It was fun to see them just really enjoy that moment."
Ashland Against The Field
The Eagles have played two of the other seven teams in this year's Midwest Regional field in 2015-16 - Grand Valley State and Saginaw Valley State.
Ashland defeated the Lakers on the road, 72-65, on Dec. 3, then took a 70-53 decision at home on March 6 to win the GLIAC Tournament title.
In their only meeting of the season on Dec. 12 at Kates Gymnasium, the Eagles defeated the Cardinals, 72-57.
"The Midwest is excellent," Fralick said. "You look, top to bottom, these are consistently some of the best teams in the country.
"It's a really tough regional. It's a really tough regional to make the tournament, it's a really tough regional once you do. You look at all the teams, they all have great records. It will be fun. It's what March Madness is about."
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The following are games Ashland has played against this year's Midwest Regional field all-time in NCAA Division II tournament play:
|
DATE |
OPPONENT |
RESULT |
LEVEL |
|
3/16/15 |
Lewis (neutral) |
L, 76-83 |
Midwest final |
|
3/10/12 |
Quincy (HOME) |
W, 71-69 |
Midwest semi |
|
3/10/06 |
GVSU (road) |
L, 59-87 |
Midwest quarter |
Ashland's NCAA Tournament History
The Eagles are 14-4 all-time with a national championship in the NCAA Division II postseason, and their .778 winning percentage is second-best in D-II all-time to North Dakota State's .783.
2015 (2-1)
Midwest Regional quarterfinal - Ashland 81, Southern Indiana 61
Midwest Regional semifinal - Ashland 70, Michigan Tech 51
Midwest Regional final - Lewis 83, Ashland 76
2013 (6-0)
Midwest Regional quarterfinal - Ashland 70, Indianapolis 56
Midwest Regional semifinal - Ashland 67, Michigan Tech 54
Midwest Regional final - Ashland 72, Wayne State 63
Elite Eight - Ashland 74, Gannon 63
Final Four - Ashland 66, Western Washington 54
Championship Game - Ashland 71, Dowling 56
2012 (5-1)
Midwest Regional quarterfinal - Ashland 87, Maryville 62
Midwest Regional semifinal - Ashland 71, Quincy 69
Midwest Regional final - Ashland 78, Wisconsin-Parkside 65
Elite Eight - Ashland 71, Alaska Anchorage 51
Final Four - Ashland 77, Bentley 62
Championship Game - Shaw 88, Ashland 82 (OT)
2006 (0-1)
Midwest Regional quarterfinal - Grand Valley State 87, Ashland 59
2004 (1-1)
Midwest Regional quarterfinal - Ashland 82, Ferris State 69
Midwest Regional semifinal - Lake Superior State 95, Ashland 82
Eagles Enjoy Postseason Home Cooking
In their last 20 home postseason games (GLIAC Tournament and Midwest Regional tournament), the Eagles are 19-1:
|
DATE |
OPPONENT |
SCORE |
|
3/6/16 |
GRAND VALLEY STATE |
W, 70-53 |
|
3/5/16 |
WALSH |
W, 68-59 |
|
3/1/16 |
NORTHERN MICHIGAN |
W, 68-54 |
|
3/4/15 |
NORTHWOOD |
W, 77-60 |
|
3/5/14 |
MALONE |
L, 54-56 |
|
3/18/13 |
WAYNE STATE |
W, 72-63 |
|
3/16/13 |
MICHIGAN TECH |
W, 67-54 |
|
3/15/13 |
INDIANAPOLIS |
W, 70-56 |
|
3/10/13 |
FINDLAY |
W, 68-49 |
|
3/9/13 |
MICHIGAN TECH |
W, 81-68 |
|
3/6/13 |
NORTHERN MICHIGAN |
W, 68-35 |
|
3/12/12 |
WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE |
W, 78-65 |
|
3/10/12 |
QUINCY |
W, 71-69 |
|
3/9/12 |
MARYVILLE |
W, 87-62 |
|
3/4/12 |
FERRIS STATE |
W, 66-50 |
|
3/3/12 |
MICHIGAN TECH |
W, 80-70 |
|
2/29/12 |
NORTHERN MICHIGAN |
W, 76-56 |
|
2/28/06 |
WAYNE STATE |
W, 88-79 |
|
3/1/05 |
FERRIS STATE |
W, 71-70 |
|
3/2/04 |
NORTHERN MICHIGAN |
W, 95-82 |
AU One Of The Best Going For A While
Through March 6, Ashland is tied with Limestone for the most wins by a Division II women's basketball program in the last six seasons:
|
SCHOOL |
W-L |
PCT. |
|
SCHOOL |
W-L |
PCT. |
|
ASHLAND |
162-32 |
.835 |
|
Bentley |
160-32 |
.833 |
|
Limestone |
162-28 |
.853 |
|
Clayton State |
158-31 |
.836 |
More History Possible For Soph Duo
Three players in Ashland women's basketball history have scored at least 1,000 points in back-to-back seasons. Snyder and Daugherty have the opportunity to join that group:
|
NAME |
SEASONS |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
Kari Daugherty |
2011-12/2012-13 |
1,414 |
|
Amber Rall |
2005-06/2006-07 |
1,152 |
|
Daiva Gerbec |
2010-11/2012-13 |
1,019* |
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
||
|
Laina Snyder |
2014-15/2015-16 |
952 |
|
Andi Daugherty |
2014-15/2015-16 |
900 |
|
* - Gerbec missed 2011-12 season due to injury |
||
"They're really just impact players," Fralick said. "It's scoring, it's rebounding, it's defense, and then there's a lot of things that extend way beyond the boxscore that they impact the game on - leadership, toughness. They've both had great years."
Freshman Guards Continue Solid Play
During the Eagles' nine-game winning streak, freshman guards Brooke Smith and Dackin have seen more prominent roles off the bench. And they are producing:
|
DATE |
OPPONENT |
MIN. |
PTS. |
REB. |
AST. |
TO |
|
2/6/16 |
MALONE |
24 |
9 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
2/11/16 |
FINDLAY |
23 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
|
2/13/16 |
WAYNE STATE |
28 |
7 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
|
2/18/16 |
at Ohio Dominican |
34 |
12 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
|
2/20/16 |
at Tiffin |
29 |
6 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
2/25/16 |
LAKE ERIE |
21 |
6 |
3 |
7 |
4 |
|
3/1/16 |
NORTHERN MICHIGAN |
33 |
6 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
|
3/5/16 |
WALSH |
47 |
20 |
6 |
4 |
1 |
|
3/6/16 |
GRAND VALLEY STATE |
30 |
11 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
PER-GAME AVERAGES |
29.9 |
8.9 |
3.4 |
3.2 |
1.0 |
"They're tough and they're fearless," Fralick said. "They play both ends of the court, they defend, they both make big, big shots. They've just really found a lot of ways to impact the game, and it's helping our team."
Free Throws Coming Around Once Again
Ashland's free-throw percentage for the season is 74.6 percent. The Eagles, annually one of the top teams from the charity stripe in Division II, have been stronger at the line of late, hitting 59-of-71 (83.1 percent) in the last four games.
"It's so important, because so many points in the postseason are a grind," said Fralick. "We know each other well. Often, there's great defensive teams that are still playing, so being able to step up to that free-throw line and knock down free throws it critical."
Eagles Earning Their 'W's
While Ashland is one of the top teams in Division II in terms of scoring margin per game at 18.3 points per victory, that doesn't mean the Eagles haven't been tested:
- At Grand Valley State on Dec. 3, AU trailed 63-59 with 3½ minutes to play before a late 13-0 run propelled it to victory.
- At home against Michigan Tech on Jan. 9, Ashland led 60-58 with 3:01 remaining and 65-63 in the final minute before scoring the game's final four points.
- On Jan. 21 at Findlay, the Eagles and Oilers were tied at 56 in the final minute of the third quarter, and it was a 63-61 Ashland lead with 5:41 left in the final period, but AU pulled away to win, 78-69.
- At Wayne State on Jan. 23, Ashland was behind by a 63-58 count in the fourth quarter, then survived two Warrior buzzer-beaters to win in double overtime.
- Against Ohio Dominican home on Jan. 28, the Eagles survived an 11-0 fourth-quarter run by the Panthers to win, 66-62.
- At the Panthers on Feb. 18, Ashland turned a 49-34 third-quarter deficit into a 74-65 victory.
- In the GLIAC Tournament semifinals against Walsh, the Cavaliers led 59-58 with three minutes to go before the Eagles scored the game's last 10 points.
"We've had a lot of battles," Fralick said. "The GLIAC is really good. We've had a lot of games that are back's against the wall, come-from-behind, down late, or another team makes a surge at the end.
"We've played 31 games, so you're going to get a whole variety of experiences at this point. We've been in a lot of different scenarios, and are battle-tested."
The Notebook
- Snyder, Daugherty and/or Julie Worley have led or co-led Ashland in rebounds in 64 of 65 career games.
- Snyder is averaging 9.6 rebounds per game in the last 14 contests.
- Junior guard Kelsey Peare has 15 assists and just four turnovers in the last four games.
- Ashland has kept opponents to a single-game field-goal percentage of 46.4 or less in 15 consecutive games.
NCAA Rankings
Through March 6, the Eagles are third in Division II in assists per game (19.8), fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.34-to-1), tied for sixth in field-goal percentage (47.0), 11th in scoring margin per game (18.3) and 15th in rebounding margin per game (8.3).
Snyder is seventh in the country in steals per game (3.19).
AU
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