LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE
THE TURNING POINT: Ashland outscored Indianapolis 34-13 at the end of the second quarter and beginning of the third to pull away.
STAT OF THE GAME: Junior center Laina Snyder finished with 29 points, 14 rebounds, six steals, three blocks and two assists.
With both No. 5 Ashland University and Indianapolis going through the early part of the 2016-17 women's basketball season without a loss, something had to give on Saturday (Nov. 19) afternoon at Kates Gymnasium.
The Eagles, however, weren't the ones to give, as they improved to 3-0 following an 88-66 win over the Greyhounds (3-1). Thanks to a third win in as many games at home to begin the new season, Ashland is 92-11 (.893) in its last 103 games at The Kates, and has won nine straight regular-season non-conference home matchups.
The Eagles jumped out to a 9-0 lead in less than two minutes to begin the game, and led 21-12 with four minutes left in the opening quarter. The Greyhounds rallied, however, to cut the Ashland lead to 23-19 after the first 10 minutes.
AU's lead was 29-27 heading toward the halfway point of the second quarter, then a 12-4 run boosted that advantage to 42-31 at the half.
The Eagles upped their lead to 23 points at 63-40 inside of the four-minute mark of the third quarter and never looked back.
Junior center Laina Snyder, fresh off scoring her 1,000th career point in the previous game, led all scorers with 29 points and all players with 14 rebounds. She was 14-for-22 from the field and added six steals, three blocks and two assists.
Junior forward Julie Worley came off the bench for 14 points and five rebounds in 18 minutes, and freshman guard Jodi Johnson posted 13 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals.
Yet another junior forward, Andi Daugherty, chipped in with eight points, five rebounds, six assists and five steals. She is 16 points away from becoming the 19th player in program history to reach 1,000 in a career.
Ashland, which led Division II in assists per game in the early going with 30 per game, had 26 on 36 field goals on Saturday. The Eagles also out-rebounded Indy, 46-36.
The Eagles began the week with the most wins (146) and second-best winning percentage (.864) in Division II women's basketball since the start of the 2011-12 campaign.
UP NEXT: Wednesday (Nov. 23) at 5 p.m. at Gannon.
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