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In an exhibition game featuring the preseason national favorites in both NCAA Division I and Division II women's basketball, Connecticut defeated Ashland University, 119-56, on Sunday (Nov. 5) afternoon in Storrs, Conn.
The Eagles, who enter the 2017-18 season with the longest winning streak in the country, men or women, at 37 games, won the 2016-17 Division II national title. The Huskies advanced to the Division I Final Four a season ago, and has won 11 national championships since 1995.
In its first exhibition game against a D-I opponent this season on Oct. 29, Ashland lost at Ohio State, 110-80.
The Eagles were No. 1 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coaches preseason poll released on Oct. 31. UConn was the preseason No. 1 in Division I in the Associated Press poll released on Nov. 2.
Ashland was paced by senior forward Laina Snyder, who finished with a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds), and senior forward Julie Worley, who scored a team-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line.
For the Huskies, six players scored in double figures, led by Kia Nurse, who scored 21 points after hitting all seven shots from the floor, all four from 3-point range and 3-of-4 from the foul line. Both Azura Stevens (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Gabby Williams (11 points, 10 rebounds) finished with double-doubles.
Sunday's game also was shown live in Kates Gymnasium for a watch party, sponsored by Ohio Health, the official health care provider for Ashland University Athletics, in which a couple hundred Eagle fans looked on.
UP NEXT: The start of the 2017-18 regular season on Friday (Nov. 10) at 5:30 p.m. vs. Ohio Dominican at Cedarville, Ohio, in the G-MAC/GLIAC/GLVC Crossover.
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