LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE
In the 2017-18 NCAA Division II women's basketball record book, the word "Ashland" appears 50 times.
On Thursday (Jan. 4) night in Houghton, Mich., Ashland University's women's basketball team didn't add to that count - the Eagles just moved up to the top of one of the more impressive lists in D-II women's hoops history.
The top game on the Division II women's basketball calendar on Thursday saw No. 1-ranked Ashland defeat No. 13-ranked Michigan Tech, 103-68, for its 51st consecutive win – tying the Eagles with Washburn for the longest winning streak in the history of Division II women's basketball.
Ashland is 14-0 overall and 6-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and is alone in first place in the entire conference and the South Division. The Huskies are 11-2, 5-1.
Another milestone reached on Thursday was achieved by senior forward Laina Snyder, who became the first Eagle women's basketball player to grab at least 1,000 career rebounds. With 12 caroms on Thursday, Snyder has 1,006 in her career.
The Eagles are averaging 100.1 points per game through the first 14 outings of 2017-18 – the latest point in a season Ashland has averaged triple figures.
TEN TAKEAWAYS
1. Sophomore guard Jodi Johnson filled the stat sheet against Tech, scoring a game-high 22 points and adding nine rebounds, six assists and a 13-for-13 showing from the foul line. Senior forward Andi Daugherty was right behind in the scoring column with 21 points on 9-of-13 from the field. Junior guard Maddie Dackin (12) and sophomore guards Sarah Hart (season-high 11) and Renee Stimpert (10) made it five Eagles in double-digit scoring.
2. Ashland shot 52.1 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free-throw line, and forced 27 Huskies turnovers. The Eagles also kept Tech to 5-of-24 from beyond the arc.
3. The Eagles are used to quick starts, and they got another one on Thursday night to the tune of scoring the game's first 11 points. By the first-quarter media timeout, Ashland had extended its early lead to 21-7, while hitting eight of its first 11 shots from the field and all three of its 3-pointers.
4. The first quarter saw the Eagles up by a 28-13 count, and all the usual hallmarks were on display – 11-of-18 from the field, 4-of-5 from the arc, 2-of-2 from the line, six forced turnovers and six assists.
5. The second period was when Snyder hit the four-figure mark in rebounds, and while the turnovers evened out (13 each), Ashland took a 45-30 lead into the break.
6. An 8-2 run to start the third quarter allowed the Eagles to go up by 21 points at 53-32, and by the end of the third, the lead was 78-52.
7. In the second half, the Eagles scored 58 points and turned the ball over just five times. That allowed Ashland to score in triple figures for a program-record four consecutive games, and at least 95 points in a program-record eight straight contests.
8. Thursday's victory is Ashland's eighth against a nationally-ranked team during the winning streak. The 35-point margin of victory against the Huskies is the second-most vs. a Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top 25 team in the last season and a half.
9. Leading the Huskies in points was Michelle LaFave, who posted 17 off the bench. Kelli Guy added 14 points.
10. Ashland has won 13 consecutive games in the state of Michigan. Other winning streaks extended on Thursday were 48 in a row in the regular season, 32 in a row in the GLIAC regular season, a school-record 26 in a row away from home, a school-record-tying 23 in a row in the regular season away from home and 16 in a row in the GLIAC regular season away from home.
UP NEXT
A chance at the outright Division II women's hoops consecutive wins record on Saturday (Jan. 6) at 3 p.m. at Northern Michigan.
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