No. 1 Eagle Women Fall In Road Tilt To No. 15 Lakers

No. 1 Eagle Women Fall In Road Tilt To No. 15 Lakers

LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE

In a contest for first place in the early-season Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference South Division standings, the No. 1-ranked Ashland University women's basketball team lost on Thursday (Dec. 6) night at No. 15 Grand Valley State, 94-61.

The Eagles are 7-1 overall and 2-1 in the GLIAC, while the Lakers are 7-1, 3-0.

Thursday night marked the end of some impressive Ashland winning streaks. The Eagles had won 30 consecutive road games, two shy of the NCAA Division II women's basketball record, as well as 69 straight games in the regular season.

 

THE TOP TEN

1. Ashland turned the ball over four times in the game's first two-plus minutes, as Grand Valley State jumped out to a 9-0 lead. After the first 10 minutes, the Lakers led 24-10, hitting half of their shots from the field.

2. A pair of 3-point field goals from senior guard Maddie Dackin cut the Eagle deficit to 26-16 early in the second quarter, then a triple from freshman guard Hallie Heidemann made it a 28-19 game. At the second-quarter media timeout, however, the Lakers' lead had been worked back to 14 points at 38-24.

3. By halftime, Ashland trailed 47-30, and while the Eagles hit seven shots from downtown in the first 20 minutes, GVSU made 54.3 percent from the field, and turned 12 AU turnovers into 13 points.

4. The Lakers extended their advantage to 23 points at 58-35 out of the second third-quarter media timeout, and by the end of the third, Ashland's deficit was 63-43.

5. Four Ashland players scored in double figures – junior guard Renee Stimpert (12 points), Dackin (11), junior guard/forward Jodi Johnson (10) and junior forward Sara Loomis (10). Stimpert added six assists, giving her 443 career helpers, four away from tying Sara Whitis (447) for second place on AU's all-time list.

6. For Grand Valley State, Jenn DeBoer finished with a game-high 32 points, making 12-of-19 from the floor and 6-of-11 from beyond the arc. DeBoer also collected four assists, three rebounds and two steals.

7. Also for the Lakers, Cassidy Boensch added 19 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots; Victoria Hedemark went for 14 points, and Natalie Koenig added 12.

8. The Lakers shot 55.7 percent from the field, and 54.2 percent from 3-point range. GVSU turned 19 Eagle turnovers into 23 points.

9. Ashland connected on 40 percent of its shots from both the floor and 3-point range, and the Lakers boasted a 37-30 rebounding margin.

10. Thursday marked Ashland's first loss in the state of Michigan since March 16, 2015 – the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional championship game at Michigan Tech vs. Lewis.

 

UP NEXT

Saturday (Dec. 8) at 1 p.m. at GLIAC foe Davenport (3-6, 1-2).

 

 

AU

WBKB/DS