LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE
The last time Ashland University's women's basketball team lost back-to-back games was Jan. 10 and 15, 2015.
Determined to keep it that way, the No. 1-ranked Eagles outscored Davenport on the road 25-7 in the third quarter en route to a 83-51 victory on Saturday (Dec. 8) afternoon. Ashland improves to 8-1 overall and 3-1 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while the Panthers now are 3-7, 1-3.
Senior guard Maddie Dackin turned in her best game of the young season, scoring a career-high 23 points in just 22 minutes. She was 8-of-12 from the field, and 6-of-9 from 3-point range, posting a career-high in triples made, as well.
Also having a strong game was junior guard/forward Jodi Johnson, who added 22 points, a career-high 15 rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Since those back-to-back defeats nearly four full calendar years ago, the Eagles have gone 128-7 (.948) with an NCAA Division II national title, a D-II finalist finish, three GLIAC tournament championships and three GLIAC regular-season crowns.
THE TOP TEN
1. Giving Ashland 18 key minutes off the bench was sophomore forward Karlee Pireu, who scored a dozen points, grabbed six rebounds, and hit eight of 10 attempts from the free-throw line.
2. One of Saturday's biggest stat lines was Ashland's 50-31 rebounding advantage. And on Davenport's defensive glass, the Eagles outrebounded the Panthers, 22-21, leading to 20 second-chance points.
3. Junior guard Renee Stimpert dished out six assists on Saturday, moving her into second place on AU's all-time list with 449 career helpers. In the victory, the Eagles had 18 assists on 26 made field goals.
4. Ashland forced 24 Panther turnovers (20 in the final three quarters), scoring 26 points off those miscues.
5. One bugaboo for AU despite the victory continues to be turnovers. Ashland, which began the week leading the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, has turned the ball over 58 times in the last three games after doing so just 60 times in the first six contests.
6. A quick 8-3 Eagle lead turned into an 8-all tie just 3:13 in. Dackin's third triple early in the first quarter, which broke the deadlock, forced a Panther timeout. Dackin, who averaged 11.3 points per game this season prior to Saturday, hit four threes for 12 points in the game's first 10 minutes, as AU led 19-15 going into the second quarter.
7. Turnovers dominated the second quarter (Davenport had 10, Ashland had seven). A late Eagle surge allowed them to go into halftime with a 37-30 advantage. Ashland nearly took as many 3-point shots in the first two quarters (20) as the Panthers had total field-goal tries (22).
8. The Eagles pulled away to begin the third quarter, as three Johnson layups and a jumper from senior guard Brooke Smith extended the lead to 45-30 just less than three minutes into the period. In the third, Ashland shot 50 percent from the floor, kept Davenport to 14.3 percent, and forced seven turnovers.
9. Ashland is 4-0 against the Panthers in the last season-plus since Davenport joined the GLIAC.
10. For Davenport, Toni Grace scored a team-high 13 points, and Kenzie Wilkinson added 10.
UP NEXT
A nine-day break between games for finals week, then a 5:30 p.m. game on Dec. 17 at Kates Gymnasium vs. Notre Dame College.
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