ASHLAND – After a tough GLIAC title game on Sunday that went down to the wire, the Ashland University women’s basketball team wasted no time making it clear that they were ready to win in the opening game of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament.
Boosted by an enthusiastic home crowd in Kates Gymnasium, the No. 1 ranked Eagles opened the game with a 12-2 run and went on to beat Malone University 72-40.
Ashland (32-0) forced 6 turnovers and held Malone to 1-of-12 shooting in the first quarter with their pressure defense on their way to a 25-8 lead at the close of the first stanza.
“I thought we came out really prepared and set the tone early,” said Andi Daugherty. “It’s hard to stay focused. It’s something that we need to get better at because as the tournament goes on, we’re going to keep continuing to play better teams.”
“In that environment against the No. 1-ranked team, you have to get some breaks early and hit some shots,” Malone coach Rick Tice said. “Maybe if it’s 25-15 or something at the quarter we got a little momentum, but that’s a credit to them. They came out ready to play, and that’s why they’re where they’re at.”
A 10-0 run to start the second quarter put Ashland up 35-8 before Malone chipped away at the lead with a 12-4 run to end the half.
The lead hovered around 20 points throughout the second half until an 11-0 run through the middle of the fourth quarter helped Ashland close out the Pioneers on their way to the second round of the tournament.
The Eagles held Malone to 10-of-58 shooting for the game and forced 16 turnovers, but Ashland also shot below its normal levels. The Eagles were held to 44.3 percent from the floor and 25 percent from behind the arc, while their season numbers are 51.7 percent and 41.3 percent, respectively. Their point total — 72 — was their lowest scoring output of the season and far below their nation-leading 95.7 points per game.
“I thought we defended really well and rebounded really well,” said Ashland head coach Robyn Fralick, “The shooting part, we’ve shot really well (and) that’s something that’s been a big strength throughout the season, but tonight we relied heavily on our defense and our rebounding, and those are things you have to rely on every night.”
Ashland held Malone’s leading scorer Rachel Goddard to just 5 points, 10 below her season average.
“Goddard’s just so important to what they do,” Fralick said. “She’s really good. She has a lot of assists, and she’s a good scorer. The focus for us was to keep her out of the paint, and I thought we did that really well. I thought we did a really good job guarding as a unit and pressuring.”
Malone was led by junior forward Baylen Dyrlund who scored 9 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Senior forward Hannah McCue added 8 points and grabbed 13 boards for the Pioneers.
The balanced Eagle offense was led by Daugherty with 15 points, 8 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals. In the process, the junior passed sister and current Eagle assistant coach Kari (Daugherty) Pickens for sixth place on Ashland’s all-time scoring list with 1,426 career points.
Laina Snyder added 10 points, 3 assists, 3 steals and 12 rebounds. Snyder’s 861 career rebounds move her into third place on the all-time list.
Jodi Johnson scored 11 points in just 12 minutes of play due to foul trouble. Julie Worley added 13 points and 8 rebounds off the bench and freshman guard Renee Stimpert chipped in 9 points and dished 4 assists.
Ashland will face the winner of the Grand Valley State vs. Ursuline game at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Last year’s Eagles lost in the second round of the Regional Tournament after only losing one game in the regular season. The returners from that team are determined to change the team’s fate this season.
“I think we came in more focused from the beginning (compared to last year’s NCAA tournament opener). We have a lot of returners from last year’s team, and we want to make sure what happened last year doesn’t happen this year again,” Daugherty said.
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