COLUMBUS — A perfect season is now one win away from a national championship crown for the Ashland University women’s basketball team.
During a five-minute stretch in the second quarter, the Eagles went on a 19-5 run to pull away from the Harding Bison on the way to a 90-77 win at Wednesday night’s Division II Final Four at Ohio Dominican.
“Harding’s a really good team, they play really hard, they compete. It was obviously a game of runs and different momentums. I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” Ashland coach Robyn Fralick said.
The No. 1 ranked Eagles (36-0) are in the Division II title game for the third time in six seasons and will play Virginia Union at 7 p.m. Friday. AU is trying to win the program’s second title in five seasons.
“We’re really, really excited to play in the national championship game,” Fralick said.
After combining for 50 points in Tuesday’s win over West Texas A&M, Ashland’s two All-Americans, Laina Snyder and Andi Daugherty, combined for 48 points Wednesday. Snyder scored 25, grabbed eight boards, dished six assists and swiped three steals. Daugherty added 23 points and four rebounds.
“Andi and I are two very big competitors. We go in with that mentality of that this is what we came here for, and we just attacked it. This is a big spot that we don’t want to lose,” Snyder said.
“You come to this stage, you have to be prepared,” Daugherty said. “Three years of experience now, I have complete confidence in Laina and myself to carry this team, and I think we are doing a good job of it in this tournament.”
The teams opened with an evenly played first quarter. Snyder scored nine points and Daugherty chipped in with eight as the Eagles opened a 27-23 lead after the first.
Halfway through the second period, Ashland held on to a slim 31-29 lead. Its pressure defense forced seven turnovers in the quarter and sophomore Maddie Dackin knocked down four 3-pointers as the Eagles pulled away to a 55-37 halftime lead.
Ashland led by as many as 28 in the third quarter before holding off a Harding run to close the game.
The Bison scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 14 before Daugherty hit a layup on an assist from Julie Worley. A’ndrea Haney converted a 3-point play to cut the led to 13 with 4:37 left.
But Daugherty hit a 3 from the top of the key as the shot clock ran down to push the lead back to 16. The Bison outscored Ashland 16-7 in the final stanza but AU was able to hold on for the 13-point win.
“There’s a lot we can take from that and learn but at the end of the day we found a way to make plays,” Fralick said. “We got stops, we got some rebounds and at the end of the day we got a win and continue to play again.”
Ashland shot 50 percent from the field and hit 10-of-22 3-pointers.
Harding was led by Caroline Hogue with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Senior A’ndrea Haney added 13 points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Jodi Johnson (13 points) and Kelsey Peare (11 points) also scored in double figures for Ashland. Freshman Renee Stimpert, a Crestview product, followed up a strong game Tuesday night with five assists and two rebounds.
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