ASHLAND — It’s pretty good to be constantly referred to as the “defending national champions.”
It’s even better when people start talking about the best team in Division II history.
The Ashland University women’s basketball team throttled the Indianapolis Greyhounds Monday night at Kates Gymnasium, 105-66. A victory that puts the Eagles at 12-0, but more importantly, keeps the longest active win streak in Division II alive.
AU has now won 49 in a row, tying North Dakota State’s run from Feb. 25, 1994-Dec. 15, 1995, for the second longest consecutive win streak. But their eyes are on a bigger number, 51, the record Washburn set from Jan. 26, 2005-March 11, 2006.
“We don’t really talk about the streak. It’s cliché, but it’s one game at a time, because if you overlook any opponent, they can come and get you,” said Ashland senior forward Andi Daugherty.
A key component of the dominant run the Eagles have been on is the contribution from “homegrown” talent.
Ten of 11 players on the roster are from Ohio, with 5-foot-8 sophomore guard Renee Stimpert, a Crestview product, and 6-1 senior Laina Snyder hailing from West Holmes.
“We feel like Ashland is in a really unique place, that high school girls basketball in Ohio is excellent, especially right around us, and we’ve been fortunate enough to get some really great players, and more than that, great people, great students, from close by that want to stick around and be part of Ashland,” said head coach Robyn Fralick.
In a lot of ways, the game was over before much time had run off the clock in the first half, as Ashland’s speed and presence in the post forge a big lead early.
There was a scary moment, however, when 5-10 sophomore guard Jodi Johnson went down after a collision near the foul line. She one-leg hopped off the court on her own, but news about the potential injury is still unknown, as Coach Fralick couldn’t comment about the incident after the game.
Johnson has been named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference South Division Player of the Week twice this season and was named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association Women’s Division II National Player of the Week.
The first-half gap continued to increase, as the Greyhounds didn’t have an answer to the dominant post play of Snyder and the needle-threading passing of Stimpert. Junior Brooke Smith led the vocal charge, constantly communicating with her teammates and sending AU to the locker room with a 63-32 lead.
The Christmas spirit had definitely engulfed the team, as they wore colorful socks aligned with the holiday season.
“Jodi Johnson likes her themed socks, and she was planning on wearing it, and the team got word, and we all just decided to put on some Christmas-themed socks,” said Daugherty.
“From CVS this morning,” added Sara Loomis.
Fralick understands that motivation can come from all different angels. And motivation is something you can’t get enough of when you’re ranked number one in the country.
“They were jamming to Maria Carey this morning at shoot-around, Maria Carey Christmas edition,” said Fralick.
AU will look to keep the win streak alive against Bellarmine, Saturday Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. at home.
Coverage of Ashland University Eagles athletics is produced in partnership with OhioHealth, the official sports medicine provider for Ashland University.
