ASHLAND — A week ago, the Ashland University women’s basketball team was in an overtime battle on the road at Grand Valley State. The unbeaten streak and perfect season were all on the line, and the Eagles pushed the pressure aside to pull through with a victory.
After the game, questions arose about the grind and toll the regular season had taken on the team, if there was a possible chink in the armor and if certain coaching strategies had been figured out.
The critics were quickly silenced when the Eagles won by 58 points on the road against Purdue Northwest two days later and again proved their dominance at Kates Gymnasium Thursday night. The Eagles beat Saginaw Valley State 90-57. While it was a team performance, the night belonged to AU’s Laina Snyder.
Before the game, Snyder was honored at halfcourt for reaching the 2,000-career-point mark. But Snyder had her eyes on a bigger prize.
Midway through the second quarter, Snyder made a basket that placed her not only on an elite scorer list, but at the very top as AU’s all-time points leader. The magic number was 2,088 and the total grew throughout the game. In the program’s 51-year history, no one has scored more points than Snyder.
“I’ve been on a great team for four years, and I’ve played against two great post players for four years, I wouldn’t be the player I am without that,” Snyder said. “Practice is our hardest competition.”
The only way an upset was going to happen to the Eagles was with the Cardinals shooting lights out and the dominant home team scorers sent to the bench with foul trouble.
AU’s first possession was a turnover, and they found themselves down 4-2 early. The Eagles picked up their third team foul with 7:13 left in the first quarter.
And none of it mattered.
Jodi Johnson and Renee Stimpert hit 3s to extend the Eagle lead to 11-4, and a 13-0 run by the Eagles followed en route to a 26-9 first-quarter bulge. The margin improved to 51-26 at halftime and reached 70-35 with 3:16 showing in the third period.
Jodi Johnson lead by example with steals, hustle plays and points.
“I never want us to be where we are experiencing a sense of relief,” said AU coach Robyn Fralick. “I want us to be experiencing joy, and enthusiasm, and challenges. We’re just really excited about winning the league outright.”
AU stretched its winning streak to 64 games and improved to 27-0 overall, 19-0 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The final home and regular season game for the Eagles is Saturday at 1 p.m. at Kates Gymnasium.
Coverage of Ashland University Eagles athletics is produced in partnership with OhioHealth, the official sports medicine provider for Ashland University.
