SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota — One team stands in the way of Ashland University and back-to-back Division II women’s basketball national championships.

Sixth-seeded Central Missouri beat No. 7 seed Union (Tennessee) University 70-57 on Wednesday night to reach the title tilt Friday night at 8 p.m. against the No. 1-ranked Eagles (36-0).

“First off, I thought these kids played a tremendous game tonight. I enjoy being their coach,” Jennies coach Dave Slifer said. “We are going to the championship game, guys. Wow. Wow.”

UCM (29-3) led throughout thanks to their defense and junior guard Paige Redmond. The Eagles will have their hands full on Friday night at 8 p.m. dealing with the first-team All-American and the atmosphere the Jennies create — including a cheer squad, dance team and band join the crowd for a loud engagement.

Four Jennies finished with double-figure points led by Megan Skaggs with 15, Kayonna Lee added 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Kelsey Williams netted 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists. The balance was good, but UCM’s defense was the headliner, holding high-powered Union (which averaged 80 points per game) to a season-low 57 points. UCM also outrebounded Union 34-25.

Still, the Jennies will have a tough task dealing with Ashland and its daunting, 73-game winning streak.

“It’s what you dream about,” Slifer said. “I think the best text I got was from a retired coach who said ‘I am jealous of you. I never got to do it but I’m so proud of you guys’. And I thought that was just a great text because he was honest, because all of us want to be here. And whenever you’re done coaching and if you’ve never been here, then you never did get that chance and these kids are giving us that chance this year.”

The Eagles counter with a balanced attack led by national player of the year Jodi Johnson and a pair of seniors, Laina Snyder and Andi Daugherty, who have each scored 2,000 points in their respective careers. Snyder had 23 points and 20 rebounds in a 92-68 beating of No. 5-seed Indiana (Pa.) in Wednesday night’s Final Four. Daugherty added 21 points and seven rebounds.

“The one thing we talked about most before the game was rebounding,” Fralick said. “I felt like that was something we needed to do well.”

The Eagles did exactly that in the semifinal, forging a 49-26 rebounding advantage, including 16 on the offensive glass. The 92 points scored was actually below Ashland’s season average of 100 points per game, and even the 24-pound rout was less than the average margin of victory for the season — 34.

To even approach those astronomical season averages at the highest level of Division II basketball shows just how elite AU is playing — even against the best competition in the nation.

“They’re impressive in every aspect of the game,” IUP coach Tom McConnell said. “They just wore us down. We just didn’t have an answer inside, their running game was hitting on all cylinders, we couldn’t keep them from getting to the rim, and they knocked down some shots. We couldn’t get our defense set.

“The first quarter was their tempo, their pace, and we were playing too fast, taking too many quick, challenged shots. The second quarter was much better. But they’re just a terrific, terrific team.”

STREAKING: Ashland’s 73-game winning streak is 22 wins better than Washburn’s previous Division II women’s basketball record set 12 seasons ago. It is also 16 wins better than the Winona State men’s record set in 2007.

No team in Division II, men or women, has ever won as many games in a row as Ashland.

The Division III men’s record has already been eclipsed, as the Eagles are 13 games better than SUNY Potsdam’s 60-win mark set back in 1987. Who is next on Ashland’s list?

81 — Washington-St. Louis (DIII women’s basketball), 1998-2001.

88 — UCLA men’s basketball, 1971-74.

111 — UConn women’s basketball, 2014-17.

COACHING: Ashland coach Robyn Fralick was the top assistant to Sue Ramsey when the Eagles won the 2013 national championship. Fralick is an incredible 104-2 since taking over the post, and won last year’s national championship in her second season.

The last time Ashland lost was on March 12, 2016, an 86-60 defeat at home to playoff nemesis Drury in the Midwest Regional semifinal.

Coverage of Ashland University Eagles athletics is produced in partnership with OhioHealth, the official sports medicine provider for Ashland University.