ASHLAND — ESPN recently came to Ashland University to stream an Eagle football game from Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field.
On Jan. 11 at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m., as part of the 36-game NCAA Division II Basketball Showcase, ESPN will return to campus to stream Ashland’s women’s and men’s basketball games against Grand Valley State at Kates Gymnasium. The initial 28-game showcase schedule was released on Thursday (Oct. 5) afternoon, with eight other games to be flexed in late in the regular season.
In 2016-17, Ashland’s women completed Division II’s first 37-0 women’s or men’s basketball season, scoring a D-II women’s hoops-record 3,456 points in the process. It was the program’s second national championship. Ashland will go into 2017-18 with the longest winning streak (37 games) of any basketball team, men or women, at any level of the NCAA.
Last season, Grand Valley State’s women were 24-8, with three of those losses coming to the Eagles – in the regular season, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship game and the D-II Midwest Regional semifinals.
The Eagle men are coming off a 19-10 season a year ago, reaching the GLIAC Tournament title game for the first time. Ashland has won 63 games over the last three seasons, the most for the program in a three-season stretch since 1989-90 to 1991-92 (69).
A year ago, the Laker men were 16-13 and reached the GLIAC Tournament, losing in the first round.
“Division II’s continued collaboration with ESPN provides an exciting opportunity to share the accomplishments of our student-athletes with a broad national audience,” said Terri Steeb Gronau, vice president of Division II. “We are thrilled to continue to promote the efforts of men’s and women’s basketball student-athletes on the court, in the classroom and in their communities.”
ESPN3 is available on the ESPN app.
Coverage of Ashland University Eagles athletics is produced in partnership with OhioHealth, the official sports medicine provider for Ashland University.
