SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota — The Ashland women’s basketball team just wasn’t itself on Friday night.
After 73 straight victories, the Eagles were due for a bad outing — it just came at the worst possible moment.
Central Missouri ripped off a shocking 20-5 burst in the second quarter to grab a 35-27 lead, and never lost it, pulling away from No. 1-ranked Ashland for a 66-52 stunner in the Division II women’s basketball national championship game.
According to CBS, the Eagles missed an incredible 23 layups in the game. Sophomore Jodi Johnson, Ashland’s National Player of the Year, managed just one basket and six points. AU, which averaged 100 points per game exactly coming into the Final Four, barely managed half that total.
Rod Serling wasn’t in the house, but coach Robyn Fralick’s team was surely stuck in the Twilight Zone.
It was frustrating, maddening and beyond bizarre.
For seniors Laina Snyder, Andi Daugherty and Julie Worley, and for the “Purple Swarm” fan base, it was a tough ending.
“We all wanted to make that play to get us back and it just wasn’t falling for us tonight. We all tried our hardest,” Snyder said. “I get so emotional because that’s what I’ll remember, my team. People can see how much fun we have together and how much love we have for each other.”
But what a wonderful, wild ride of record-shattering, stat-stuffing team performances from the Eagles throughout the year.
“These seniors are a once-in-a-lifetime group. I wish they’d never graduate. They gave us every single thing they had,” Fralick said. “They are the kind of people you want to raise your kids around. They are the kind of people you want to do life with.”
It was no easy matchup, as AU struggled to contain first-team All-American Paige Redmond, who was on fire during the tournament. That trend continued as the tournament MVP shot 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-7 from behind the arc, draining shot after shot while scoring a game-high 22 points to thwart AU at every turn.
“It was after our first game at regionals when I knew we were all in,” Redmond said. “We lost in the first round of our conference tournament and I think we needed to.
“So that’s the best thing that could have happened to us all season.”
Ashland started the game by hitting its first seven shots to open a 16-8 lead. The margin was 20-15 at the first-quarter stop, and it was 22-15 when the game turned suddenly. A series of turnovers and missed shots helped the Jennies gain control, and eventually a 35-31 halftime advantage.
In that second quarter, UCM shot 71.4 percent from the field compared to Ashland’s 41.7 percent.
AU finished 21-of-65 from the field (32.3 percent), including 14-of-51 after the initial burst ended up going 21-65 as a team for 32.3 percent and only made 4-of-21 treys.
“Our goal was to control the pace of play,” UCM coach Dave Slifer said. “Ashland is a tremendous team, extremely well-coached. We probably put them in a position they probably haven’t been in all year long.”
In the third quarter, Crestview graduate Renee Stimpert, who had 10 points, and Redmond traded triples and with two minutes left in the quarter it was 46-44. But Redmond simply couldn’t be contained, hitting a step-back trey to make it 49-44 heading to the final period.
The Jennies were in control most of the fourth. Ashland got within 51-48, but missed 10 of its first 11 shots in the period and simply could get no closer.
In the final three minutes, Megan Skaggs hit a dagger 3, followed by a full-court pass for an easy layup giving the Jennies a 10-point lead, 62-52, and the game.
“Our mentality throughout the year and throughout the game was, refuse to lose. And I really think that showed in the last two minutes. Especially for me, ‘cuz that’s when I decide to turn it on,” Skaggs said.
It’s the second national title for CMU, who won it all in ’84, and lost in the final the next year.
“Big congratulations to Central Missouri, they played great,” Fralick said. “One game doesn’t define us. The things and our purpose are bigger than winning and losing. Tonight I wished the ball bounced our way a few more times and it didn’t. That’s the way the game goes. Bitter sweet feeling because I’m so proud of them. And what they’ve been able to do over such a long period of time.”
For a team that averages 100 points a game, everything changes when there’s a scoring drought, and there was more than one in this contest.
“The ball didn’t go in the hoop, and I think, the way we play, so much of our offense and our defense is just speed. When the ball isn’t going in the hoop, we can’t set up our press and when they’re scoring we can’t get an outlet as fast,” said Daugherty, who had six points.
The Eagles forced 21 turnovers, but one of the country’s top players, Redmond, overcame it.
Snyder led the Eagles with 16 points, but it wasn’t enough.
“It wasn’t our game tonight. Central Missouri deserves credit, they played an unbelievable game, held us to half of our season average,” Daugherty said.
A season to remember: The win streak of 73 games was the best in Division II history, men or women, and it’s the fifth-longest win streak in NCAA basketball history, regardless of gender or level.
#1 ranked team in the nation all year.
Second undefeated regular season in a row.
Fralick was named Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II Coach of the Year, for the second year in a row, and her overall record stands at 104-3. The last AU coach to win the award was the legendary Sue Ramsey in 2011-12.
Sophomore sensation Jodi Johnson was named WBCA NCAA Division II Player of the Year.
Johnson led the nation in steals and was a first team All-American. She averaged 19.3 points per game on 66.2 percent shooting from the field. From behind the arc, Johnson was 60.9 percent, best in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), where she was player of the year as well.
Snyder became Ashland’s all-time leading scorer, breaking the 2,087 mark during the regular season. She was also a first team All-American.
For three years in a row, Ashland has won both the GLIAC regular-season and tournament titles.
Daugherty was on the WBCA honorable-mention All-America list for the second time (2015-16), and was on the first team last year.
Ashland is the first Division II team to average over 100 points per game for an entire season, with 100.3.
Stimpert set the record for most assists in a season for AU.
Johnson reached 1,000 points, which no sophomore has ever done before.
Daugherty reached the 2,000-point mark in her career at the final four game and sits third on Ashland’s all-time leading scorers’ list.
Daugherty and Snyder have played the most Division II basketball games with 138.
Ashland scored 3,644 points in a seaon, the most ever in any division.
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