Ashland crushes Tiffin 111-46 for its 57th straight victory, tying the Division II record
ASHLAND On a day when Ashland University was celebrating 50 years playing inside Charles Kates Gymnasium, the Eagle women’s basketball team make it a momentous occasion.
Six AU women scored in double figures as the Eagles ran roughshod over Tiffin University, 111-46, Saturday in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.
The win keeps defending Division II national champion Ashland undefeated on the season, 12-0 in the GLIAC South Division and 20-0 overall. It is also 57 consecutive wins for the Eagles, tying Winona State’s men’s basketball team for the longest winning streak in Division II history, regardless of gender. Winona State won 57 on a row from Jan. 13, 2006 to March 22, 2007. The Eagles' streak dates back to Nov. 11, 2016 in a 91-45 win over Cedarville, and includes a 37-0 record last season.
Against Tiffin, AU had no trouble establishing themselves early on. Ashland’s pressing defense was at its best early on as well, as the Eagles forced 13 first-quarter turnovers, resulting in 21 points and a commanding 34-13 lead at the initial break.
“I love the way we set the tone in the beginning,” said Ashland head coach Robyn Fralick. “They have good spacing and they back-cut and I thought we did a good job in our full-court (press) and our half-court having sustainable pressure.”
AU forced 43 turnovers against Tiffin and the Eagles accounted for 57 of their points off of those turnovers, something the team is quite adept at doing.
The hosts rode a 69-22 advantage into halftime with senior forward Laina Snyder scoring 12 points of her 14 points in just nine minutes of action in the half due to foul trouble.
Snyder's teammates stepped up their play in her place. Senior forward Andi Daugherty led all players with 25 points and added seven rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. Sophomore Jodi Johnson scored 17 points and was 3 of 3 on triples, with eight steals and five assists and senior Julie Worley (Hoover) came off the bench to toss in 11 points
“We’re the type of team that we know if someone’s not scoring as they’re normally accustomed to, there’s always someone who can step up and that’s not something we worry about ever,” Johnson said.
Fralick was able to utilize her bench freely in the contest and a number of Eagles made their presence known.
Sophomore Sara Loomis (Malvern) came off the bench to score go 10 of 10 at the charity stripe, scoring 14 points and grabbing a game-high eight rebounds. Freshman Karlee Pireu (Perry) added five points.
Ashland commanded the boards by a 39-23 margin, sank 22 of 26 free throws and connected on 41 of 76 floor shots.