Women's Basketball Falls At No. 5 Ashland 73-51 In G-MAC Quarterfinals

OVERVIEW - #5 ASHLAND

SCORE: Ashland Eagles 73, Northwood Timberwolves 51

RECORDS: Northwood (18-12), #5 Ashland (29-3)

LOCATION: Kates Gymnasium – Ashland, Ohio

RECAP: Top-seeded and No. 5 nationally ranked Ashland rides hot start and strong finish to earn 73-51 win over fourth-seeded Northwood Women's Basketball Friday night (March 7).

GAME STORY

• One of the most important stretches of the game came in the opening seven minutes, as a combination of strong 3-point shooting and defense allowed Ashland to start fast.
• Ashland went 5-5 from beyond the arc while holding Northwood to 10 points in that stretch. That give the Eagles a 21-10 lead.
• AU eventually led 24-11 after one quarter.
• The Eagles got their lead up to 26-11 when Northwood made their first run of the night, scoring eight of the next 10 points to make the score 28-19.
• Ashland's lead stayed at nine at halftime, leading 35-26.
• The Timberwolves cut the lead down to seven in the third quarter twice, but the Eagles responded both times with immediate field goals.
• Ashland's lead stood at 50-42 heading to the final quarter.
• The key stretch of the game came around the eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter. Northwood got the lead down to six at 50-44 when the Eagles got red-hot once again.
• AU made back-to-back triples on the two possessions to get the lead right back to 12.
• Much like the start of the game, those two triples started a stretch were Ashland made five straight 3-pointers.
• That shooting keyed a 19-3 run that turned a six-point lead for the Eagles to a 69-47 advantage with under two minutes to go.
• Ashland went on to win by 22, which matched their biggest lead of the night.

GAME STATS

• FG PERCENTAGE: Ashland .433 (26967), Northwood .396 (19-48)
• 3-PT PERCENTAGE: Ashland .438 (14-32), Northwood .300 (3-10)
• FREE THROW PERCENTAGE: Ashland .200 (1-5), Northwood .625 (10-16)
• REBOUNDS: Ashland 39 (15 offensive), Northwood 32 (Six offensive)
• ASSISTS/TURNOVERS: Ashland 21/10, Northwood 6/14

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Lea Holmes: 17 points, five rebounds
• Maeve St. John: Nine points, seven rebounds, three steals
• Ella Miller: Seven points, eight rebounds

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Northwood won the first game between the two teams, taking a 69-58 victory in Midland.
• Three-point shooting was the key to both games. In the first meeting, Ashland went 7-30 from beyond the arc (23.3 percent). In tonight's game, the Eagles were 14-32 (43.8 percent).