The Ashland women’s basketball team stormed its way through the regular season and Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament before moving onto the National Tournament, but the bid for back-to-back national championships came up short.
The top-ranked Eagles (36-1) struggled to find their shot over the final 30 minutes of play and suffered a 66-52 loss to the sixth-seeded University of Central Missouri in the NCAA Division II National Championship Game at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota Friday night.
Ashland knocked down only 21 of its 65 attempts (32.3 percent) and just four of its 21 three-point tries (19 percent) against Central Missouri. Conversely, Central Missouri converted 26 of its 52 attempts from the field on the way to the upset win.
Ashland entered the National Championship Game with five players averaging in double figures, but the Eagles had just two double-digit scorers against Central Missouri, Laina Snyder (16 points) and Renee Stimpert (10).
Although the Eagles pulled down 16 offensive rebounds, they could not consistently turn those second-chance opportunities into points. Additionally, the Eagles committed 19 turnovers, had 17 personal fouls and only 12 assists in the game.
Ashland averaged only 15.3 turnovers per game during the season and had a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Friday’s loss to Central Missouri was the Eagles’ first defeat in the regular season or playoffs since they suffered an 86-60 setback to Drury in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Semifinals on March 12, 2016.
