Heid Leaves Eagles Women Seeking for Win
January 25, 2003

The game of Heid-and-Seek played by the Hillsdale College women’s basketball team leaves plenty of teams disoriented.

The Ashland University Eagles couldn’t be described that way on Saturday (Jan. 25) at Hillsdale, but they also couldn’t find their way into the win column. Stephanie Heid ( pronounced hide), Hillsdale’s explosive point guard, scored 22 points, hauled in nine rebounds, posted five assists and added four steals as the Chargers subdued the Eagles, 73-52 at HC’s Jess Phillips Arena.

Hillsdale is 16-2, 9-1 and in first place in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference South Division. Ashland is 8-11, 3-7 in league action.

Heid is regarded as one of the GLIAC’s top playmakers and she was able to break down the AU defense on numerous occasions. However, the Eagles did coax the HC guard into seven turnovers. Those miscues helped keep the Eagles within striking distance for most of the game. For the game, AU had 25 turnovers and the Chargers gave the ball away 20 times.

An inconsistent offensive game killed any hopes of an AU comeback. Only junior forward Alanna Buurma scored more than 10 points – she had 14 points to go with six rebounds. Ashland shot 32.7 percent (18-55) from the field. The Eagles held their own on the boards, getting outrebounded, 36-35. AU also had one of its better days at the charity stripe, hitting 15 of 17 tries (88.2 percent).

The home team led at halftime, 37-27. Hillsdale outscored the Eagles, 8-2 in the first three minutes of the second half and was in front, 45-29 with 17:18 remaining. The closest the Eagles got after that was 10 points, 47-37 with 13:38 to play.

AU got inspired play from senior point guard Kristy Ritchie, who had eight points, six rebounds and six steals. Freshman Maria Dehne came off the bench to snare five rebounds.

The Eagles are back in action this coming Thursday (Jan. 30) when they host Gannon at 5:30 p.m.