Supporting Cast Leads AU Women Past Northwood
January 10, 2004

As well as Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain could pitch, there was a reason Braves fans used to chant, “Spahn and Sain and pray for rain.”

Those old Braves could never really count on the rest of their rotation. That’s not a problem with the 2003-04 Ashland University women’s basketball team.

Junior center Jackie Mason and senior forward Alanna Buurma are at the front of the AU rotation. But when those two don’t produce like they normally do, the Eagles have enough depth to “rain down” points on the opposition.

That was the case Saturday (Jan. 10) in Midland, MI, where the Eagles won their fifth consecutive game, pounding Northwood, 72-56. Ashland is 12-3 overall and 3-2 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. The Timberwolves are 4-10 and 1-6.

Foul difficulty limited Mason (she finished with four personals) to 15 minutes. She didn’t score a point and pulled down five rebounds. Buurma scored just one point , but did have eight rebounds and five assists. Mason averages 11.0 ppg., and 9.4 rpg., and Buurma is good for 11.1 ppg., and 7.6 rpg.

Even with those two contributing less than usual, the Eagles controlled the ‘Wolves. AU led at halftime, 42-32. The Eagles forced the home team into 31 turnovers. In points off of turnovers, Ashland had a commanding, 32-13 edge.

Junior forward Beth Everman came off the bench to post a double-double. She had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Everman was one of five Ashland players to reach double digits in scoring. The leader was senior guard Isolina Brescia with 18 points. She also had five rebounds and five steals.

Sophomore guard Dee Bethune had 12 points, junior guard-forward Angie Heintz fired in 11 points and rookie guard Amber Rall contributed 10 points.

Devon Hellstrom, Porsche Reaves and Brittany Stedman had 13 points apiece for the Timberwolves.

AU held a 46-38 edge on the glass. Ashland shot 38.9 percent (17-43) from the floor, but that didn’t help Northwood much, the ‘Wolves checked in at 38 percent (19-50).

The Eagles will play their next two games at home and both contests are with GLIAC North Division teams. On Thursday (Jan. 15), Saginaw Valley State will be at Kates Gymnasium and next Monday (Jan. 19), Michigan Tech will visit Ashland.