The Eagles Online -- Ashland University Athletics

Eagles Women Get 20th Win, Stop Findlay, 76-62
February 21, 2004

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Greg Maddux couldn’t do it this past year nor could Roger Clemens. Forget C.C. Sabathia as well.

Winning 20 games is special. For a pitcher in baseball and for a women’s basketball team.

The Ashland University Eagles reached 20 victories on Saturday (Feb. 21) with a 76-62 win over Findlay at Kates Gymnasium. The last time the Eagles won 20 games was during the 1975-76 season when coach Ruth Jones led Ashland to a 20-6 finish.

This current group, coached by Sue Ramsey, still has a lot of basketball to play. Next Saturday (Feb. 28), AU will visit Hillsdale for the final regular season game. After that, comes a trip to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs. The first bid in school history to the NCAA Division II playoffs could be around the corner, too.

Ashland is 20-6, 11-5 and in first place in the GLIAC South Division. This was AU’s fifth consecutive win. The Eagles played one of their best games of the season in derailing a Findlay team (14-12/6-10) that’s trying to claim the third spot in the South, which would mean a trip to the conference tournament.

Against Findlay, AU shot 57.4 percent (35-61) from the field and outrebounded the visitors, 39-31. The Eagles were able to open up the game and run, which amounted to an 18-10 AU edge in fastbreak points. Ashland had a 48-30 lead in points in the paint and the Ashland bench outscored the UF relief corps, 30-12.

In short, it was hard to find much fault with anything the Eagles did. AU led at halftime, 37-26 and was on top by 20 points, 61-41, with 10:53 remaining in the game.

Freshman guard Amber Rall connected on 8-of-13 shots on the way to a game-high 16 points. Senior forward Alanna Buurma had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the second consecutive game. Junior center Jackie Mason also had 14 points.

The Eagles received contributions from just about everywhere on Senior Day. Freshman guard Melissa Howe came off the bench to score eight points. She popped a pair of three-point field goals. Senior point guard Isolina Brescia had eight points and nine assists. Sophomore guard Dee Bethune also finished with eight points.

Findlay got 14 points from center Zsofia Horvath and forward Michelle Vorst. The first time the teams played this year, in Findlay, Horvath had 34 points in a 90-86 UF victory. Horvath hit 7-of-14 field goal tries and pulled down five rebounds this time.