2005-06 Women’s Basketball Season Review: Eagles Remain Atop GLIAC South, Return to NCAA Tournament
April 10, 2006

By Paul Carmany, AU Sports Information

The Ashland University women’s basketball team had captured two straight Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) South Division titles entering the 2005-06 season. Many doubted the Eagles’ chances to claim a third consecutive championship, though. Three of coach Sue Ramsey’s five starters from the previous season had graduated and the Eagles were picked to finish third in the division in the GLIAC preseason coaches’ poll.

Throughout the early part of the season, it appeared that some of those doubters may have been justified. The Eagles won just two of their first seven games and dropped their first two GLIAC encounters.

Ashland utilized its home court advantage at Kates Gymnasium to get its season back on track. AU’s first four wins came on its home hardwood. For the year, the Eagles went 12-1 at home and are now 36-5 at Kates Gymnasium in the last three seasons.

The Eagles’ initial two victories of the year came in impressive fashion at the AU Holiday Inn Express Thanksgiving Classic. The Eagles ran over Salem International, 94-37, on Nov. 26. Amber Rall, a 5-7 junior guard, became the 10th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points in the win. AU recorded the second best single-game field goal percentage (64.4 percent) in school history. That was a sign of things to come, as the Eagles led the nation in field goal percentage, finishing the year at 47.8 percent.

The following day, Ashland recorded an important regional victory by a 75-66 count over Quincy. The Hawks would go on to qualify for the NCAA Division II Tournament for the fourth straight season.

Lisa Graue, a 5-11 sophomore guard/forward was named the GLIAC South Division Player of the Week for her efforts at the Thanksgiving Classic. She became the first of four Eagles to garner this honor during the season. Rall won the award on Dec. 13, Catherine Portyrata, a 6-1 junior forward, captured it on Jan. 16 and Lynsey Warren, a 6-2 sophomore forward, claimed the award on Feb. 6. Ashland was the only conference team to have four different GLIAC Player of the Week honorees during the season.

The Eagles made a pair of out-of-state trips over winter break. They went 1-1 at the Dec. 20-21 Hoop ‘N Surf Tournament in Honolulu. Ashland then garnered the runnerup trophy at the Dec. 29-30 Pitt-Johnstown Mountain Cat Tournament. Rall was included on the all-tournament team.

Despite the Eagles’ progress, they held a 6-7 record when the calendar page turned to 2006. It was then that AU caught fire. The Eagles went 15-4 the rest of the way. Even the Ashland setbacks were notable. AU trimmed a 19-point second half deficit to one at Gannon on Feb. 16, only to drop a 91-89 decision in the end. DeAndria Bethune, a 5-8 senior guard, went over the 1,000-point mark during the comeback. Rall matched the fourth-best single-game scoring performance in school history with a career-high 34 markers. The Eagles’ other three losses came at the hands of the NCAA Division II national champion, the Grand Valley State Lakers.

Down by 13 points during the second half of a home meeting with Hillsdale on Feb. 2, AU roared back to claim a 58-55 win. Warren hit a free throw with 2.7 seconds left to help the Eagles seize control of the GLIAC South Division lead.

In the Eagles’ final regular season game (Feb. 25), they were able to win at Findlay’s Croy Gymnasium for the first time in the last nine tries, 74-61. AU wrapped up its fourth GLIAC South Division title in the last five seasons on the strength of its best-ever conference record, 13-4.

For the third straight season, AU earned the right to host a GLIAC Tournament quarterfinal game on Feb. 28. This year, the Eagles’ opponent was Wayne State. Ashland claimed its third victory over the Warriors by an 88-79 count. That win was the Eagles’ 20th of the season. This is the first time in program history that AU has enjoyed three consecutive 20-win seasons. The triumph also earned Ashland a spot in the GLIAC Tournament semifinals.

AU was matched up with Lake Superior State in the semifinal tilt at Grand Valley State on March 3. The Eagles erased an early deficit and won, 87-80, to advance to the GLIAC title game for the first time since 1998.

In that contest, AU met host Grand Valley State. The Lakers jumped out to an 18-2 lead. That deficit proved to be too great for the Eagles to overcome and Ashland took home the GLIAC Tournament runnerup trophy. Bethune and Graue were named to the all-tournament team.

Despite the defeat, Ashland earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional Tournament for the second time in the last three years. AU was the seventh seed in the tournament hosted by Drury University in Springfield, MO. The Eagles were matched up with a familiar foe, Grand Valley State. The second-seeded Lakers again jumped out to an early lead and went on to an 87-59 lead in their first step toward the national title.

Ashland finished the year with a 21-11 record. The senior class of Bethune, 6-1 forward Maria Dehne and 6-4 center Nicole Wright graduated with the best record of any class in program history, 75-44.

Rall was a first team All-GLIAC South Division pick and a second team Daktronics All-Great Lakes Region honoree for the second straight year. She set AU single-season records for field goals made (218) and points (568) and is now second on Ashland’s all-time scoring list with 1,503 points with one year remaining to play. She ranked second in the GLIAC in scoring (17.8 ppg.) and was sixth in free throw percentage (82.1 percent.) That free throw percentage was the fifth best single-season figure in program history.

Graue joined Rall on the first team All-GLIAC South Division list and was additionally a GLIAC All-Defensive team player. She was the only sophomore in the conference to earn either of those honors. Graue pulled down the fourth most rebounds in school history, 248. She ranked second in the conference in that category and was third in both steals (2.3 spg.) and blocked shots (1.3 bpg.)

Bethune leaves Ashland as the program’s 11th-leading career scorer (1,082 points). She nailed 80 career three-pointers, the third-best total in program history. Bethune additionally connected on 77 percent of her career free throw attempts, leaving her third on Ashland’s all-time ledger.

Portyrata, who set a school record for single-season field goal percentage in her first year at AU (64 percent), shot 60.4 percent from the field as a junior. That figure ranked second in the GLIAC and eighth in the nation. She was AU’s second-leading scorer (12.0 ppg.) and rebounder (5.8 rpg.)

Warren joined the Eagles after setting for two years for the AU volleyball team. She made an immediate impact, leading all of Ramsey’s bench players in scoring (7.8 ppg.) and rebounding (5.1 rpg.) Warren ranked ninth in the GLIAC with a 50.3 percent mark on her field goal attempts.