The Ashland University Women’s Basketball team is winding down from what looks to be another successful season.

The Eagles have managed to pull off a long winning streak following an early-season loss to Southern Indiana.

But the team continues to focus on how they can better themselves ahead of regional and national tournament competition.

“I’ve been focusing on what the team wants, and taking that day-by-day approach,” Hallie Heidemann said.

Heidemann is one of several upperclassmen on this year’s team, along with fifth-year senior Karlee Pireu, junior Annie Roshak, and senior Erin Daniels.

For Roshak, she’s been seeing her third campaign in a different light.

“I think the biggest thing has been just having fun,” she said.

Roshak, like many on this year’s squad, sees the fun in a team-first orientation.

And one analysis through the mentality is how AU prepares for each game.

“We are just focusing on the team in front of us,” head coach Kari Pickens said.

Taking the game-by-game approach and looking ahead to the next opponent has helped Ashland through their schedule as the regular season draws closer to an end.

Another thing that the Eagles have developed is chemistry. For Pickens, the mix of seasoned players and newcomers has been instrumental in the group’s success.

“I feel like this team has come together,” she said. “We have held ourselves to a high standard and bought into the team-first mentality.”

With how well the Purple and Gold have been playing, memories of the 2020 season come into play when the Eagles won 31 straight, including a GLIAC championship, before being sent home due to the pandemic.

One of the players on that group, Roshak, was a freshman, now also sees an unfinished business mindset.
“Two years ago, we ended on a high of winning a conference championship,” she said. “Last year, we fell narrowly short of another GLIAC trophy.”

The 2021 season was the last in the GLIAC for Ashland before transferring to the GMAC. With a new conference and new opportunities, the team has found new opponents and old rivals.

For Heidemann, the transition is a valuable learning experience.

“It’s been a new opportunity to show the conference and our opponents what AU women’s basketball is all about,” she said.

With a few games left until the conference tournament, which starts on March 1, the Ashland Eagles Women’s Basketball Team continues to prove that they will always be a force to be reckoned with.