The No. 6 ranked Ashland University women’s basketball team could not have hoped for a better start Thursday night at Kate’s Gymnasium, outscoring Lake Erie College 23-0 in the opening quarter.

Aided by the quick start, the Eagles soared to an 86-55 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory on Senior Night.

“To hold a team to not scoring in the first quarter, I was really proud of our defensive effort,” said AU head coach Robyn Fralick. “I thought that was the catalyst for us for the game.”

Ashland (27-1, 21-1 GLIAC) did their work inside in the first quarter, holding a 16-0 advantage in the paint over the Storm.

“That’s a strength for our team, finding ways to score in the paint,” said Fralick.

Building upon their lead in the second quarter, the Eagles headed into the locker room with a 40-14 advantage.

A strong defensive effort by the Eagles led to Lake Erie (8-20, 5-17 GLIAC) shooting 16.7-percent in the opening half.

Continuing its hot hand into the second half, AU made 11 of 16 shots in the third stanza.

Ashland headed into the final period ahead, 65-36.

Seniors McKenzie Miller and Jamie Sobczak described Senior Night as bittersweet and special, but know that there is still plenty of basketball yet to be played.

“I think we can do something special with this team,” said Miller. “We have some good players. We have some great team chemistry, and as long as we play Ashland basketball, I think we can do some damage in the tournament.”

“We have the capability to go very far, but we have to take it one game at a time, and focus on the next game,” said Sobczak.

Miller and Sobczak’s versatility and leadership has been a guiding force for Ashland.

“They’ve both played different roles, they’ve played different positions.” said Fralick. “They’ve started, they’ve come off the bench. And they’ve always done whatever the team has needed, for that season, for that time. That’s really hard to find. I’m really proud of them for that, and for being so invested into the team.”

The Eagles got a strong overall effort from Andi Daugherty, who scored 16 points. She added 11 rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Laina Snyder contributed a game-high 17 points and six rebounds. Julie Worley chipped in 16 points and Kelsey Peare added 10.

Next for Ashland is the GLIAC tournament, where they are set to host a quarterfinal game on March 1, versus Northern Michigan (13-15, 12-10 GLIAC).  Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.