Keeping their undefeated record, the Ashland University women’s basketball team faced Saginaw Valley State Saturday afternoon, defeating the Cardinals 72-57.

The Eagles improve to 8-0 overall and claimed their third consecutive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win of the season.

The Cardinals hold a 4-3 record for their season and currently remain half a game behind Michigan Tech for first place in the GLIAC North.

“Saginaw is a very good team,” said head coach Robyn Fralick. “They are a very physical team but we found a way to win and found a way to grind it out.”

The Eagles had a slow start to the game. The first four points were scored by Saginaw before sophomore Andi Daugherty scored the first basket for the Eagles along with the next two baskets making the score 9-6, Cardinals.

“The game of basketball is full of challenges and surprises,” said Fralick. “We knew coming in that Saginaw was going to be a really good team and we were going to be a good matchup. We hang our hat on our defense and rebounding and I thought we did that today.”

Bringing the Eagles out of their rut was sophomore Laina Snyder who scored immediately following the timeout break.

Snyder is tied for third in the GLIAC for rebounds per game averaging 9.7 after pulling down 41 in the last three games of the season.

Senior McKenzie Miller scored twice for the Eagles not long after Snyder’s first hoop, making the score 12-14, Cardinals, with 20 seconds left in the first quarter.

With four seconds left on the clock, Miller scored big again for the Eagles sinking a three-point bucket at the buzzer. The Eagles came ahead 15-14 to start the second quarter.

“It was definitely a momentum changer,” said Miller. “Honestly when I let go, I just knew.”

Miller is fourth in the GLIAC in field-goal percentage at 60.4 percent and 3-point field goal percentage at 53.1.

The beginning of the second quarter was all about the Eagles’ defense. The teams hard work on the Cardinals side of the court allowed AU to score their own points off fast breaks and steals.

“It we trust ball movement and we guard and we make people take tough shots, the game opens up naturally on its own,” said Fralick. “Our defense got a lot better. We were letting them get straight to the rim and straight to the paint at the beginning of the game and once we tightened that up and got more aggressive, that’s when I thought the game opened itself up for us.”

Junior Kelsey Peare ran the court on the offensive side of the game by making outstanding rebounds and hustle plays, which kept the ball in the Eagles hands.

The Eagles continued their lead half way through the second quarter, 25-18.

Daugherty led AU in points, scoring 12 in the first half followed by Miller with nine and Snyder with eight.

At the end of the first half, the Eagles held the Cardinals at 35-22.

The Eagles open the second half strong, scoring two quick baskets, although the Cardinals pushed back scoring nine points making the score 39-31 half way through the quarter.

Despite the Cardinals attempted comeback at the start of the second half, the Eagles continued to push forward.

At the conclusion of the third quarter the score was 54-38. It was all Eagle ball as they only allowed the Cardinals to score seven points compared to their 15.

Daugherty with 19, Snyder with 18 and Miller with 16 all continued feed off one another’s success and led AU in points throughout the entire game.

“Just seeing that they have so much success already just proves how good of players they are,” said Miller. “I learn from them and I am two years older than them. They both are great for our team and great for our program.”

Keeping their drive and lead for the duration of the game, the Eagles were able to come out on top once again, defeating the Cardinals to maintain their undefeated record.

The team will look to next compete at their Holiday Inn Express Tournament on Dec. 19 at Kate’s Gymnasium.

“We’ve got a lot of practice time that we don’t always get when we are in conference play,” said Fralick. “So our goal is to use that practice time to improve.”