The Ashland women’s basketball team started their season strong going 2-0 with new head coach Robyn Fralick. 

Her official debut with the program took place at the Great Lake Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday Nov. 13 

“She (Coach Fralick) is a great coach,” said junior Kelsey Peare. “She is very intense and gets down to business which makes practices go at a fast pace.” 

After starting the game with a 10-0 run, the No. 15 ranked Eagles never fell behind, defeating Cedarville 62-43.

“We went down with a different attitude this year than I think we did last year,” said junior Rachelle Morrison. “We have a lot more experience and a lot more confidence so I think its good to come away with two wins by 20 plus points.

Sophomore Laina Snyder carried her success from freshman year into the 2015-2016 season tallying a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Snyder also added five steals and two blocks against the Cedarville Yellow Jackets.

Peare began her junior season with 12 points, scoring ten of those 12 in the first quarter. Junior Alex Henning, scored nine points for the Eagles along with three assists and five steals.

“It was a fun first game,” said Peare. “We all came out really pumped to play and I think adrenaline was going. My goal was just going out there to help the team as much as possible.”

Sophomore Andi Daugherty helped the Eagles defensively, collecting eight rebounds and three blocks for the day.

Defense seems to be a key focus for the Eagles, as they came out on top of the Yellow Jackets, outrebounding them 41-31 while also forcing 21 turnovers.

On Saturday, the Eagles faced the home team Alderson Broaddus, defeating the Battlers 88-65.

Once again, Snyder led the team in points scoring 23 for the day along with ten rebounds making this her second consecutive double-double for the year.

Daugherty added 15 points to the Eagles’ score board and continued to find success defensively claiming nine rebounds and two blocks.

Junior Suzy Wollenhaupt came into the game tallying ten points of her own for the Eagle and senior guard McKenzie Miller had her game-high of seven assists and three steals to add along with her 11 points.

“We have two seniors this year, they are great but we also have a lot of underclassmen and younger girls,” said Peare. “Everyone works hard and we just all try to lead each other and we just all contribute to the leading aspect of the team. We just all listen to each other really well and we love each other so it makes it a lot easier.”

Ashland outdid Alderson Broaddus beating them in rebounds, 46-21, claimed 50 points in the key compared to their opponents 24 and shot 63.6 percent from the field. 

Coaching aside Robin Fralick is her husband, Tim Fralick who spent the last five years rebuilding the men’s basketball program at Ashland High School while also working to earn his teaching certificate through AU.

The Eagles say they are a great husband and wife duo, complimenting and balancing one another out very well.

“They’re hilarious coaching together,” said Peare. “Fralick is very defense oriented and Tim is very offense oriented so they really even each other out but they are both really basketball smart and they love the game so its been going really well.”

Hoping to continue their successful start, the Eagles look to host their home opener against Sothern Indiana on Saturday Nov. 21.

“A lot of the community keeps saying, “We can’t wait to watch you!” So we are really excited to play in front of the fans and I mean, that’s what its all about is making an impact on people so we are really excited to open up at home,” said Morrison. “We played Southern Indiana in the Tournaments last year, so we are looking forward to playing them again.”