On Thursday Feb. 13, the Ashland Women’s Basketball team hosted the Malone Pioneers in a matchup where the number one spot of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) separated them by only one and a half games.
Right from the jump, all of Kate’s Gymnasium could tell this was going to be a tight game and end in a classic finish. The first quarter was back and forth with a lot of defensive plays being made which resulted in no offensive rhythm for either team. The quarter ended in a low scoring 8-8 finish.
Then, Malone started to find a groove and took a four-point lead less than three minutes into the second. Ashland responded with a bucket on their end to cut it to two points but then Malone went on a 9-2 run and held a 23-14 lead with three minutes until the half. Malone would hold their lead to eight and headed to the locker room with a 25-17 lead.
The Eagles came out of the break with a fire as they went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to just one point. Then Malone quieted the rocking Kate’s Gym with a three-pointer that put the lead back to four. Ashland would hang with the Pioneers as Malone never got more than a six-point lead in the third quarter, but they also never gave up the lead. The quarter would end in just a two-point 39-37 Malone lead.
Ashland only found themselves down by two with four minutes on the clock when Senior guard, Morgan Yoder, hit a huge three-pointer that gave the Eagles their first lead since the first quarter. Malone went down and tried to answer with a three of their own but missed and Senior forward, Zoe Miller, tracked down the rebound and got a layup on the other end.
Malone would tie it up at 46 with 2:22 to go in the game. Miller then went on her own 4-0 run with only 30 seconds left when Senior forward, Hayley Smith, sealed the game with an and-one layup that lit Kate’s Gymnasium on fire. Ashland secured the win 53-46 and maintains their first-place spot in the G-MAC.
Smith gave the Eagles another double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds with her fellow forward in Miller adding 16 points and 5 rebounds. Ashland improves to 23-3 with a 15-1 conference record.
Ashland will travel to Tiffin for their next game to take on the Dragons with tipoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
