The Ashland University women’s basketball team is ready for their chance to crown themselves as 2025 Midwest Regional Champions on Monday, March 16.
After knocking off the Northern Michigan Wildcats on Saturday, March 15 by a final score of 68-45, the Eagles are just one of two teams remaining for the midwest title. Their opponent is a very familiar foe: the Grand Valley State Lakers.
Similarly to Ashland, Grand Valley State has had a dream season coming off a loss in last year’s regionals to the Ferris State Bulldogs. The Eagles lost in the regional semis, while the Lakers fell in the regional finals. Both teams have avenged last season’s disappointment with dominant records up to this point. The Ashland Eagles sit at a 32-3 record, riding a 26-game win streak. They’ve been getting the job done defensively, as the Eagles have 11 games this season where they’ve allowed less than 45 points.
But, despite how incredibly easy it has looked for the Eagles at times, it has been an even easier campaign for the Lakers. The Lakers have won 34 of their 36 games this season, and none of their wins have been by single digits. 23 of the Lakers’ victories have been by a margin of 25 points or more and in nine of those games, they scored at least 100 points. The Lakers have been dominating their opponents on both ends of the floor all season long.
These two teams met earlier in the season, way back on November 21 in Allendale, Michigan. The Lakers took care of the Eagles, easily dispatching them 67-42. In this matchup, the Eagles did a decent job defensively, holding the offensive juggernaut to just 67 points. It was the Eagles offense that really made them pay. They scored only 42 points, and the biggest culprit was the high number of turnovers. The Eagles found 23 turnovers in this game, which resulted in 23 easy points for the Lakers. One of the biggest reasons the Lakers were able to force so many turnovers was their lethal full court press. In the November matchup, the Eagles did a decent job of combatting the press; they just struggled to get their shot off once they broke the full court defense and made it into their front-court.
Turnovers have been the number one hole that the Eagles coaching staff and players have been trying to improve on the entire season. While the Eagles have done a decent job protecting the basketball throughout their 26-game win streak, that will be the major key as they try to upset the second ranked team in the nation.
The Eagles are looking forward to this contest, as they understand the history of the matchup, as well as the stakes for this season. When asked about making it this deep into the tournament, Assistant Head Coach Jenna Kotas said, “We are all just really excited to be in this position. We’re going to go out there and play our style of basketball that we’ve been playing all season long.”
Both the Eagles and Lakers matched up a couple of seasons ago in the Midwest Regional Final in 2023. Ashland hosted the tournament that season and came away with a thrilling 61-58 win. The Eagles have four players who were on the roster from that undefeated 2023 National Championship team, with Hayley Smith, Zoey Miller, Morgan Yoder, and Sarah McKee all now playing key roles for this year’s team.
Conversely, the Lakers have seven players who fell to the Eagles in 2023 in Hadley Miller, Ellie Droste, Nicole Kamin, Rylie Bisballe, Lexi Plitzuweit, Abrie Cabana, and Paige Vanstee.
The 2025 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Final between the Ashland University Eagles and Grand Valley State Lakers will take place on Monday, March 17. The Lakers, yet to lose a home game this season at 18-0, will host this contest at the GVSU Fieldhouse. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from Allendale, Michigan. To watch this game, you can visit https://greatmidwestdigitalnetwork.com/. You can also visit https://wrdlfm.com/ for Ashland’s coverage of this pivotal game.
