On its quest claim the top spot in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference South Division, the Ashland women’s basketball team has endured some bumps and bruises – both literally and on the scoreboard. With a one game lead over Malone, the Eagles may not be able to afford any more blemishes.

Every game from now until the end of the regular season is crucial, and AU rose to the challenge last weekend with wins over Findlay and Hillsdale at home. Ashland has now won five games in a row and six of its last seven, placing it atop the GLIAC South at 13-6 in the conference and 15-8 overall.

Findlay (10-12, 7-11)

With leading scorer and leading rebounder Suzy Wollenhaupt on the bench for 16 minutes in the second half because of foul trouble, Ashland needed stellar second-half performances from its two veterans to get a hard-earned 88-80 win over Findlay.

Junior guard Taylor Woods and senior guard Alyssa Miller combined to score 31 points in a wild back-and-forth last 20 minutes.

Miller also reached the career milestone of 1,000 points on a free throw with 27 seconds remaining.

“What she’s done for this program; the all-time winningest player – 100 wins now – to have career assist records in every category, 541 assists and now 1,000 points,” AU head coach Sue Ramsey said. “She is the epitome of a team player.”

The Eagles led by two points (38-36) at halftime, but the game seemed poised for either team to take with both teams going on big runs (Findlay 9-0; Ashland 16-2) in the first half to take near double-digit leads.

The second half was close and exciting throughout. Ashland and Findlay combined to shoot 58 percent from the field in the final period. 

During a stretch of 3:31 – from 12:43 to 9:12 – the Oilers and Eagles made 10 of 12 field goal attempts, with the lead changing hands nine times.

Wollenhaupt, who finished with 12 points, four rebounds and three blocks despite playing less than half the game, picked up her third foul with 17:34 left and her fourth with 10:33 remaining. She fouled out at the 3:21 mark, less than 20 seconds after checking back into the game.

“That’s going to happen,” Ramsey said. “She’s such a dominant force for our team that people don’t want her on the floor.”

Even though Miller and Woods produced the majority of the offense in crunch time, the younger Eagles showed the ability to knock down shots in big moments.

Ashland got contributions from six different players in the second half, including two huge 3-pointers from freshman guard Emma Hostetler and seven points by sophomore guard McKenzie Miller.

Hostetler finished with nine points and the younger Miller had 11 points and five rebounds.

A Nikki Gunning 3-pointer and Karli Beasley layup over three AU defenders put the Oilers up 62-58 with 8:45 remaining. 

Just when it seemed like things might be falling in Findlay’s direction, Ashland banded together to take the lead back. Alyssa Miller hit a jumper; down two, Hostetler drained a “3;”sophomore guard Jamie Sobczak scored from the baseline; McKenzie Miller made a jump shot. The young Eagles would not be denied.

“Our team didn’t get rattled,” Ramsey said. “They stayed composed, they continued to huddle and talk to each other on the court.”

With 2:01 remaining, McKenzie Miller finally put Ashland up for good, draining a 3-pointer to make the score 80-77. The Eagles made their last eight free throws to close the game.

Along with her 20 points, Alyssa Miller added 11 rebounds, five assists and five steals. 

“I knew there was a chance tonight to get my 1,000th point, but I prayed the whole hour before the game that I could be a team player today,” Miller said.

Hillsdale (11-12, 10-9)

Saturday’s game was a different story, as a close first half gave way to a dominant second half by Ashland that resulted in an 83-63 victory. 

The Eagles trailed 35-34 at halftime, but a 25-0 run over eight minutes quickly turned another potential nail-biter into a blowout.

AU held Megan Fogt, the top rebounder (15.8 rpg) and second-leading scorer (19.9 ppg) in the GLIAC, to just eight points and seven rebounds.

Offensively, Wollenhaupt got back into the fold with 20 points, 14 rebound and four assists in 37 minutes of action.

Alyssa Miller kept climbing in career points, adding 17 to go along with five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Freshman guard Kelsey Peare had a breakout performance, pitching in a career-high 16 points on 5 of 6 shooting, 10 rebounds and seven assists. 

McKenzie Miller was the only other Eagle in double digits with 11 points and junior Melanie Poorman added nine points and six rebounds.

After shooting 6 of 13 from deep in the first half to stick with Ashland, Hillsdale, cooled off in the second half, finishing 9 of 23 from behind the 3-point line and 22 of 67 (33 percent) from the field overall.

The Eagles were colder than they were on Thursday, but still shot near 47 percent (29 of 62) for the game. They also outrebounded the Chargers, 38-26.

Alex Moynes was the Chargers’ leading scorer with 15 points.