A crowd of 1,762 packed Kates Gymnasium to celebrate Senior Night and the return of senior forward Kari Daugherty from injury, but Ohio Dominican nearly spoiled the party.

Ashland withstood a second-half surge by the Panthers (8-15, 5-15 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) that brought them within five points, pulling away in the final minutes for a 62-49 victory.

Daugherty was terrific in her return from a left knee sprain, coming near a double-double with a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds in just 21 minutes.

“We were trying hard to curtail her minutes a little bit just because it’s an endurance thing,” AU head coach Sue Ramsey said.

Daugherty was honored before the game along with fellow seniors Daiva Gerbec, Lindsay Tenyak, Ashley Dorner, Kaci Finfrock and Beth Mantkowski.

“These young ladies put a lot into this program,” Ramsey said.

The Eagles struggled shooting the ball, making just 41.4 percent (24 of 58) from the field and 21.1 percent (4 of 19) from behind the 3-point line.

“We missed some open shots,” Ramsey said. “If we knock down a few of those shots that we normally do, maybe it’s a confidence thing.”

That allowed ODU to come back from a 20-3 deficit early on to make it 45-40 in favor of the Eagles with 9:39 to play.

After that, AU went on a 10-0 run to take back control of the game.

“I’m proud of the way our team responded and found a way to win this game,” Ramsey said.

Sophomore guard Taylor Woods was crucial to the win, especially near the end when she drew several fouls that helped get the Eagles into the bonus and stretch out the lead.

Though she struggled from deep (1 of 7), Woods finished with 14 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the free throw line.

“She’s done a lot of growing up through the season and I thought that maturity showed,” Ramsey said.

Tenyak also struggled from outside (1 of 5) but still finished with nine points. Gerbec came near a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.

The Eagles were outrebounded for just the second time all year (37-35) and gave up 14 offensive rebounds to the Panthers.

Daugherty was efficient, going 7 of 12 from the field, 2 of 4 from deep and 2 of 2 from the free thrown line. At the beginning of the second half, she scored on three straight possessions to push the Eagles’ lead to 18 (40-22).

There were times when it was obvious she was a little rusty, including a dropped pass in the first half and an overthrown pass in the second.

“She was a little out of game rhythm,” Ramsey said.

Kacee Hockenberry had 13 points to lead the Panthers and Melissa Scherpenberg had a big game off the bench with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Ashland turned the ball over 15 times, including 10 in the second half.

Junior guard Alyssa Miller struggled offensively, scoring just two points on 1 of 5 shooting and dishing out two assists to four turnovers.

The Eagles still have two more regular season games to get back in synch with Daugherty in the lineup before postseason play, including a tilt 3 p.m. Saturday at Tiffin. A win would clinch AU’s second-straight GLIAC regular season crown and home-court advantage for the conference tournament.

“We’ll get back in synch,” Ramsey said.