Easy might not be the right word to describe the Ashland women’s basketball team’s season so far. Comfortable, however, is one that fits.

Coming into Saturday’s game against Ferris State, the top-ranked Eagles had won all seven of their games by an average of 27.7 points.

The Bulldogs (2-3, 1-1 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) never gave them that comfort, making them sweat in a 72-62 victory. According to Ashland head coach Sue Ramsey and her team, that might be a good thing.

“[Junior forward] Ashley [Dorner] made a great comment in the locker room,” Ramsey said. “She said, ‘I think we needed a game like that.’”

After the Eagles (8-0, 2-0) took a 40-25 halftime lead, the Bulldogs went on a 22-6 run over the first 11-plus minutes of the second half to cut the lead to four.

It looked like the well might have finally run dry for Ashland.

After shooting just under 60 percent from the field Thursday night against Grand Valley State—including a 71 percent clinic in the first half—the Eagles couldn’t buy a bucket.

They made just 4 of 18 field goal attempts to star the second half.

Senior forward Kari Daugherty, who came in shooting over 60 percent and averaging over 25 points per game, was held without a field goal over that stretch.

“It happens,” Ramsey said. “But, as [Daugherty] said in the locker room, it’s not the Kari Daugherty show. It’s a team. And we have a great team.”

As great teams do, Ashland responded.

Sophomore guard Taylor Woods cut to the hoop and made a reverse layup off of a baseline inbounds play to stop the bleeding with 8:14 left.

On the next possession, junior forward Daiva Gerbec grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back.

By the time junior guard Alyssa Miller spotted up and drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key less than three minutes later, the Eagles had gone on a 13-3 run to bump the lead back up to 16 at 66-50.

“There was a lot of extra effort at that point in time,” Ramsey said.

Daugherty, who struggled shooting from the field all afternoon (5 of 19), completed a double-double when she made a pull-up jumper with two minutes remaining.

It was her 25th double-double in a row, breaking an NCAA Division II record.

“I’m just a little bit in awe of it to tell you the truth,” Ramsey said. “I’m very thankful she’s on our team.”

Daugherty finished with 12 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists. All of her assists came in the first half as the Bulldogs tried to frustrate her with double teams.

A host of Eagles picked up the slack offensively.

Gerbec scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed five rebounds.

She, Miller (13 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds) and Woods (12, 4, 5) combined to score 11 of the 13 in the crucial run.

Dorner (6 points, 3 rebounds) and junior guard Noelle Yoder (6 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds) also made some big shots off the bench.

Miller and Woods looked like dual point guards down the stretch, finding open players and creating for themselves against Ferris State’s fierce 2-3 zone defense.

“It’s pretty much interchangeable,” Ramsey said. “Anybody can grab it, go with it and run the show.”

The game was a rematch of last year’s GLIAC championship, which Ashland won 66-50.

Despite the fact that Ferris State is without last year’s GLIAC freshman of the year Christina Branch due to a knee injury, the Bulldogs still gave the Eagles their best shot.

Sarah DeShone (20 points, 8 rebounds), Hannah Hoffman (12, 10) and Ashley Rando (14, 4) made it hard on Ashland at both ends.

“They played a great game, they played hard,” Ramsey said. “I was very impressed with their hustle.”

After five games in a row at home, the Eagles now head back on the road.

They face GLIAC foes Wayne State (Wednesday) and Saginaw Valley State (Saturday) this week before heading to No. 6 Indianapolis on Dec. 14.

Ashland returns home Dec. 17 for a clash with Northwood that begins at 7:30 p.m.