Who said the women’s basketball team was going to wait until the season started to make things exciting?

Saturday, the Eagles knocked off the University of Dayton 79-77 on a buzzer-beater 3-pointer by senior guard Lindsay Tenyak.

While the game was an exhibition and does not count towards the team’s overall record or regional standing, the result was meaningful.

Head coach Sue Ramsey, who is beginning her 18th season at the helm for the Eagles, previously coached at Dayton for eight seasons.

Also, Ashland senior forward Kari Daugherty played at Dayton for two seasons before transferring.

After Dayton center Cassie Sant made a jump shot with 52 seconds remaining, the Eagles, ranked No. 1 preseason in Division II, trailed 77-72.

Tenyak drilled a 3-pointer out of a time out to cut the lead to one with 29 seconds left, and Ashland took advantage of a missed free throw and a UD turnover to get two possessions in which AU failed to convert.

A foul by junior forward Ashley Dorner led to another missed free throw by the Flyers with four seconds left, giving the Eagles one more chance.

Junior guard Alyssa Miller found Tenyak open in the corner and she drilled her fourth “3” in the final 6:31 to give the Eagles the victory.

It was originally ruled that Tenyak did not get the shot off in time, but the officials went to the monitor and called the shot good.

Tenyak finished with 12 points on 4 of 8 shooting from long range.

The Eagles got balanced scoring from all five players in the starting rotation.

Sophomore guard Taylor Woods, coming off of a jaw injury that kept her out at the end of last season, led the team with 19 points. She was 5 of 9 on 3-point attempts.

Another player returning from injury, junior forward Daiva Gerbec, had a double double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Daugherty, who was in foul trouble for much of the game and fouled out with 2:13 left, finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals in 29 minutes.

Miller was efficient, scoring 13 points on 6 of 8 shooting while adding seven assists.

Dorner was the only Eagle to play significant minutes off the bench. Though she did not score, she did have five rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes.

Ashland fought back from a 67-59 deficit with less than nine minutes left and overcame 25 turnovers to knock off the Flyers, who last year won the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament championship and made their third straight appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament.

Dayton was picked to win the Atlantic 10 again this year.

Ashland out-rebounded the Flyers 35-28.

Olivia Applewhite, who was Daugherty’s roommate when she was at Dayton, led the Flyers with 18 points and five rebounds.

The Eagles fly out to Anaheim, Calif. to play in the Disney Tip-off Classic on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They will play West Texas A&M, No. 15 Gannon and No. 13 Grand Canyon.

Ashland returns for its first home game Nov. 17 against Kentucky Wesleyan.