The women’s basketball team began its season with a long weekend trip to sunny Anaheim, Calif. and the Disney Tip-off Classic.

The trip was more business than vacation, however. Ashland took on some of the top teams in the country and came out victorious, solidifying its preseason No. 1 national ranking.

“There’s nowhere else in the country for Division II that had the opening weekend feature, the quality of teams that we had out there and that’s exactly why we went,” head coach Sue Ramsey said.

On back-to-back-to-back days, the Eagles won convincingly over West Texas A&M, No. 15 Gannon and No. 13 Grand Canyon.

Senior forward Kari Daugherty was dominant, averaging 29 points and 16 rebounds to show why she is favored to repeat as the national player of the year.

West Texas A&M

What seemed like a close game at halftime turned into a second-half blowout, as the Eagles snowballed a ten-point advantage into a 70-48 win over the Lady Buffs.

Ashland looked a little sloppy in the opening moments, thanks in large part to excellent defense in the post by West Texas A&M’s post trio of Jordan Vessels, Chontiqua White and Olivia Nino. They made Daugherty and junior forward Daiva Gerbec work for everything early on.

Ashland was stellar on the defensive end as well, however, holding the Lady Buffs to under 40 percent shooting and forcing nine turnovers.

In the second half, Daugherty took over.

With the Eagles up eight, 47-39 with 10:28 left, she dribbled out of a double team on the left wing, spun around a defender at the top of the key and drove down the middle of the lane for a layup as the shot clock expired.

She scored again on the next possession, and from there AU outscored West Texas A&M 19-7 the rest of the way.

Daugherty finished with game-highs of 26 points and 13 rebounds. She was 11 of 22 from the field and 2 of 3 from 3-point range.

Gerbec had 12 points and five rebounds and sophomore guard Taylor Woods reached double figures with 10 points.

Nino led the Lady Buffs with 19 points and six rebounds.

No. 15 Gannon

After playing at 4 p.m. Pacific Time Friday, the Eagles had to turn around and play at nine the next morning.

There was no letdown, as they jumped out to a 32-19 lead on the way to a 70-59 win that was not as close as the final score.

Daugherty was again the top performer, pumping in 29 points on 11 of 18 shooting and grabbing 19 boards.

“There were some absolutely ‘wow’ plays,” Ramsey said.

Junior guard Alyssa Miller was the only other Eagle in double figures, scoring 12 points on an efficient 5 of 12 shooting display.

She caused matchup problems all weekend with her length the guard position and her increased aggressiveness from last year on the offensive end of the floor.

“With her long arms and all, she can really elevate and it’s really hard for guards to guard her,” Ramsey said. “Her wingspan is longer than [Daugherty]’s, so it’s really cool.”

All seven Ashland players that played scored.

The Golden Knights, who beat Division I teams Kent State and Buffalo during preseason, were outrebounded 38-29.

No. 13 Grand Canyon

The marquee matchup of the Disney Tip-off Classic was Ashland’s final game against No. 13 Grand Canyon.

Despite Grand Canyon’s high ranking and the fact that they play a similar physical style to Shaw—who beat the Eagles in last year’s national championship—the Eagles were licking their lips with the way the Antelopes came out defensively.

“Once we saw the zone we started drooling a little bit because we do a pretty nice job of moving the ball against the zone,” Ramsey said.

AU blitzed Grand Canyon from the start, jumping out to a 43-19 lead at the half.

Daugherty (14 points) and Miller (11) were lethal in the opening 20 minutes, combining to go 10 of 16 from the field. Daugherty stepped on the gas even more in the second half, finishing with 32 points and 16 rebounds. Miller ended with 12 points and five rebounds.

Senior guard Lindsay Tenyak also had 12 points on 4 of 7 shooting from behind the arc.

Ashland will play its first home game 3 p.m. Saturday against Kentucky Wesleyan.