For the third straight game, the women’s basketball team used a big first-half run to pull away from its opponent.

This time, the opponent was Mercyhurst and the run was 15-0 over a span of less than three minutes. It widened Ashland’s lead from 16-14 to 31-14, and the Eagles continued to widen the margin on the way to an 81-51 win Sunday in the Ashland Holiday Inn Classic.

“Our team plays so hard,” junior forward Daiva Gerbec said. “Eventually, us playing hard turns into us creating better.”

Aiding the run were Gerbec and senior forward Kari Daugherty. Both had double-doubles in the first half.

Daugherty led the Eagles with 16 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three steals, and Gerbec was close behind with 14 points and 12 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end.

“It was just phenomenal,” Ramsey said. “…That just really, really helps our offensive end of things.”

For Gerbec, who led the team in rebounds in 2010-11 before sitting out last year with an Achilles injury, it was her first double-double of the season. Offensively, she and Daugherty are looking more and more comfortable playing together each time they step on the floor.

“Everybody’s just so good,” Gerbec said. “Everybody can score and everybody can dominate a game. Just knowing that [Daugherty]’s there and I can pass it and she’s gonna do something good with it, it just brings confidence to me and to everybody on the team.”

Senior guard Lindsay Tenyak, who was 0 for 2 from the field the night before, hit three 3-pointers and a free throw in the first half—including two during the run—on the way to 10 points.

Sophomore guard Taylor Woods also drained three ‘3s.’ She had 11 points and four assists.

Junior guard Alyssa Miller finished with eight points and seven assists and senior Kaci Finfrock added nine points off the bench on 3 of 4 shooting from behind the arc.

The Eagles, coming off of a shooting clinic (55.6 percent) in a 105-72 win over Urbana on Saturday, cooled off against Mercyhurst. They shot 43.7 percent (31 of 71) from the field, 35.7 percent (10 of 28) from deep and 81.8 percent (9 of 11) from the free throw line.

Ashland gained plenty of extra possessions from a 46-34 edge in rebounds, including a 20-12 advantage on the offensive end.

The defensive intensity was turned up as well, as the Eagles held the Lakers to 39.3 percent shooting (22 of 56) and held them without a field goal for the first six minutes of the second half.

“That’s what we talked about at halftime, was our defense clamping down,” Ramsey said. “And it did.”

AU began the second half on a 12-0 run, making it 57-26 with 15:45 to play.

The win moved Ashland to 6-0 as it continues to hold on to the No. 1 national ranking.

In Sunday’s first game, Northern Michigan defeated Urbana 71-61.

The Eagles begin Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play Thursday, when they welcome Grand Valley State to Kates Gymnasium. The men tip off at 5:30 p.m. with the women to follow at 7:30.