Thursday’s game against Grand Valley State was a whiteout at Kates Gymnasium, and the women’s basketball team responded by coming out white-hot.

The Eagles (7-0, 1-0) shot 71 percent (22 of 31) from the field in the first half, jumping out to a 52-29 lead at the break on the way to a 90-66 victory in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

“There’s a reason that we shoot that well,” head coach Sue Ramsey said. “It’s because we share the ball so well. I wouldn’t say there was a bad shot in the bunch.”

Ashland had 17 assists in the first half compared to just four for Grand Valley.

The Lakers (3-1, 0-1) did their best to keep up, trailing just 14-8 at the first media timeout, but it seemed like Ashland never stopped hitting shots.

The Eagles were a sizzling 7 of 11 from 3-point range in the half, with five different players adding to that tally.

“Our team’s got the green light,” Ramsey said.

Senior forward Kari Daugherty handed in another national player of the year performance with 30 points and 10 rebounds. She finished 13 of 18 from the field and 4 of 4 from behind the arc.

She also tied the NCAA Division II record for consecutive double-doubles with 24, a streak that dates back to Jan. 26 when she had 25 points and six rebounds in a win at Wayne State.

Daugherty was as humble in ever in acknowledging the accomplishment.

“Honestly, to me, it means a lot of nothing,” she said. “The one thing I can say is that I hope God gets all the glory from it.”

Junior guard Alyssa Miller, who led the team in assists for the fourth straight game with seven, did some scoring of her own. She had a season-high 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting, including a pure 3-point stroke from the top of the key that put the Eagles up 20-11 with 13:09 left in the first half.

It was Miller’s goal over the summer to become more of an offensive threat, and her hard work has shown. So far this season she is averaging 10 points per game, up from 7.6 last year.

“Everybody gives me assists, so I felt in return this year I really needed to pay them back,” Miller said. “I’ve been working on it.”

Miller also grabbed six rebounds for the Eagles to complete an all-around stellar performance.

“There’s just so much that transpires that you don’t even see that [Miller] takes care of on the court,” Ramsey said. “It is an unbelievable joy to coach her.”

Junior forward Daiva Gerbec (10 points, seven rebounds, four assists) and sophomore guard Taylor Woods (12 points, five assists, three rebounds) also reached double figures.

Junior guard Noelle Yoder was efficient off the bench, dropping seven points on 3 of 5 shooting.

Ashland cooled off a little in the second half, finishing 58.6 percent (34 of 58) from the field, 60 percent (9 of 15) from deep and 72.2 percent (13 of 18) from the foul line.

The Lakers, who were led in scoring by Kellie Watson (15 points), shot 42.4 percent (25 of 59) for the game. However, they were within a point of the Eagles (38-37) in the second half.

Even with the 24-point victory and an undefeated record, Ramsey knows there are things Ashland can improve on.

“The game of basketball is a game of errors,” she said. “There’s always things we can improve on. One thing is, we’re always aware of our defense and we’re always trying to make that a little bit better.”

The Eagles take on last year’s GLIAC runner-up, Ferris State, at 3 p.m. Saturday in Kates Gymnasium.