The Ashland women’s basketball team always says that defense and rebounding wins basketball games. Junior forward Kari Daugherty epitomized that philosophy during all 39 minutes that she played Saturday, but without her second half scoring, the Eagles’ season may have ended.

After making just four of 13 attempts from the field in the first half, Daugherty went 8 of 11 in the second, scoring 28 points and grabbing 22 rebounds to lead Ashland to a 71-69 victory over No. 5-seeded Quincy in the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinals.

“She had a smaller girl that we thought she could really dominate on,” sophomore guard Alyssa Miller said. “We knew she could finish easy around the rim, and if we could get her the ball then she was going to go to work.”

Quincy was hot from the get-go, jumping out to a 10-3 lead and causing Eagles’ head coach Sue Ramsey to call a timeout less than four minutes into the game. Ashland answered, finally taking the lead on a 3-pointer by senior guard Jena Stutzman from the top of the key with 8:21 left in the first half that made it 16-15.

Sophomore forward Ashley Dorner scored nine points in the last 7:33 of the first half and junior center Beth Mantkowski tipped in a shot at the buzzer that gave the Eagles a 33-26 halftime advantage.

Daugherty began the second half by hitting an open shot from the corner and making a pull-up jumper in transition, both within the first 30 seconds. Ashland widened its lead to 14 at 43-29 with 17:48 remaining.

The Hawks were far from done, however. Ali Schagmeyer and Darla Gatschenberger drained 3-pointers on three straight possessions, closing the gap to three at 43-40 with 15:37 left.

Three minutes later, with the Eagles still leading by three (45-42), Daugherty took over. She used an array of post moves to score on three straight possessions and hit a jump shot from the right corner. By the time she backed out of a double team and drained a 3-pointer from the right wing with 9:14 left, she had scored 11 points in just over three minutes and the Eagles led 56-47.

“I just felt like we could really attack when I was on the block and if they sent double teams, then Alyssa hit some big shots, Beth hit some big shots,” Daugherty said. “If they’re going to double team, they’re going to have to pay the price.”

Once again, Quincy rallied, cutting the lead to 65-63 with 2:27 on the clock.

Daugherty made yet another huge play, catching the ball at the elbow out of a baseline out of bounds play before driving hard into the middle of the lane. She was fouled and made the shot, pushing Ashland’s lead to five.

Quincy’s Kassidy Shuman, who scored all 20 of her points in the second half, scored on back-to-back possessions to tie the game at 68 with 1:45 remaining.

Miller hit one of two from the foul line with 1:19, giving the Hawks the ball with a chance to take the lead. Schwagmeyer backed down Daugherty and put up a shot that rolled off the rim and straight to Daugherty, who was fouled with 7.3 seconds. She hit both free throws.

Up three, the Eagles elected to foul.

“The way they were hitting ‘3s,’ we just didn’t want to leave it to chance,” Ramsey said.

Schwagmeyer made the first and missed the second, which bounced around on the floor, eventually resulting in a tie-up. The possession arrow favored Quincy.

With 1.5 seconds remaining, Shuman caught the ball 35 feet from the basket. Guarded by Miller, she took one too many dribbles and threw up a shot after the buzzer had already sounded, giving Ashland the victory.

“It’s just remarkable,” Ramsey said. “It’s at a different level than I’ve ever experienced. Their strength comes from an acknowledgement that God has blessed them with talent and that they love each other as a team. It’s the epitome of what coaching should be. It’s team.”

In the first game, Wisconsin-Parkside defeated Ferris State 71-57 to advance to the regional final. Ashland and Wisconsin-Parkside will play Monday at 7 p.m. for a spot in the Elite Eight in San Antonio. A win would also be the Eagles’ 31st in a row, breaking the record set by the 1998 softball team for wins in a row by an Ashland program.

Tickets for Monday’s game go on sale Monday at 9 a.m. The game has been declared a “Purple Out” at Kates Gymnasium, so fans are encouraged to wear purple.