One of the biggest strengths of Ashland’s women’s basketball team all year has been its refusal to get rattled. When All-American junior forward Daiva Gerbec and freshman guard Taylor Woods went down to injury, the Eagles stuck together. When a team like Michigan Tech or Bentley made a big run, they dug deep and made one of their own.

In Friday’s national championship game, Ashland finally found an opponent with that same mentality in the Shaw Lady Bears.

Shaw won 88-82 in overtime, handing Ashland its first loss in 33 games to claim its first national title.

“It hurts,” Ashland head coach Sue Ramsey said. “It should hurt with everything we’ve poured into it, but it has been a tremendous journey and I couldn’t be prouder with the group of players and coaches representing Ashland University.”

After going down 8-2 in the opening two minutes, the Eagles took their first lead with 14:40 to go in the first half when Stutzman caught the ball off an inbounds and laid it in to make it 11-10.

They widened the lead to 14 when Stutzman drained a 3-pointer in transition with 53 seconds left in the half to make it 43-29. Two straight buckets by the Lady Bears made it 43-32 at the break.

Stutzman, playing in her last game, had perhaps the best half of her career with 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the Eagles. Ashland held a 26-14 rebounding edge in the first half and shot 50 percent (14 of 28) from the field compared to 35.1 percent (13 of 27) for Shaw.

Despite those numbers, Shaw head coach Jacques Curtis said his team was not flustered.

“We weren’t worried that we were down, we just wanted to make sure that we could still see them,” he said.

After an 11-2 run by the Lady Bears had cut Ashland’s lead to 45-43 with 15:42 to go, Stutzman pulled up and drained a 3-pointer to push the lead back to five.

The shot broke Ashland’s all-time record for the most 3-pointers in a season. She finished with 98.

Shaw finally tied the game at 50 with 11 minutes to play, and the action was back-and-forth from there.

Ashland grabbed a 67-62 advantage with 3:54 left when Stutzman made a leaning layup from the left block that was followed by a “3” by Lindsay Tenyak from the left corner.

Shaw answered with six straight points to take the lead back at 68-67 with 2:23 on the clock. The Lady Bears led 72-69 after Aslea Williams grabbed an offensive rebound at put it back with 25 seconds left.

Ashland got the ball but could not find an easy shot, calling timeout with 9.6 seconds remaining.

That left the Eagles with one last chance to tie the game.

It was Stutzman who took the shot.

“The coaches just drew up a play for me to get it to Kari and then come off a handoff and if I was open I was going to take the shot and then Kari was going to try to get open for a ‘3,’” Stutzman said.

“I just felt a little space and I shot it and I guess it went in.”

The shot, taken with her back heel rising from the edge of the “Elite Eight” logo near center court, gave the Eagles new life.

Five more minutes needed to be played to decide the national championship, and it looked as if all the momentum had swung the Eagles’ way.

Shaw, however, saw things differently.

“We were disappointed, but we felt like the positive side was we didn’t mind playing five more minutes because we felt like we had the energy to keep playing,” Curtis said. “We were prepared to play three overtimes.”

It would not take three overtimes to decide the winner, as the Lady Bears raced out to an 83-74 advantage with 1:40 left in the extra period. Junior forward Kari Daugherty drove to the hole to cut the lead to seven, but Stutzman fouled out on the next possession.

A deep “3” by Daugherty to cut it to six was too little, too late, and it was Shaw who danced at center court to Queen’s “We Are the Champions” before accepting the trophy as Ashland players and fans watched in tears.

Daugherty finished with 24 points, 15 rebounds and four assists. She broke records for the most rebounds in tournament history (95), field goals (56) and was one shy of the record for most points, finishing with 148 in six games.

Stutzman was nothing short of heroic in the championship, scoring a career-high 32 points and grabbing eight rebounds. She was 11 of 24 from the field and made all six attempts from the foul line.

Both Stutzman and Daugherty were named to the Elite Eight All-Tournament Team along with Shaw’s Kyria Buford (10 points, eight rebounds, three blocks) and Sequoyah Griffin (24 points) and Bentley’s Jacqui Brugliera. Buford was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

Sophomore guard Alyssa Miller had 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists and sophomore forward Ashley Dorner had nine points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Lindsay Tenyak had five points to round out AU’s scoring.

The Eagles outrebounded the Lady Bears by five but Shaw had a 27-20 edge on the glass in the second half. Ashland also turned the ball over 21 times to Shaw’s eight, leading to a 23-4 advantage in points off turnovers for the Lady Bears.

Shaw’s Brittney Spencer had 16 points and Williams and Brittany Ransom had 14.

Despite the loss, Ramsey said she could not be prouder of what the team has accomplished this season.

“They played with all their heart, and I’m telling you what, as a coach there is absolutely nothing else that you could ever ask for or hope for than to be able to coach these young ladies that are a class act, that love each other and give everything they have every minute,” she said.