The Ashland women’s basketball team went 1-1 this past week as they defeated the Ohio Dominican Panthers Thursday 75-70, then fell to the Tiffin Dragons at The Gillmor Center, 71-54.

Ohio Dominican

Not often does a team get to avenge a previous mistake so quickly in the season, but Thursday night, the Eagles did just that. The Eagles lost to the Findlay Oilers Jan. 29 in overtime because they elected not to foul while up three late in regulation. The Eagles fouled against the Panthers when they were up three this time, and it paid off, winning 75-70.

The Eagles enjoyed a 35-27 halftime lead against the Panthers thanks to the front court balance of Daiva Gerbec and Beth Mantkowski. The two combined to shoot 7-for-16 in the first half with 14 points and 12 rebounds. The Eagles were without leading scorer Jena Stutzman for the first time this season after her injury against Findlay, but Ashland’s guard play from Alyssa Miller, Rachel Poorman and Kaci Finfrock picked up the slack, scoring 17 points and dished out three assists. The Eagles had just five first half turnovers.

Not only did the offense enjoy success in the first half, the Eagle defense limited the Panthers to just 31 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes. Ohio Dominican did have success from the three point line, as half of their 10 field goals netted three points.

The Panthers made it a game in the second stanza, as they erased an 11-point Ashland lead in just three minutes early in the second half, prompting head coach Sue Ramsey to call a timeout and compose her team. After the timeout, the Eagles trailed for just 19 seconds in the second half.

The Panthers did outscore Ashland in the second half, 43-40, but the Eagles converted on 12-of-25 from the floor in the second half and made 14 of their 17 free throw attempts, icing away any Panther chance at an upset.

The Eagles, up by three, elected to foul Melissa Hersey with four seconds left, and Hersey missed the first of a one-and-one, sealing the Panthers fate. Gerbec finished the game with 16 points and 15 rebounds, her seventh straight double-double in a row and eleventh overall. Mantkowski also finished with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Miller, who scored just two points in the first half finished with 13, and Poorman tacked on 10 for good measure.

The Eagles shot 45 percent on the night and 86 percent from the foul line. Ohio Dominican was 43 percent from the field in the loss, but shot 55 percent in the second half. The Panthers were led by Abby Glover’s 13 points.

“As it’s going to be the rest of the year, we need people to step up,” Ramsey said. “I’m really proud of Alyssa Miller who had a really nice performance for a freshman that’s no longer a freshman.”

Gerbec’s performance was not overlooked by her coach.

“Daiva came out in the second half and matched their physicality and ended with another double-double, which is always nice to have.”

Tiffin

Against Tiffin Saturday, the Eagles were roughed up from the beginning. Tiffin found a way to make everything they looked at in the first half, connecting on 17-of-30 shots, but more impressively, 7-of-10 from the three point line. Ashland never led in the game and was down by as many as 22 in the second half.

Gerbec was the only constant Eagle Saturday, but each shot was contested by the Dragon defenders. Gerbec had 16 of the Eagles’ 28 first-half points, as she went 6-for-11 from the field. The Eagles next highest scorer in the half was Mantkowski with just four points.

Tiffin had five players with more than six points in the first half, as they led 47-28 at intermission. Karlie Mast paced Tiffin with 12 points and Melissa Gilliland had eight off the bench.

The second half was a defensive struggle for both teams as the two combined to score just 50 points, with the advantage going to Ashland, 26-24. The Eagles cut the deficit to 11 points on two separate occasions in the second half, the latest coming at the 4:10 mark after Mantkowski converted a layup, but Tiffin’s combination of team defense and shot making made it nearly impossible for Ashland.

Gerbec, despite scoring just one point in the second half, finished with her eighth double-double in a row and twelfth overall this season by scoring 17 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Lindsay Tenyak had 12 points on four successful three point shots and Mantkowski finished with 11.

The Eagles fell to 13-7 overall and 8-5 in the GLIAC while Tiffin improved to 13-8 overall and 7-7 in conference play. Ashland is currently in second place in the GLIAC South Division, one game back of Findlay who is 9-4 in conference action. The Eagles battle the Lakers of Grand Valley State tonight at 7:30 p.m. before greeting Ferris State to Kates Gymnasium Saturday at 3 p.m.