March Madness was alive and well March 12 at a packed Kates Gymnasium as the Ashland University women’s basketball team played host to Drury University in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Championship.

The No. 1 Eagles (34-0) outlasted the No. 3 Panthers (31-3) by a score of 79-73 that came down to the wire in the final minutes of the contest.

“I give my team a lot of credit, it got close, and we found ways and made plays,” head coach Robyn Fralick said. “And we made enough plays at the end to win the game.”

Early on, Ashland showed that they were the best team in the tournament by leading as much as 15 points at the media timeout in the second quarter.

Drury was able to chip away at the lead but the Eagles fought back to head into halftime with a 47-36 lead.

Through half of the third quarter, the Eagles held Drury at a reasonable distance still leading 53-40. However, Drury was able to work it back down to a seven point deficit of 53-46 inside the four-minute mark of the third quarter.

The teams fought back and forth in the second half but the Panthers were slowly able to chip away at the Ashland lead and eventually tied it up at 73 with 1:57 left to play in the contest.

Senior forward Laina Snyder hit two free throws to give the Eagles a 75-73 lead but neither team was able to find the bottom of the net as the Eagles came up with a huge steal with over a minute left to play.

With under 20 seconds left to play, Ashland forward Andi Daugherty went up for a mid-range jump shot and was fouled as the shot clock was expiring.

After the play, Drury head coach Molly Miller picked up a technical foul due to her unhappiness from the play.

As a result, Daugherty nailed four free throws to give the Ashland Eagles a definite 79-73 lead and an ultimate victory in the Regional Championship.

Leading the way for the Eagles was sophomore guard Jodi Johnson who was named the tournament Most Valuable Player and contributed a team-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

“I’m just really pumped that our team gets to have another opportunity at a National Championship,” Johnson said.
Daugherty and Snyder contributed 19 points and 16 points respectively, while Snyder also added nine rebounds and was named to the all tournament team.

Leading the Panthers throughout the entire tournament was sophomore forward Hailey Diestelkamp who was also named to the all-tournament team and scored a game-high 27 points Monday night.

The win has sent the Eagles into the Elite Eight for the second straight year.

Ashland is the only team returning from last years Elite Eight tournament and has claimed the No. 1 seed.

They will be matched up against the No. 8 seed, Montana State Billings.

The Yellowjackets (25-11) won the West Region Championship over Alaska Anchorage, 71-70.

MSUB lost to Drury this year 74-69 in their only game against a common opponent.

The game can be heard live on 88.9 WRDL and tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST/ 6 p.m. CST on March 19.

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