The Ashland women’s basketball team kicked off the 2018-19 campaign with a clean sweep against Cedarville and Ohio Dominican at the Midwest Region Crossover tournament.

AU began the season with a hard fought 84-74 win over Cedarville on Friday. The YellowJackets got off to a blazing start shooting the basketball hitting nine of the first 13 threes that they attempted.

This hot shooting put the Eagles in a 42-33 hole going into the halftime break. The turning point for the Eagles came in the third quarter. The defending Division II Player of the Year, junior Jodi Johnson, scored eight points in the quarter to help Ashland close the deficit to 61-56 entering the fourth.

Ashland started the quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 64-63 lead which was their first lead since the 7:04 mark in the first quarter.

After both teams traded buckets, the YellowJackets tied the game at 70 before the Eagles went on another 10-2 run to take an 80-72 lead and they never looked back.

Johnson had a game-high 23 points to go along with seven rebounds and two steals. Her junior counterparts, Sara Loomis and Renee Stimpert also played well with Stimpert pouring in 20 points, six rebounds and six assists. Loomis added 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Eagles first double-double of the year.

Cedarville was led by sophomore guard, Ashlyn Huffman who scored 23 points on 9-22 shooting to go along with six assists and five rebounds.

The Eagles continued their opening weekend on Saturday with a dominating 94-74 win over Ohio Dominican.

The Panthers kept the game close during the early stages as they trailed by four, 21-17 at the end of the first and were able to outscore the Eagles in the second quarter to cut the Eagles lead at the end of the first half.

Much like their opener against Cedarville, the third quarter is where the Eagles turned the game around. Johnson caught fire in the third going 4-5 from the floor on her way to 12 points in the quarter.

The Eagles outscored the Panthers 29-16 in the quarter to take a 70-54 lead into the fourth. Ashland cruised to a 94-74 win in their first 20-point win of the year.

Once again, Johnson had a game high 27 points, just four shy of her career high. She also chipped in eight rebounds and four assists in the winning effort.

Loomis again recorded a double-double scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

Freshman Hallie Heidemann and sophomore Karlee Pireu each recorded a career high eight points off the bench.

The Eagles have started the year 2-0 for the fourth year in a row and they have now won 64 regular season games in a row.

Ashland’s last loss in the month of November came on November 22, 2014 and they will look to keep that streak alive on Wednesday (Nov. 14) as they take on the Walsh Cavaliers at 5:30 pm.