CANTON — A nasty flu bug had Ashland University women’s basketball coach Kari Pickens struggling before Thursday’s showdown against Malone at Osborne Hall.
“I was laying on the floor in there for a half hour,” Pickens said, motioning to the locker room.
Eventually, adrenaline kicked in for Pickens and gave her some relief. A malady of a different kind infected Malone and did not let up.
Ice-cold shooting doomed the Pioneers as Ashland used its physical defense to grind out a 58-47 win in a matchup of the G-MAC’s top two teams.
The victory puts Ashland (21-3) in first place in the league at 13-1 and extends its winning streak to 15 games. Meanwhile, Malone (18-3) drops to second place at 12-1 as its 13-game winning streak comes to an end.
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The Pioneers fell behind 9-0 to start and trailed 32-15 at halftime, at which point they were shooting 6-of-26 from the floor. Malone finished 16-of-52 overall (30.8%) against an Ashland team that simply does not allow many good looks.
“They do a good job pressuring the ball and speeding you up,” Malone coach Selana Ickes said. “I thought we didn’t handle that great early. Once we settled in we did a much better job. They were tough inside and I just felt like our shooters didn’t quite get going.”
The front court of seniors Zoe Miller and Hayley Smith led the way for Ashland, with Miller totaling 14 points and six rebounds and Smith registering a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. The Eagles dominated the glass, holding a 38-19 rebounding advantage.
Smith, a St. Thomas Aquinas and GlenOak product who had more than 20 friends and family members in attendance, also led the charge in holding reigning G-MAC Player of the Week Erin Kaufman to five points on 2-of-11 shooting.
“I, as a coach, can tell Hayley, ‘Go guard one of the best players in our conference one-on-one, and I trust you,'” Pickens said. “Not very many people do that. Most people when they play Erin Kaufman they have to double. They have to swarm. They have to do all these things which let their 3-point shooters go off. For us, I thought we were able to guard the 3 pretty well because our post players are able to guard inside so well one-on-one.”
The Pioneers were 5-of-16 from 3-point range. The 47 points are a season low for a Malone team that entered the night averaging 72.6 points. Ashland entered the night allowing the fourth fewest points per game (50.2) in all of NCAA Division II.
“That was awesome,” Smith said. “Our key points we focus on for defensive discipline are making sure there are no back cuts, making sure we’re jamming in the post because we knew they were going to kick it in there. Defense has been our bread and butter all year. We knew we just had to do us and the rest would take care of itself.”
As for taking the challenge of guarding the 6-foot-1 Kaufman, the 6-1 Smith said, “She’s an amazing player. She’s extremely strong. I knew I had my work cut out for me. I just tried to out-physical her because we have similar builds and similar styles.”
Freshman guard Abbey Price scored a game-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting for Malone. Junior Brinn Hunt added 10 points and three steals.
After falling behind by as many as 21 points in the second half, Malone went to an aggressive zone defense and gave Ashland problems. The Pioneers cut their deficit to 13 in the third quarter and 11 in the fourth quarter as a big home crowd got loud.
But Malone never could get its deficit to single digits and really put some heat on Ashland.
“We kept saying, ‘We’re just one or two big shots away,'” Ickes said. “Our kids were ready for the moment, they just didn’t knock them down today.”
Senior Morgan Yoder, sophomore Lexi Howe and freshman Corri Vermilya each hit big 3s to stem the tide for Ashland. Howe finished with 12 points.
“They’re just really confident players,” Pickens said. “They’re not afraid of the moment. They’re ready to step up and take the shot when needed to. On a championship team, you have to have players like that.”
The Pioneers must recover quickly from Thursday’s disappointment. They host fourth-place Findlay (17-6, 10-4) on Saturday and rival Walsh on Tuesday in the 29th annual Mayors’ Cup.
Then it’s off to Ashland on Thursday for a rematch with the Eagles, who now have beaten Malone 13 straight times.
“We have a tough stretch coming up here, so we have to be ready to go,” Ickes said. “That’s what our kids have done all year: Just focus on the next game. I think that’s why we’re in the spot we are.”
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