SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Eleven days ago, Central Missouri crushed Augustana by 39 points in the Central Region tournament and advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight tournament at the Sanford Pentagon.
From there, the Jennies relatively cruised through their quarterfinal and semifinal rounds earlier this week en route to Friday night's national championship game. They defeated Lubbock Christian by 10, and Union University by 13 to reach the title game.
NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball
National Championship Game
Central Missouri 66, Ashland University 52
Central Missouri (30-3): Redmond 22, M. Skaggs 13, Williams 11, Fleming 8, Lee 8, Shipps 4.
Ashland (36-1): Snyder 16, Stimpert 10, Dackin 6, Daugherty 6, Johnson 6, Smith 6, Hart 2.
But then Central Missouri ran into Ashland (OH), a team that marched into the national championship, unscathed at 36-0. The Eagles entered the game averaging nearly 100 points per game, and no one else had even come within striking distance all season.
The numbers against Central Missouri (30-3) seemed overwhelming. With a win, Ashland would record an unprecedented 37th win. The Eagles have scored 3,592 points this season, the most in a single season in the history of NCAA women's basketball, regardless of division. No doubt Central had a formidable task to grab its first national title since 1984.
Then, the Jennies did the unthinkable, holding Ashland to just 52 points, and pulling off the 66-52 upset to claim its first national title since 1984. The 54 points is 25 below Ashland's previous season low for the entire season.
"I'm stunned. It's amazing. It's beyond all belief. This is so surreal for me right now," CMU coach Dave Slifer said. "We were able to shoot it well enough tonight. We put them in a position that they haven't been in all year."
Ashland surprisingly trailed the entire second half, getting down by as many as eight early in the fourth quarter. Ashland coach Robyn Fralick used a timeout down 55-48 with just over three minutes to go. At the time, the Eagles were shooting a dismal 35-percent from the field. Out of the timeout, Ashland scored four straight and cut it to three with 2 minutes, 18 seconds to play.
"We were looking at two actions at that point. We were looking for a three or a post entry," Fralick said. "They closed out hard on the three, and we got it inside. It just felt like every time we made a run, the ball would bounce out. That's the game."
After Ashland cut it to three, CMU's Megan Skaggs scored to push it back to five, and then hit a monster 3-pointer with 58 seconds to play that seemed to be the dagger. She scored 11 of her 13 points in the final five minutes of the game.
"Our mentality throughout the year and throughout the game was 'Refuse to Lose'" Skaggs said. "I really think that showed in the last two minutes, especially for me, because that's when I really decided to turn it on."
It looked things would go as scripted early on. Ashland hit its first seven shots to open the game, and the Eagles grabbed an early 16-6 lead just four minutes into the game.
But CMU weathered the early punch and got it back to 17-16 late in the first quarter. The normally loud and energetic Ashland crowd that jammed the Pentagon was hushed for the first time all weekend.
After the early ten-point deficit, the Jennies went on a 29-15 run the rest of the half, and never trailed after getting the lead on a Paige Redmond basket late in the second quarter to make it 23-22. Redmond, the former Springdale Har-Ber standout, finished with a game-high 22 points.
Laina Snyder led Ashland with 16 points and nine rebounds. Jodi Johnson recorded a game-high 12 rebounds.
Sports on 03/24/2018