Ashland University women's basketball's season comes to an end in regional semifinals

ASHLAND — It was just one basket in a 40-minute game, but the one Walsh’s Mayci Sales made to close out the third quarter Saturday against Ashland University was big.

Big enough to push the Cavaliers into the NCAA women’s basketball Division II Midwest Regional championship game with a 72-62 victory over the Eagles.

With a strong third quarter, Ashland had whittled a 14-point halftime deficit down to six points and looked to have Walsh stopped right there.

But after a scramble along the baseline, Sales came up with the ball and sank a buzzer-beater from 15-feet out on the right wing to give the Cavaliers a 55-47 advantage.

When Walsh opened the fourth quarter with an eight-point burst while holding Ashland scoreless for almost four minutes, the lead ballooned to 16 points and all but put an end to Ashland’s season.

“That shot was like, 'Oh, yeah, we got this,'” said Walsh’s Great Midwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year Sha Carter. “It was definitely a momentum builder.

“That shot, it was like the shot heard around the gym. We needed that. It was a good pick-me-up. Beautiful shot. Crazy.”

The result reversed a 10-point win by Ashland (29-3), which came into the game as the No. 2-ranked team in the country and the top seed in the regional, in last Saturday’s G-MAC Tournament title game.

Walsh (28-4) advanced to Monday’s regional championship game at Kates Gymnasium against Grand Valley State in the school’s first ever appearance in the Sweet 16.

“Lot of credit to Walsh,” AU coach Kari Pickens said. “We had to face them four times this season (each team won twice) and it was a battle every single game.

“They played really hard, and I thought my team played really hard, too, till the very end.

“At the end of the day, a season isn’t defined by one game. I’m really proud of this team and everything they accomplished this year. Wish we could have had that one, but we were able to walk off the court knowing we gave it all we had.”

Ashland jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, but after a 17-4 surge fueled by leading scorers Sales, Carter and Morgan McMillen, the Cavaliers never trailed.

Walsh led 22-15 at the first-quarter break, and Ashland stayed within striking distance on 3-pointers BY Hayley Smith and Morgan Yoder.

Then Walsh got a third first-half 3-pointer from McMillen and a breakout basket from Carter after an Ashland turnover to lead 40-26 at halftime.

“We had to get a few more stops in the first half,” Pickens said. “They scored 40 points in the first half, and that is just too much.

“When you’re not making some shots, you have to be able to get some stops, and we weren’t able to do that.”

The Eagles came out hot in the third quarter, making six of their first eight shots. Behind eight points from senior Karlee Pireu, AU got within six points three different times.

Then came that one momentum-changing shot from Sales, who finished with a game-high 20 points.

“I describe it as just toughness,” Sales said. “We wanted to win; I wanted to win. I just released it, and I saw it going in.”

Forced to press full-court after Walsh pushed its advantage to 67-51 with four minutes remaining, the Eagles did produce seven Cavaliers turnovers. But the miscues turned into only seven points and a 67-58 deficit.

AU got baskets in the final minute from Hallie Heidemann and Pireu, but Walsh scored its final five points at the free-throw line to close out the Eagles.

“The beginning of the fourth was tough,” Pickens said. “The biggest thing was we couldn’t get a stop and then we weren’t able to score in transition.

“When we put on the press at the very end, we fought and forced some turnovers. Unfortunately, it was a little too late and we weren’t able to convert a few times when we forced those turnovers.”

McMillen finished with 18 points for Walsh. Carter fought through foul trouble to score 15 points with nine rebounds and four steals.

Pireu, in her final game as an Eagle, scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds. She finished her Ashland career with 1,648 points.

Roshak, with 13 points, was the only other AU player in double figures.

“The one nice thing about playing a team four times and three times in the last few weeks was we really understood personnel,” Walsh coach Kate Bruce said about limiting Ashland’s offense. “We stuck to the game plan today, and we had that discipline and that toughness.

“To come out and play so well defensively and together … it was amazing.”

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland U women's hoops loses to Walsh in regional semis