Eagles make statement in third consecutive GMAC tournament championship

ASHLAND − If Ashland University Head Coach Kari Pickens wanted her team to come out and make a statement in the GMAC Tournament Championship Game, suffice to say, message well received.

The No.1-ranked Eagles wasted little time in suffocating Trevecca Nazarene, 99-58 to claim its third consecutive GMAC tournament title.

The Eagles made their first five shots of the game for a quick, 12-3 lead and later backed that up with a scintillating second quarter where they missed only two shots the entire 10 minutes of action. In that dominant second period, Ashland drained 4 of 5 shots from beyond the arc, made 9 of 10 field goals inside and drained 3 of 3 from the line. It all added up to a 58-30 halftime advantage.

“I am extremely proud of this group,” said Pickens. “I thought we came out and wanted to make a statement and I thought we made one.

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“Trevecca does a really funky zone that can really disrupt people. I thought our team handled it really well. You have to be able to make some shots against them and I thought we did that really, really well today.”

Ashland dropped home 23 of 34 field goals in the first half for a blistering 68% while also netting 9 of 16 shots (56%) from the arc.

The second half saw the Eagles cruise to an 18-13 third quarter advantage on their way to a 30-1 record, the eighth 30-win season in program history.

Erin Daniels was named the tournament MVP after an afternoon of 17 points (5 for 8 from 3) and five assists. Daniels echoed Pickens' need to make an early statement.

“We came in with the mindset that we wanted to make a statement and I think we did just that,” said Daniels. “We knew we had to be disciplined on defense and shoot the shots when we were open. When we do really good things on defense that translates into offense and then nobody can stop us on offense. It was a great first half and that translated into the second half as well.”

“Erin’s story is so unique and so special,” said Pickens. “But what I loved about Erin is her commitment to our program for six years. No matter what her role has been – coming off the bench, a coach or stepping in and playing a lot of different positions. She came out and played like a senior leader today.”

Daniels was a grad assistant for the program last season during the 2022-23 campaign.

Annie Roshak, who was just named the GMAC Player of the Year for the second straight season, said it was all about taking care of business early in the game. Roshak finished with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and a blocked shot.

“We wanted to come in and give them no hope of sticking around with us,” she began. “We did that really well.”

Roshak’s attention quickly turned to her teammate.

“All the credit to Erin Daniels,” praised Roshak. “She is such a steady force this year and for her career here. To see her step up so big the past couple of days has been just really amazing. She is in the gym all the time putting up shots and I am so happy to see that all come to fruition today.”

Savaya Brockington was solid at the guard position on both ends of the court as she narrowly missed a triple-double, as the senior finished with 10 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds. Zoe Miller added 16 points and 6 rebounds, with GMAC Freshman of the Year winner Lexi Howe adding 14 points and a pair of assists. Twelve different Eagles registered two or more points in the scorebook. Brockington and Roshak were also named to the all-tournament team.

The NCAA Selection Show for D-II is March 10 at 10:30 p.m. as the Eagles will look to make another deep tournament run beginning late next week.

Pickens talked about the five seniors on the team and the contributions made.

“All of them are very special and all of them have very different stories,” she said. “Some have been here for two years, some three, four, five or six years. They all have come from different backgrounds but one of the things they all wanted to do when they come here is help us compete for championships. And I am real happy for them that they have been able to do so.”

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland Eagles take third GMAC title in a row