Number one ranked Ashland hit six free throws in the final two minutes to defeat the third-ranked Drury Lady Panthers 79-73 to win the NCAA-II Midwest Regional championship and advance to the Elite Eight.
Drury battled from 14 points behind late in the third quarter to tie the game at 73-73 with 3:16 remaining.
Ashland’s Laina Synder connected on two free throws with 1:58 left to give the Eagles the lead. Drury missed opportunities to pull even and, with 12 seconds remaining, Ashland’s Andi Daugherty was sent to the free throw line after Heather Harman was called for a foul on Daugherty’s shot attempt as the shot clock expired. Drury head coach Molly Miller was then assessed a technical foul and Daugherty hit all four free throws giving Ashland a six-point lead, 79-73.
“She said I stomped my foot,” said Miller on the explanation of the technical from the official.
Ashland, seeded first in the region, advanced with their NCAA-II women’s basketball record 71st consecutive win. The Eagles will go to the national quarterfinals with a 34-0 record.
Drury, seeded second in the region, ended its season 31-3. The 31 wins are the second most in program history, and it marked the fourth 30-win season in program history.
Hailey Diestelkamp had a game-high and career-high 27 points for the Lady Panthers. The sophomore was named to the All-Regional Tournament team, and she added five rebounds and four assists in the game.
Jodi Johnson led Ashland with 21 points while Daugherty added 19.
The Eagles went 20 for 22 from the free throw line while Drury was granted just two free throw attempts in the game and went 1 for 2 from the stripe. Ashland shot 51 percent from the field in the game, hitting 27 of their 53 shots. Drury shot 49 percent in the game, going 32 for 66, and they out-rebounded Ashland 32-29.
“I’m incredibly proud of this team…they’re so special,” said Miller. “Their fight is tremendous, and there were a lot of factors against them today. When things didn’t go our way, we fought back and fought hard.
Ashland is a very good basketball team, and they deserve a lot of credit. But we never laid down, and this is a team that probably should have met Ashland in the Elite Eight somewhere.”
Drury was playing in the NCAA-II regional championship for the third straight season and was in their 15th national tournament in their 18-year history as a program.
