Ashland rolls over Harding

The Harding University women’s basketball team’s season came to an end Wednesday night at the hands of the undefeated Ashland Eagles.

Harding lost 90-77 to Ashland in the NCAA Division II semifinals on the campus of Ohio Dominican University in Columbus.

Harding finished 31-4 in a season where it won the Great American Conference regular season and tournament championships, and the NCAA Central Region title.

Ashland (35-0) will play Virginia Union in Friday’s

championship game at 6 p.m. Central. Virginia Union defeated California Baptist 86-81 in an earlier semifinal game Wednesday.

Harding’s 17-game winning streak was snapped Wednesday. The Lady Bisons’ last loss before Wednesday was Jan. 26 at Southwestern Oklahoma State.

Caroline Hogue led Harding with 24 points and 12 rebounds. She also had three assists and three blocked shots. A’ndrea Haney finished with 13 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Sydnie Jones and Riley Rose each added 10 points for the Lady Bisons, who shot 47 percent (31 of 66) but committed 21 turnovers.

Laina Snyder scored 25 points to lead Ashland, which shot 50 percent (31 of 62) and made 10 three-pointers. Andi Daugherty had 23 points while Maddie Dackin had 14. Jodi Johnson poured in 13 points and Kelsey Peare added 11.

Ashland used a 17-1 run in the second quarter to stretch its lead to 53-33 with 1:16 left in the first half thanks to four three-pointers. Rose ended the run with a jumper for Harding to pull the Lady Bisons within 53-35.

The Lady Bisons trailed 5537 at halftime, allowing Ashland to shoot 55.3 percent (21 of 38) from the floor and 7 of 15 from three-point range. Harding shot 53.3 percent (16 of 30) in the first half, but was 1 of 8 from beyond the arc and had 12 turnovers.

Ashland went on a 9-0 run early in the third quarter to extend its lead to 64-39 with 8:03 to play. Johnson’s three-pointer increased the Eagles’ lead 73-45 with 4:22 left in the third quarter. Ashland led 83-61 entering the fourth quarter.

Haney’s three-point play trimmed Ashland’s lead to 85-72 with 4:44 to play, but Daugherty hit a three-pointer with 4:18 remaining and extended Ashland’s advantage to 88-72.

The Eagles led 27-23 at the end of the first quarter,

in which there were six ties and seven lead changes. Peyton Padgett’s layup tied the game at 19-19 with 2:30 left in the quarter, but Johnson hit a three-pointer to give Ashland a 22-19 lead with 2:18 to play.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Montgomery Harding forward Sydnie Jones (left) had 10 points in the Lady Bisons’ 90-77 loss to Ashland (Ohio) in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Women’s Tournament on Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Montgomery Harding forward Caroline Hogue heads for the basket in the first half of Wednesday’s game against Ashland (Ohio). The Lady Bisons’ loss ended their 17-game winning streak as well as their season.