WINONA LAKE, In. --- The Asbury women's basketball team traveled to Grace College early this week to begin their competition in the NCCAA National Tournament.
Asbury (No. 7) took on a new opponent, the College of the Ozarks (No. 2) from Point Lookout, Mo. in the first round of the tournament. Despite a well-fought battle by the Eagles, the Ozarks came back with late pushes in the game and found the win, 81-67.
Senior Guard,
Jaclynn Ruble led the Eagles on the court in Wednesday's game grabbing 22 points, four steals, and four assists. Ruble shot an impressive 43% past the arc and 90% on the line.
Haleigh Releford followed closely behind Ruble with 15 points and four assists.
Tiffani Riley was a battling force under the rim, leading the team with seven rebounds and grabbing 10 points for AU.
After a good layup by
Trinity Shearer 30 seconds into the game, AU went on to gain an early 7-0 lead and held their lead over the Bobcats for the remainder of the quarter. AU's offense was hot in the first quarter, grabbing an impressive 23 points compared to the Bobcats' 16. AU ended the first on top, 23-16.
The second looked different than the first, with more defensive pushes from both sides. The Bobcats pressed the gas and began to grab more points, as AU began to slow down.
Jaclynn Ruble and
Haleigh Releford were key to keeping AU in the running with Ruble grabbing six points and Releford with five.
COFO managed to barely outscore AU in the second, 17-14. AU still held their lead at the half, 37-33.
The Bobcats really began to bring the heat going into the third, grabbing a massive 29 points compared to Asbury's 10. The third ended with COFO taking a strong lead of 62-47.
The College of the Ozarks was led by No. 22 Kayley Frank, who grabbed 23 points and nine rebounds on the day.
Asbury responded in the fourth with help from
Jaclynn Ruble,
Haleigh Releford, and
Spencer Harvey, who combined for 17 of AU's 20 in the quarter. Despite Asbury slightly outscoring the Bobcats in the fourth, 20-19, they could not find their lead, and the game resulted in a loss for the Eagles.
With their loss against COFO, Asbury moves to a record of 17-11 for the season.
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Jaclynn Ruble | 22 PTS, 4 AST, 4 STL
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Haleigh Releford | 14 PTS, 4 AST, 2 STL
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Tiffani Riley | 10 PTS, 7 REB, 1 BLK
* Asbury forced 19 turnovers from their opponent and converted those into 20 points
* AU grabbed 12 steals compared to the Bobcats' four.
Asbury will continue their competition in the NCCAA National Tournament by taking on No. 6 Houghton University in a 10:15 AM tip-off on March 16th.
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