There will be a new National Champion in Division II women’s basketball.
After battling back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to pull within two in the late stages of Wednesday’s semifinal against top seed Ashland, No. 5 Glenville State came up short, falling to the Eagles, 76-67, at St. Joseph Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Mo.
Glenville State (33-3) led for much of the opening quarter, but Ashland (36-0) held the Pioneers scoreless for the last 2:33 of the quarter to go in front, 17-14.
Starting with a three-pointer from Hallie Heidemann, the Eagles went on to dominate the second frame. Another triple from Maddie Maloney made the margin nine, and Ashland mostly continued to expand on it in what became a 41-27 halftime lead.
Hayley Smith’s layup 3:30 into the second half left Ashland with a 49-30 lead, though the Pioneers didn’t go away quietly. Kamiyah Lyons scored twice in 38 seconds, the latter of which left Glenville facing a 51-38 deficit.
Six points from Pioneers’ standout guard Bre Campbell over the final minute of the third enabled Glenville to cut its deficit to 53-44 ahead of the fourth.
Annie Roshak’s layup with 7:45 remaining gave Ashland a 62-49 lead, but the Eagles didn’t score again for more than 4 minutes. During that time, Campbell scored seven points and teammate Mickayla Perdue added a bucket, allowing the Pioneers to trail by four with inside 4 minutes left.
A three from Hya Haywood enabled Glenville to trail 64-61, and Perdue’s bucket with 2:42 left brought the Pioneers to within 65-63.
But Savaya Brockington scored in response, and after an empty Pioneers’ possession, Roshak converted from close range with 1:57 left.
Glenville got no closer than five the rest of the way and was eliminated one game short of the national final, which will feature the Eagles against Minnesota Duluth.
Despite being held to 7-for-21 shooting, Campbell scored 23 points to go with her eight rebounds.
Perdue scored 20 points in defeat.
Despite turning it over 26 times, Ashland shot nearly 50 percent (31 for 63), made 26-of-49 two-point field-goal attempts and held a 52-32 rebounding advantage.
Roshak totaled 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Smith added 15 points and 16 boards to key the Eagles’ domination on the glass.
Brockington scored 16 and Heidemann scored 14 to go with eight rebounds, while accounting for three of her team’s five threes.
Glenville is 68-4 over the last two seasons.