CLINTON, Iowa - The Ashford University (8-7, 1-2 MCC) women's basketball team couldn't stop a streaking Iowa Wesleyan College (10-6, 3-0 MCC) squad in a key Midwest Collegiate Conference battle before the holidays, falling 77-43 on Tuesday.
The Tigers
extended their winning streak up to eight games and pulled ahead for a
half-game lead over
Behind a combination of shooting struggles and rebounding troubles, the Saints dropped to 1-2 in league play, now two games back of first.
Iowa Wesleyan forward Jessi Beachey had a game-high 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds. She hit 10 of her 20 shots from the field.
Behind Beachey and three other players corralling seven caroms apiece, the Tigers were relentless on the boards, holding a 59-22 edge in the rebounding column.
"This clearly wasn't one of our better performances and we need to show improvement for our next conference to begin a new year," AU Head Coach Chris Powers said. "We were off in a lot of areas tonight."
Ashford's offense struggled to get on track, unable to shoot over 30 percent in both halves.
But the Saints had four players score six points each in senior She'lsi Weaver of Beloit, Wis., Whitney Miller of Clinton, junior Kayla Crist of Stanwood and freshman Kaela Hunt of Indianapolis.
IWC began the game with an 13-3 run and held on to the lead from the opening whistle.
Miller scored back-to-back buckets to open up the scoring for Ashford in the second half and accounted for the Saints' last points of the first half.
Down by 13 at the break, AU junior guard Jordan Davis of Delmar hit a three-point bucket to close the gap to 10, but the Tigers answered with an 11-0 run that put the game out of reach.
IWC's lead stretched to as many as 33 in the late stages as both teams pulled their starters with about two minutes remaining.
Ashford will look to rebound in 2010, traveling to Oskaloosa to face William Penn University on Jan. 6. Tip is set for 5:30 p.m.
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