'Let’s get after it': Expectations high for Ashland University women's basketball team

This is what some might call a First World problem.

The Ashland University women’s basketball team has a roster for the 2022-23 season that features 10 players with college basketball starting experience.

That’s quite a wealth of talent returning to a team that went 29-3 overall, 21-1 as regular-season and tournament champions in its first year in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, and ranked No. 9 in the country in 2021-22.

But those kinds of accomplishments are nothing new for the women’s program, which has two Division II national championships and two national runner-up finishes since 2013.

Over the last 11 seasons, Ashland has gone 322-39 with two undefeated seasons, a Division II-record 73-game winning streak, six 30-win seasons, 10 NCAA postseason appearances, seven conference regular-season championships, eight conference tournament titles, and a 175-13 home record.

“We have really high expectations,” said AU coach Kari Pickens, who begins her fifth season with a 105-15 record. “I believe that everyone on our team could confidently say that we’re going to compete for championships this year.

“That’s not to say it’s going to be easy or that it’s going to just happen. It’s going to take a lot of work, a lot selflessness within our team. I truly believe everyone is committed to that.”

The Eagles return three 2021-22 starters led by All-American senior forward Annie Roshak. The 6-1 Roshak averaged 17.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.0 blocks last season, shooting 55.1% from the field, 33.0% from 3-point range and 76.7% from the free-throw line. She has scored 1,336 career points for AU.

Fifth-year 5-8 guard Hallie Heidemann was a second-team all-conference choice last season. The three-year starter averaged 12.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals, shooting 48.6% from the field, 42.6% from 3-point range and 86.8% from the free-throw line as she reached 1,216 career points.

Junior 5-10 guard Macy Spielman earned second-team all-league honors in her first year in the program as a transfer from Bowling Green. She averaged 12.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals, and shot a team-high 57.0% from the field, as well as 37.7% from 3-point range and a team-best 87.0% from the free-throw line.

Two transfer players from former AU Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponents add much more starting experience to the Ashland roster.

Former Purdue-Northwest guard Savaya Brockington comes to AU with two seasons of eligibility remaining. She was a second-team All-GLIAC choice as a sophomore in 2020-21, averaging 15.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.2 steals while hitting 83.3% from the free-throw line.

As a junior, Brockington was limited to nine games, but scored 13.6 points, with 6.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game. She enters the 2022-23 season with 806 career points.

Maddie Maloney, a 5-8 graduate transfer guard, joins AU after four years and 103 games as a starter for Saginaw Valley State, where she scored more than 1,000 career points. For her career, she has averaged 9.9 points, 3.9 assists and 2.7 rebounds, and was a two-time second-team All-GLIAC choice.

“All of our returning starters have had a great preseason,” Pickens said. “They’ve worked really hard. But we’ve also brought in two all-league transfers and two Division I transfers who played big roles on their team, too.”

Adding to depth, 5-8 sophomore point guard Morgan Yoder is back after playing in 31 games with five starts as a true freshman. She averaged 3.6 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists in her first season.

Sophomore Hayley Smith, a 6-1 forward, played in 28 games with four starts in 2021-22, scoring 8.0 points and snagging 4.4 rebounds per game.

But there’s even more. The two Division I transfers are 5-10 junior forward Molly Dever and 6-0 sophomore forward Zoe Miller.

Dever joins the Eagles from Bowling Green, where she started one game as a freshman. Miller also comes over from BG, where she played in 23 games with five starts as a freshman, averaging 8.1 points and 3.0 rebounds.

Sam Chable, a 5-6 senior guard, started during her sophomore season at AU, tying the school record with nine 3-pointers in a game and scoring 29 points against Purdue-Northwest.

Remarkably, this AU team could have been even deeper. Starting point guard Sydney Jacobsen, role player Sophia Fortner and freshman Kenzie McConnell all opted to complete their college careers as students rather than student-athletes.

All that experience has had the coaching staff experimenting with starters and player combinations during the run-up to the season opener Nov. 11 at Wayne State.

“For us as a coaching staff we just have to find out what’s the best mix,” Pickens said. “With our sophomores, juniors and seniors, we just have a ton of experience. I’m just thankful that I’m in that position that I have so many people I can choose from. But I am confident we can go nine to 10 deep, which is really cool.”

Three other newcomers also will be part of the 2022-23 Eagles. Guards Meredith Randulic(Massillon Perry) and Sophia Niese (Shelby) are incoming freshmen. Jenna Kotas is the Eagles' new assistant coach after spending the last three seasons as an assistant at Illinois-Springfield.

Kotas scored 1,605 points in her collegiate career. She graduated from Dubuque in 2015 with a degree in sports marketing/management, and from Illinois-Springfield in 2021 with a master's degree in communication.

“Jenna’s been awesome coming into our staff,” Pickens said. “She does a great job with the guards. The girls feel really connected to her and it’s been a very easy transition. She’s just a worker … with a ton of positive energy.”

The Eagles will open the season with two straight games on the road, with a game at Indianapolis on Nov. 13 following the opener. The home opener is slated for Nov. 16 against Saginaw Valley State.

The G-MAC opener is Dec. 1 at Findlay.

The challenging nonleague portion of the schedule also includes a home game with Lewis, and games against Truman State and Drury in the Oasis Hotel & Convention Center Thanksgiving Classic in Springfield, Missouri.

Drury finished last season 32-5 and the Panthers start this season as the No. 10 team in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division II poll.

“I felt like we had a very experienced team coming back and I wanted to put us in a position where if we can put together a strong season strength of schedule it was going to be in our favor come tournament time,” Pickens said. “I think the nonconference that we have in place will hopefully help do that.”

The Eagles begin the 2022-23 season as the No. 5 team in the country in the WBCA poll. AU also opens as the overwhelming favorite in the G-MAC, earning 12 of 13 first-place votes in the preseason coaches poll.

Kentucky Wesleyan was picked second and Walsh, with the other first-place vote, was third.

“I think the team we have assembled for this year is going to be a team with a target on their back,” Pickens said. “We are going to have high expectations. Players that come here come here expecting that. They want to be the team to beat.

“I couldn’t be more excited about where we’re at right now. I think our team camaraderie is really good and people are bought in. So, let’s get after it.”

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland University women's basketball team is deep, talented