#2 Drury Lady Panthers (31-2) vs. #1 Ashland Eagles (33-0)
NCAA-II Midwest Regional Championship
Mon., March 12, 2018 – 6 p.m. (central)
Kates Gym – Ashland, Ohio
 
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Lady Panthers at Ashland for the Midwest Regional title
The Drury Lady Panthers play Ashland University on Monday at 6 p.m. (Central) in the NCAA-II Midwest Regional championship in Ashland, Ohio. 
 
The regional title game pits the top two seeds in the region against one another with Drury seeded second while Ashland is the top seed. The game also sets up the nation's number one ranked team, Ashland, against the third-ranked Lady Panthers in an NCAA-II Sweet 16 game.
 
Drury is 31-2 and winners of 16 straight. The 31 wins by the Lady Panthers is the second most in program history trailing only their 2004 national runner-up team that finished 36-2. This season marks Drury's fourth 30-win season as a program.  
 
Ashland is 33-0 and has won an NCAA-II women's basketball record 70 consecutive games. Their last loss came at the hands of Drury exactly two years ago (March 12, 2016) at Ashland in the NCAA-II Midwest Regional semifinals in an 86-60 win for the Lady Panthers. The Eagles went undefeated last year and won the 2017 national championship. They set an NCAA-II women's basketball record with their 52nd straight victory on Jan. 6 against Northern Michigan, 99-59, and their winning streak is tied with Connecticut's women's team for the fifth longest in NCAA basketball history, regardless of gender.  
 
Monday's game is a rematch of last year's regional championship game won by Ashland 74-62. Hailey Diestelkamp had 14 points and nine rebounds in the game for Drury while Heather Harman also had 14 points and matched a career-high with eight assists. Ashland's 12-point win was their closest game in their national tournament run. In Drury's win at Ashland two years ago, Harman had 11 points off of the bench on 5 for 5 shooting with four assists while Alice Heinzler scored 10 points.
 
The all-time series between Drury and Ashland is tied 1-1 with both meetings coming at Ashland in the national tournament.
 
The winner of Monday's game will advance to the NCAA-II Elite Eight held March 21-25 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Lady Panthers in their 15th NCAA-II tournament
Drury is in the NCAA-II tournament for the 15th time in their 18-year history as a program. The Lady Panthers are 26-14 all-time in the tournament and have gone 3-5 in the regional finals. Drury owns three regional championships (2014, 2007 and 2004) and one national runner-up (2004). This year marks the third straight season the Lady Panthers have advanced to the regional championship game.
 
QUICK FACTS
Records
Drury 31-2
Ashland 33-0
 
Regional Seeding
Drury #2
Ashland #1
 
WBCA/NCAA-II National Ranking
Drury #3
Ashland #1
 
Head Coaches
Drury- Molly Miller (4th year, 113-15)
Ashland- Robyn Fralick (3rd year, 101-2)
 
Last Game
Drury 63 Lewis 49 (Sat., NCAA-II Regional semifinals)
Ashland 80 Grand Valley St. 68 (Sat., NCAA-II Regional semifinals)
 
Last Meeting
Ashland 74 Drury 62 (March 13, 2017, at AU, NCAA-II 3rd round)
 
All-Time Series
tied 1-1
 
Up Next
NCAA-II Elite Eight, March 21-25 at Sioux Falls, SD  
 
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