GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The women's basketball team had a tall task on Saturday as they hosted top-ranked Ashland University. In the first half, the Panthers played the Eagles very well and found themselves down 37-30. In the second half, the Eagles pulled away after a 25-7 edge in the third quarter and won 83-51.

Ashland led 19-15 at the end of the first quarter. Kenzie Wilkinson canned a three-pointer on DU's first possession for a 3-2 lead. Ashland scored in bunches early racing out to an 8-3 lead. Maddie Dackin made back-to-back triples out of the gate. Davenport scored the next five points to tie it up after a three-point play by freshman Toni Grace. Ashland scored the next six points to lead 14-8 at the 4:26 mark after a triple by Hallie Heidemann. The Panthers got within two at 17-15 after a jumper by Martyna Pioro with 39 seconds left in the quarter. Karlee Pireu made a pair of free throws with four seconds left in the quarter for the four-point lead after 10 minutes.

Ashland led 24-22 with 4:15 left in the second quarter as both teams battled back and forth. The Eagles then extended their lead to 34-24 over the next three minutes courtesy of a 10-2 run fueled by a three-point play by Jodi Johnson. Freshman Natalie Tucker would then score the next five points for the Panthers and freshman Taylor Opolka split at the foul line with one second until halftime for a 37-30 deficit. DU shot 9-of-22 from the floor in the first half. AU shot 12-of-33 from the floor including 7-of-20 from behind the arc.

The Eagles scored the first eight points of the third quarter to built a 45-30 lead at the 7:17 mark. Johnson scored six of those points on layups for the Eagles. The lead grew to 57-33 with 2:15 left in the quarter as the Panthers did not have an answer on either end of the floor.

Grace led the Panthers with 13 points and also chipped in with four assists. Wilkinson scored 10 points going 3-of-5 from deep in 21 minutes. Jenna Falkenberg scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds in 25 minutes. Ashland used 26 fast-break points to their advantage and also had a 26-9 edge in points off turnovers. Ashland shot 19-of-25 from the free throw line compared to 15-of-21 for Davenport.