GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Panthers welcomed one of the best teams in the country into the DU Student Center. The Eagles of Ashland University came into the contest with an unblemished record and they walked off the court remaining undefeated. This was a true tale of two halves, with Davenport giving Ashland everything they had in the first half. The Panthers were outscored 37-52 in the second and fell to 1-13 in conference play.
 
THE BASICS
Final Score: Davenport-75 | Ashland-94
Location: Grand Rapids, Mich.
 
POINTS PER HALF
First Quarter: DU-26 | AU-23
Second Quarter: DU-12 | AU-19
Third Quarter: DU-21 | AU-32
Fourth Quarter: DU-16 | AU-20
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The opening points of the game belonged to Madison Jones and the Panthers, she hit an unassisted jumper in transition. Davenport led by as many as six points in the quarter and held the lead for over eight minutes. The pace of the game was quick and yielded 49 combined points between the two teams. The Panthers ended the quarter with a 26-23 lead, following a layup by Emily Lange.
 
Davenport continued to play solid ball throughout the majority of the second quarter. Their lead grew all the way to seven points after a layup by Jenna Falkenberg with 2:23 remaining. Ashland ended the quarter on an 11-0 run and Davenport trailed by four points heading into halftime.
 
In the first half, Davenport was playing great defense against the Eagles. Ashland came into the contest averaging over 90 points per game and DU held them to 42 in the first half. However, the third quarter was a different story. Ashland poured in 32 points, growing their lead up to 15 points at the conclusion of the third. Davenport scored 21 points of their own, but heading into the final quarter by double digits was going to be a tall task.
 
The Ashland lead reached as high as 22 points in the final quarter and remained in double digits down the stretch. Davenport held their own against the second ranked team in the country during the first half, but were overpowered in the second half.

STAT LEADERS
Points: Falkenberg (24)
Rebounds: Falkenberg (9)
Assists: Jones (5)
Steals: Jones (5)
Blocks: Elise Scaggs (1)

UP NEXT
The next game for DU is on Saturday, when the Panthers will host Wayne State for senior day. The game will begin at 1 p.m. inside the DU Student Center.
 
Story by: Devin Steiner
 
Picture credit: Hannah Paddock