The theme of playing consistent basketball for 40 minutes must be the main topic in the locker room for the Davenport women's basketball team as they make the trip to Ashland University this weekend. The Panthers have shown signs that they are more than capable of holding their own in stretches of games, but they just need to put together 40 solid minutes to achieve the outcome they desire. The Panthers currently stand 2-5 overall this season, but have been plagued by a quarter here and there that they can't recover from in their five losses. There is a lot of optimism after their most recent showing where they battled for 34 minutes with Grand Valley State on Tuesday in a 17-point loss. DU was right in the thick of things prior to the final media timeout in the fourth quarter, but the 15th-ranked Lakers used a 16-0 run to close out the majority of the contest.

The Panthers will face an Ashland team that themselves have seen changes to a program that has had national prominence over the past few seasons. The Eagles are currently 4-3 overall which is a stark contrast as they lost a total of four games over the previous three seasons (96-4) and went 31-0 during the 2019-20 campaign. This new crop of Eagles are trying to find their identity as the month of January comes to a close and February begins. Ashland is again superior at home with a 4-1 record with victories over Ferris State (twice), Saginaw Valley State and Wayne State. Ashland under head coach Kari Pickens, in her third season as head coach, is averaging 72.4 points per game and allowing 64 points per contest. The Eagles are a steady 45.3 percent from the floor and an impressive 85.6 percent at the free throw line as a team. Sophomore Annie Roshak (North Canton, Ohio) has played in five contests and is averaging a team-high 23.6 points per game which is also second in the GLIAC. Senior Karlee Pireu (Massillon, Ohio) is second on the team averaging 18.7 points and leads the team with 8.7 rebounds per game.

Junior Toni Grace (Fishers, Ind.) has been a solid scoring threat for the Panthers as evidenced by hitting double figures in all seven games this season. She led all scorers with 19 points on Tuesday against Grand Valley State and four of her six field goals came from behind the arc. Grace is averaging 15.7 points this season which is eighth in the conference. She is also an incredible 30-of-31 at the free throw line missing for the first time this season on Tuesday. Junior Loni Sales (Greenville, S.C.) and sophomore Emily Lange (Wilton, Iowa) are each averaging 10.6 points per game to rank second on the team. Sophomore Scout Nelson (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.) rounds out the Panthers' in double figures for scoring at 10.1 points per game.

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