Lansing, Mich. – Women's Basketball headed over to Lansing, Michigan to take on the Cougars of Cleary University. The first quarter saw both teams perform evenly as it ended tied up at 20-20. Big defensive rebounds helped Cornerstone to hold a four-point lead at half 36-32. The third quarter was close as Cornerstone just barely out-shot Cleary 20-19, but held a five-point lead going into the final period of play 56-51. A late-game push by the Cougars saw them take a convincing lead 65-60 with just about half the quarter to go. The Golden Eagles did their best to respond and retook the lead with about a minute and a half to go, but the Cougars finished off the game with two game-defining free throws to win 73-69. The Golden Eagles will stay on the road with a game inside of the Garth Pleasant Arena at Rochester Christian University on December 13th, at 1 p.m. EST.

Game Highlights – Cornerstone – 69 Cleary – 73

• First Quarter

  • Julie Ashbaugh opened up the game for both teams with a layup to put Cornerstone up 2-0 40 seconds in.

  • The Cougars put together a seven-point run to get a seven-point lead 15-8 in the first quarter.

  • A good layup by Kaila Aston got the lead back on the side of the Golden Eagles 18-17 with just 53 seconds left in the first period.

  • A successful three-pointer by Kaila Aston seemed to push Cornerstone into a three point lead to end the first quarter, but the Cougars made a three for themselves in the last seconds to end quarter one 20-20.

• Second Quarter

  • Cornerstone got the second quarter going with a layup by Kaila Aston to make it 22-20.

  • A 5-0 run midway through the period pushed Cornerstone to a five-point lead 32-27.

  • Gracie Gortmaker saw her way to the charity line with about a minute left to go in the half. The first attempt was unsuccessful, but the second chance made it a seven-point lead for the Golden Eagles going into halftime.

• Third Quarter

  • For a third quarter in a row, the Golden Eagles added points to the board first with another good take by Julie Ashbaugh who made six-point lead 38-32.

  • Abby Hall hit the three-pointer to keep Cornerstone up by two 41-39.

  • Another good shot from beyond the three-point line by Jaxi Long kept Cornerstone on top 50-45 with just about three and a half minutes left to play in the quarter.

  • The free throws continued to prove to be Cornerstone's bread and butter as Julie Ashbaugh made two more to keep the five point lead going into the final quarter 56-51.

• Fourth Quarter

  • The Cougar came out swinging in the final quarter, as they put up a 9-0 run to take the lead 60-65 with under six minutes left to play in regulation.

  • Cornerstone came within one point of Cleary with a layup from Jaxi Long, but the Cougars kept their offense going and had a five-point lead with four minutes left to play 66-61.

  • Two more well taken free throws by Jaxi Long cut the deficit for Cornerstone down to just three, 66-63 in favor of the Cougars.

  • Gracie Gortmaker hit two more free throws and followed it up with a layup to make it a one-point game with a minute and a half to go.

  • A Cleary turnover gave Jaxi Long the free layup to get the score back in favor of the Golden Eagles 69-68.

  • With 19 seconds left to play, Cornerstone took a 30 second timeout to write up one final play as the Cougars held the lead 71-69.

  • Out of the timeout, Cornerstone failed to hit the layup and the possession headed back to the Cougars with 11 seconds left.

  • The free throws by Cleary at the end of the game dug the dagger home, as Cleary took the win 73-69.

By the Numbers 

25/100% – Julie Ashbaugh led both teams in total points with 25 points and went 5-5 from the free throw line in the tight matchup against Cleary University.

17 – Jaxi Long tallied 17 points on the day, and shot 75% from the charity stripe.

14/6 – 6 rebounds and 14 points by Gracie Gortmaker showed her quality on this Cornerstone side.

8 – Kaila Aston put her own strong effort in, as she rebounded eight times on the day.

What's Next? 

The Golden Eagles will stay on the road with a game inside of the Garth Pleasant Arena at Rochester Christian University on December 13th, at 1 p.m. EST.

Women's Basketball Contact: Mason Young

CU Athletics: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Women's Basketball: Facebook | Twitter