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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

The Washburn Ichabod softball team returns to the road for four games this weekend at the Grand Slam Classic in Branson, Mo. where Washburn will face Illinois-Springfield for two of the games with single contests against Lincoln and Truman.

Sophomore Makenzie Sais has helped lead Washburn softball to a 21-4 record in 2026, leading the nation with 50 stolen bases. [File photo/TSN]

Washburn will open the tournament at 3 p.m. Friday against Illinois-Springfield and will take on Lincoln at 5 p.m.

On Saturday the Ichabods will face Illinois-Springfield at 11 a.m. and Truman State at 3 p.m.

The 21-4 start by the Ichabods this season is the best 25-game start in program history.

Washburn received votes for the second straight week in the NFCA Top 25 coaches poll.

The Ichabods went 4-1 last weekend at the Midwest College Classic in Shawnee and will enter this weekend on a three-game winning streak.

The Ichabods have hit the 30-win mark for four straight seasons dating back to the 2022 season, the longest streak of 30 wins since a run between the 2002-07 seasons when the Ichabods recorded 30 wins six seasons in a row.

Brenda Holaday is in her 10th season as the Ichabod softball coach, recording a 304-174 overall record while going 136-74 in MIAA contests and leading the Ichabods to two MIAA regular-season titles (2018, 2022) and three NCAA Central Regional berths (2018, 2022, 2024). Holaday became Washburn's all-time winningest coach with a 13-0 win over Illinois-Springfield on Feb. 8, 2025.

Sophomore Makenzie Sais became the Ichabod single-season leader in stolen bases against Montana State Billings with her 34th and she enters the weekend with a nation-best 50 stolen bases, 26 ahead of the No. 2-ranked player on the chart.

Sais' stolen bases total is also 24 more than the NCAA Division I leader and 29 ahead of the NCAA Division III leader.

Sais is also second in the nation in hits with 37 and second in runs scored with 30.

Dalaney Anderson leads the nation in RBI with 36 and she is 11th in home runs with seven. Anderson also ranks 13th in hits with 32 and 18th in runs scored.

Pitcher Sadie Walker is third in the nation in shutouts and she is seventh in strikeouts with 71. Jenna Sprague is seventh in the nation in saves.

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Top seed and No. 3-ranked Washburn University men's basketball was good enough in the first half Thursday night to open up a 10-point advantage over Central Oklahoma.

Junior All-MIAA guard Jack Bachelor celebrates one of his five 3-pointers in Thursday's 91-52 Washburn MIAA Tournament win over Central Oklahoma. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Washburn Athletics]

But the Ichabods were unstoppable after halftime, riding a 55-point second half to a dominating 91-52 quarterfinal win over the Bronchos in the MIAA Tournament in Municipal Auditorium.

"I'm really pleased with how we came out at halftime,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "I kind of challenged the guys at halftime just to stay in the moment and stay mentally locked in one possession at a time and I thought we were as good as we've been probably all year that first seven, eight minutes of the second half.

"We get going and these guys are turned up like that we can play at a pretty high level.''

The Ichabods, who avenged a loss to UCO in the 2025 MIAA tournament, will now face the winner of Friday's game between Missouri Western and Arkansas-Fort Smith at 6 p.m. on Saturday in a semifinal.

Washburn, which improved to 29-1, set the tone early as junior point guard Jack Bachelor opened things up with a 3-pointer and the Ichabods would never trail.

The Ichabods went on to push their advantage to 16-6 five minutes into the game and Washburn would go on to lead by as many as 13 points in the half.

Central Oklahoma (17-16) cut its deficit to 27-21 with 3:02 left in the half, but the Ichabods closed the half with a 9-5 run, including six straight points from Bachelor in the final 1:16 to take a 36-26 lead into halftime.

The second half belonged entirely to Washburn, which opened the final 20 minutes with a 17-1 run in the first 4:32, including a 15-0 run to start the half.

Washburn went on to lead by as many 42 points, going 10 for 15 from 3-point range in the second half while shooting a blistering 70 percent overall (21 of 30).

The Ichabods shot 58.6 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range on the night while holding Central Oklahoma to 31.3 percent shooting and just 2 for 20 on 3-point attempts.

Washburn also forced 16 Broncho turnovers, converting them into 28 points, and dominated the paint with 44 points inside.

Bachelor, a Washburn Rural product, led the Ichabods with a game-high 24 points, hitting 9 of 17 shots from the field and 5 of 11 from 3-point range, while also adding seven assists with no turnovers.

"Municipal's awesome, this MIAA Tournament's awesome,'' Bachelor said. "We kind of had a bad taste in our mouth from last year. We were fired up, we were ready to go and this is postseason basketball. This is March, this is what you dream of.''

Sophomore Dillon Claussen scored 21 points in just 18:26 of work in Thursday's 91-52 Washburn MIAA Tournament win over Central Oklahoma. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Washburn Athletics]

Sophomore Dillon Claussen finished with 21 points on 7 of 7 shooting from the field, including 2 of 2 from 3-point range while senior Brady Christiansen added 11 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Tyson Ruud led the Ichabods with six rebounds off the bench.

By VINCE LOVERGINE

TopSports.news

The Rossville Bulldawgs said before the season that they wanted to make it back to the Class 2A state tournament after getting a taste of it last season.

Rossville senior Cameron Miller (11) scored a game-high 24 points in the Bulldwags' 67-51 sub-state win over Maur Hill-Mt. Academy. [File photo/TSN]

They’re one step closer to that goal fending off the Ravens Wednesday night in a sub-state semifinal, 67-51.

“Play Rossville basketball man,,'' Bulldawg coach Brandon McDonnell said. "Whether it’s pretty or ugly, it’s about surviving and advancing. As long as we can stay playing together and not bicker at each other too much … sometimes we have that slippage and that’s human nature. You’re going to get mad at each other every once and awhile and that can’t happen for too long. It happened a little bit tonight and then they regrouped.

“We haven’t been in this conversation for so long as a program. Of course, if we made it last year we want to go right back because we want to let people know it wasn’t a fluke. We got one more game and when we win that, let’s go to state.''

For nearly three minutes with the game was tied at 3-3 before Rossville gained its first lead of the game at 9-8 after senior Cameron Miller made two free-throws.

The Bulldawgs went on a 12-2 run to lead by 11 (21-10), forcing Maur Hill-Mt. Academy into a timeout with 1:04 left in the first quarter. Rossville led 23-14 after one quarter.

Then the Bulldawgs couldn’t miss from beyond the arc, with 12 of ther 13 points in the quarter off 3-pointers, two from Miller and one apiece from Jack Donovan and Conner Bush.

The Bulldawgs led 35-22 after Miller’s second triple and took a 36-23 lead into the break.

“What we try to tell the fellas is the game has to settle eventually,'' McDonell said. "You still got the butterflies, trying to figure out what defense they’re in, what seams we can penetrate and just getting into a flow.

“Sometimes for us it takes until the second quarter to get into that flow and that’s what happened tonight.”

After four quick points to begin the third quarter, including a two-hand slam from Miller in transition, Donovan and Bush would knock down 3-pointers and Rossville would build a 19-point lead.

Rossville led 52-40 at the end of three quarters. Bush had nine points and Donovan finished with 16 points.

“Whenever everyone is scoring the same amount, it means we’re sharing the ball and getting open looks as much as we can, but sometimes it’s going to be lopsided but hey, a win is a win,” said Miller, who finished with a game-high 24 points.

The Ravens got it down to nine (52-43), its first time trailing under 10 points since the end of the first quarter. But the Bulldawgs would not let it go any further than that.

Rossville coach Brandon McDonnell shared a special senior night with son, Jakoby.

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Welcome to Top Sports News

Washburn softball to put 21-4 record on the line in Grand Slam Classic

Washburn men buck the Bronchos with 55-point second half in MIAA Tournament opener, 91-52

Rossville boys advance to 2A sub-state final, taking down Maur Hill-Mt. Academy