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WU women back on the road at Northwest Missouri after successful homestand
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After four games at home Washburn University women's basketball is back on the road for a 5:30 p.m. Wednesday MIAA battle at Northwest Missouri State.
Washburn junior Yibari Nwidadah was named the MIAA player of the week on Monday. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn is 10-8 on the year overall and 4-4 in the MIAA after defeating Newman 77-66 to wrap up a 3-1 homestand last Saturday.
Northwest Missouri is 9-9 overall and 2-6 inside the MIAA after falling 84-60 to No. 7 Fort Hays State on the road on Saturday.
The Ichabods dropped a 66-61 overtime decision to Northwest on Jan. 11 in Lee Arena.
Wednesday's contest against Northwest Missouri will be the 80th all-time meeting between the two teams. Washburn leads the all-time series, 62-15.
Junior Yibari Nwidadah leads the Ichabod with 17.3 points and 7.8 rebounds while also shooting a team-high 66.7 percent from the field. The junior has started all 16 games she has played in, logging 27.1 minutes per game. She has shot at or above 50.0% in all but one game and has four double-doubles.
The Olathe North product has the best field goal percentage in the nation while ranking third in the MIAA in scoring average and fifth in rebounds. She has scored 15-plus points in 11 games this year and was named the MIAA Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week on Monday for the first time in her career.
With 193 career offensive rebounds Nwidadah is seventh in program history. She needs 24 offensive boards to move up to sixth. In overall rebounds she is 15th in Washburn history with 516. Her career field goal percentage of .582 is the second best in program history. In scoring she ranks 38th with 782 career points.
Junior Payton Sterk averages 15.5 points while starting all 18 contests and playing a team-high 30.2 minutes per gam. She is shooting 44.0 percent from the floor and a team-high 40.0 percent from deep while averages 2.4 assists and grabbing 3.7 rebounds.
T-Bird girls roll to 53-18 UKC win over Leavenworth
By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Shawnee Heights girls took the next step in the United Kansas Conference race Tuesday night by beating up on visiting Leavenworth, 53-18.
Junior Reianna Vega scored 13 first-half points for Shawnee Heights in Tuesday's 53-18 UKC romp past Leavenworth. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The T-Birds improved to 5-3 in a league that features three of the top seven Class 5A teams in the state according to the most recent Kansas Basketball Coaches Association poll in Seaman, Piper and De Soto.
Shawnee Heights left no doubt against the Pioneers, building a 14-0 lead before the visitors got on the board with 2:16 left in the first period. The second period followed the same script, with Leavenworth getting its second bucket with 2:30 left before halftime. At the break, the T-Birds led, 31-7.
“We wanted to come out of the gate and get a good start,” said Shawnee Heights coach Bob Wells. “We’ve had some times where we struggled a little bit at the start, or that we’ve had a dead spot in the third quarter. We wanted to make sure we didn’t have those dead spots. And I thought the girls really responded.”
Leading the first half charge was junior Reianna Vega, who scored 13 points before the intermission. The 6-foot forward demonstrated the ability to face the basket, knock down perimeter shots, handle the ball and battle in the paint.
“I think I am growing as a player, watching myself improve each game,” Vega said. “I set goals for myself each game, and when I achieve them, I feel (I’m improving).”
“I think she can play an even bigger role,” Wells said of Vega. “We are looking to her to score and now she’s stepping forward in games and starting to put up some numbers like we think she’s capable of doing.
“For somebody that’s basically 6-feet tall who can handle the ball, who can shoot from the perimeter or go inside and battle with the bigs, that really helps us. With that size, she’s able to see over the defense and that makes a big difference looking at what’s going on with the offense.”
Sophomore KK Emmot scored a game-high 21 points in Tuesday's 53-18 home UKC win over Leavenworth. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Pacing Shawnee Heights for the game was sophomore KK Emmot with 21. The T-Birds were an efficient 21-42 from the field and 6-8 from the free throw line.
No. 1-ranked Ichabod men hit the road to face Northwest Missouri
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 1-ranked Washburn University Ichabods will hit the road for a pair of games this week, starting with Northwest Missouri on Wednesday night (7:30 p.m.) in Maryville, Mo., WU's second game with the Bearcats in 11 days.
Senior Jacob Hanna and the No. 1-ranked Washburn men will put their 17-0 record on the line in Wednesday's MIAA contest at Northwest Missouri. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods moved to 17-0 overall and 8-0 in the MIAA with a Newman 121-73 win over Newman last Saturday in Lee Arena.
Northwest is 4-13 and 2-6 in the MIAA after falling 72-65 at Fort Hays State on Saturday, the Bearcats third straight loss.
The Ichabods won the last meeting with the Bearcats 96-66 on Jan. 11 in Lee Arena.
Washburn is off to its best start to begin a season since starting the 2003-04 season 16-0 en route to the MIAA regular-season championship.
The Ichabod record for the most wins to start the season is 19, coming in the 1992-93 season.
Washburn is now one of two undefeated teams remaining in the NCAA Division II ranks, joining No. 2 Daemen (14-0).
