By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After a disappointing 52-47 non-conference loss to Rockhurst in the final game of the Washburn Classic on Saturday at Lee Arena, the good news for the Washburn University women's basketbal team is that the Ichabods won't have to wait too long to have a chance to wipe that bad taste out of their mouths.
Washburn's Emma Chapman scored nine points to tie for team-high scoring honors and grabbed a game and career-high 13 rebounds in Saturday's 52-47 loss to Rockhurst. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn held a 41-34 lead entering the fourth quarter, but made just 1 of 12 shots from the field in the final 10 minutes as Rockhurst outscored Washburn 18-6 in the period to rally for the victory.
Now 2-2 on the season, Washburn will wrap up its five-game homestand on Wednesday with a 6 p.m. non-conference contest against Central Christian College.
"Nobody wants to go into Thanksgiving dinner with this in their mouth,'' Washburn coach Lora Westling said. "And that's what we talked about in the locker room, we're just not there yet and we've got a lot of work to do.
"We've got to grow up and we've got to continue to chip away. We get a chance to get back on the floor Monday and get better and we'll see what we can do on Wednesday.''
Washburn led for the entire first quarter after jumping in front on a hoop from Macy Doebele and going on to take a 16-12 advantage into the second period.
Rockhurst (2-3) used a 7-2 run to knot the score at 22 with 2:06 left in the second quarter, but Aubree Dewey made a jump shot to give the Ichabods a 24-22 halftime advantage.
The Hawks scored the first four points of the second half to take their first lead of the game, 26-24, at the 6:34 mark.
Trailing 28-26, Natalie Figueroa drained a 3-pointer to put the Ichabods back up by a point and spark a 10-2 scoring run.
Emma Chapman made a pair of free throws to extend the Washburn lead to 41-34 at the end of the third quarter, which included six points and four rebounds by Yibari Nwidadah in her college debut.
"Yibari did a great job in her minutes and was a great spark for us off the bench,'' Westling said. "She's just coming off thumb surgery not too long ago and she just got back this week and we've just got to get her back in condition so she can play a little bit longer stretch. She's going to be great for us as she continues to grow.''
Rockhurst scored six unanswered points to pull within one, 41-40, at the start of the fouth.
Amaya Davison hit a pair of free throws for Washburn's first points of the period at the 7:05 mark, but the Hawks hit a jumper at the 5:15 mark to make it a 1-point affair yet again and followed that up with an 8-0 run to go in front, 50-43.
Dewey made a jumper with 21 seconds left and then hit two free throws eight seconds later, but it wasn't enough as Rockhurst claimed the five-point victory.
The Ichabods shot 28.1 percent from the floor while the Hawks finished with a 34.5 field goal percentage. From 3-point range, Washburn was 6 for 24 and Rockhurst made 2 of 11 attempts.
Washburn out-rebounded Rockhurst by a 47-36 margin, but struggled to a 9 of 18 showing at the free throw line while Rockhurst made 12 of 17 charities.
Dewey, Figueroa and Chapman all recorded nine points to lead the Ichabods while Chapman grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds, six of which were offensive boards.
Keegan Sullivan led Rockhurst with 15 points.
ROCKHURST WOMEN 52, WASHBURN 47
Rockhurst 12 10 12 18 -- 52
Washburn 16 8 17 6 -- 47
ROCKHURST (2-3)
Hummel 2-7 1-2 5, Conway 3-8 3-4 10, Dodd 1-3 2-2 4, McFarren 1-2 2-2 4, Sullivan 7-16 0-1 15, Garcia 2-7 2-4 6, Kamies 2-6 2-2 6, Diener 1-3 0-0 2, Putt 0-3 0-0 0, Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-55 12-17 52.
WASHBURN (2-2)
Cassaday 1-3 0-6 2, Gamble 1-10 0-0 3, Dewey 3-11 2-2 9, Figueroa 3-11 0-0 9, Doebele 1-4 0-0 2, Chapman 3-8 3-4 9, Schieferecke 0-0 0-0 0, Davison 1-6 4-4 7, Nwidadah 3-4 0-2 6. Totals 16-57 9-18 47.
3-point shots – Rockhurst 2-11 (Conway 1-3, Sullivan 1-4, Kamies 0-2, Diener 0-1, Dodd 0-1), Washburn 6-24 (Figueroa 3-8, Gamble 1-9, Dewey 1-4, Davison 1-3). Rebounds – Rockhurst 36 (Hummel 9), Washburn 47 (Chapman 13). Assists – Rockhurst 3 (Conway 2), Washburn 11 (Dewey 4). Turnovers – Rockhurst 12, Washburn 17. Total fouls – Rockhurst 16, Washburn 15. Fouled out – Doebele. Technical fouls – none.
