By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After growing up in Colorado Springs and launching her college basketball career in California, 5-foot-10 junior guard Payton Sterk found her way to Washburn University, which has paid early dividends for both Sterk and the Ichabods.
Junior Payton Sterk (20) is averaging 16.1 points with 16 3-pointers for Washburn, which has won three straight games. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
After starring at Doherty High in Colorado Springs, Sterk played two seasons at Cal State East Bay in Hayward, Calif., leading the California Collegiate Athletic Association in scoring as a sophomore with an 18.5 average and canning 83 3-pointers before making the decision to transfer and ending up with Lora Westling's Ichabods.
"Coach Wes did actually recruit me out of high school when she was at Western Colorado, but I really liked California, so I went,'' Sterk said. "It was a good time, but I was looking for people like my teammates now, who are more like-minded like me, and that kind of thing.
"I found coach again in the recruiting process and that's how I ended up here.''
Sterk moved to Topeka in July after making her decision to come to WU and used the late summer and early fall to get acquainted with her new teammates.
"That helped a lot, they were great,'' Sterk said. "They were a lot of the reason I ended up coming here. Just hanging out with them and that kind of thing was really cool.''
Junior Payton Sterk has become an immediate standout for Washburn, which has won three straight games. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sterk has made an immediate impact for 3-4 Washburn, which will be shooting for its fourth straight win in Saturday's 4 p.m. non-conference game against Sterling in Lee Arena.
Sterk enters Saturday's game with a 16.1 scoring average while shooting 43.5 percent from the field and hitting 16 3-pointers.
She has averaged 21.7 during the Ichabods' three-game win streak while hitting 11 3s and said she feels the team is starting to hit its stride.
"It was a slow start for sure, but I think we're young and we're still learning each other, a lot of new faces,'' Sterk said. "But I think we're finally jelling together and figuring out people's strengths and weaknesses and I think we're going to be pretty good when we figure out what works and going back to what works.''
Junior Yibari Nwidadah leads the Ichabods offensively with a 17.7 scoring average while shooting a team-high 69.7 percent from the field and grabbing a team-best 7.7 rebounds.
Junior Gabi Giovannetti is averaging 12.3 points while shooting 42.2 percent from the floor and 100 percent at the free throw line while canning 13 3-pointers.
Sterling enters the game on a three-game winning streak and is 7-1 overall after a 73-65 win over Avila last Saturday.
Korynn Clason is scoring a team-high 19.6 points for the Warriors while McKenna Vogl is averaging12.8 points while pulling down a team-high 7.1 rebounds. She also shoots a team-high 63.2 percent from the floor.
Saturday's game will be Washburn's final home game of 2024 before the Ichabods go on the road for all of December.
The WU-Sterling women's game will follow a 2 p.m. men's game between the No. 3-ranked Ichabods and Peru State.
