By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball turned a tight first half into a commanding victory Saturday at Lee Arena, riding a dominant third-quarter burst to a 66-44 win over Metropolitan State Denver in the wrapup of the Washburn Classic.
Senior Gabi Giovannetti notched her first collegiate double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 66-44 Washburn win over MSU Denver. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Ichabods moved to 3-1 on the season with their third straight win, using a balanced offensive effort and the dominant third-quarter stretch.
After taking a 33-23 lead into halftime, the Ichabods blew the game open with an 18-0 run in the third stanza, outscoring the Roadrunners 25-7 in the quarter.
"We had a nice run there,'' Washburn coach Lora Westling said. "I thought Nia McKenzie had some unbelievably impactful minutes off the ball defending and getting us in sytem. She's plus-29 on the day in 17 minutes and I thought she was the steady hand we kind of needed.
"What's really special with this team is how high the ceiling could be. They want to get better every day, we got good momentum going and hopefully here comes the fun part.''
Washburn shot a blistering 66.7 percent (10 of 15) in the third while holding MSU Denver to just 2 of 13.
By the end of the quarter, the Ichabods had extended their advantage to 58-30, their largest lead of the game at 28 points.
Senior Gabi Giovannetti led all scorers with 17 points, including a pair of momentum-changing treys in the third quarter, and added 10 rebounds and three steals, recording her first collegiate double-double in the process.
Senior Payton Sterk finished with 14 points, connecting twice from long range, and Britany Kogbara delivered 12 points and five rebounds off the bench.
Senior Yibari Nwidadah added seven points and eight boards and was named to the all-tournament team along with Giovannetti.
"We're still building our character,'' Giovannetti said. "We've got a new point guard mixing in, so we're just trying to stay as sharp as we can, just to get to a championship level of play.
"We wanted to come out this weekend and defend our homecourt, especially with it being new, and there's just a lot of motivators.''
Washburn shot 39.1 percent from the field and overcame a cold night from 3-point range by outscoring MSU Denver 38-18 in the paint and controlling the glass with a 52-28 rebounding advantage.
MSU Denver stayed close early, trailing 17-12 after the opening quarter and 33-23 at halftime, but struggled to maintain pace once Washburn tightened its defensive pressure.
The Roadrunners shot just 29.6 percent in the opening half and never found their rhythm from the perimeter.
The Roadrunners were unable to cut the deficit under 20 in the final period as the Ichabods finished with advantages in points off turnovers (14 to 11), second-chance scoring (14 to 2) and bench production (28 to 11), while also holding their largest lead of 28 late in the third quarter.
The Ichabods will return to action Nov. 28-29 at the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic in San Antonio, Texas.
