By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women's basketball team, coming off its first MIAA win, will host Missouri Western on Saturday in a 1 p.m. conference contest at Lee Arena.
The Ichabods earned their first MIAA victory of the young season with a 55-45 decision at Rogers State last Saturday.
Junior point guard Aubree Dewey leads Washburn with 10.3 points and 3.4 assists per game entering Saturday's 1 p.m. MIAA game against Missouri Western at Lee Arena. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
With the Rogers State win, Washburn improved to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the MIAA.
Junior point guard Aubree Dewey has started all eight games and leads Washburn in scoring with a 10.3 average and is 11th in the league in assists with 3.4 per game.
Freshman Natalia Figueroa is the only other Ichabod who has started every game and is averaging 9.1 points with 17 3-pointers on the year.
Senior Emma Chapman started her second consecutive game last Saturday and scored a career-high 13 points against the Hillcats, with 11 of those coming in the second half.
Chapman is averaging 7.8 points and 5.8 rebounds, with 22 of her 46 rebounds coming on the offensive end.
The Ichabods are second in the league and 10th in all of Division II in fewest points allowed per game, hold opponents to just 53.4 points per game.
Washburn has not allowed more than 64 points in any game and has held two opponents to 45 or fewer points.
The Griffons (7-4, 2-2 MIAA) went 1-1 last week, beating No. 22-ranked Nebraska-Kearney, 68-65, before falling to Fort Hays State, 64-58.
Missouri Western won both matchups against Washburn last year, posting an 80-47 victory in Topeka and then a 67-44 win in St. Joseph, Mo. in the span of 17 days.
Last season, the Griffons (24-10, 14-8 MIAA) finished fifth in the MIAA standings and although they were eliminated from the conference tournament semifinals, the team still earned an NCAA postseason berth and went on to claim the Central Region title to advance to the NCAA Elite Eight.
Missouri Western returns 11 players from last year's Elite Eight squad, highlighted by Connie Clarke who led last year's team in scoring, rebounds, steals and blocks.
Clarke currently leads the Griffons with a 16.5 scoring average and 9.0 rebounds a game.
Clarke already has five double-doubles and scored a season-high 34 points in a 101-96 win over Lubbock Christian.
Brionna Budgetts averages 15.2 points for Western.
Washburn will return to the court after Christmas and host Bethany on Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. for the Ichabods' final non-conference game of the season.
