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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Washburn University women's basketball is in Oklahoma for its final regular-season road trip of the 2025-2026 season, beginning with a 5:30 p.m. Thursday game at Central Oklahoma.

 

Senior Gabi Giovannetti scored a game-high 17 points to lead Washburn in a 72-64 MIAA win over Northeastern State last Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

 

Washburn improved to 17-7 overall and 10-5 in the MIAA with a 72-64 win over Northeastern State last Saturday in Lee Arena.

 

Washburn is one win away from equaling its win total in an 18-13 season in 2024-25 with a minimum of five games remaining.

 

Central Oklahoma improved to 9-15 overall and 4-11 in the MIAA with a 64-61 win over Rogers State at home last time out.

 

Senior Yibari Nwidadah averages team-highs of 11.9 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Ichabods while also shooting a team-high 56.7 percent from the floor.

 

With 286 career offensive rebounds Nwidadah ranks third in program history and she is fifth with 790 career boards. 

 

Her career field goal percentage of .578 is the second best in program history. In scoring she ranks 13th among all Ichabods with 1,265 career points and is 11th in program history with 69 career blocked shots. 

 

Senior Payton Sterk is second on the team with an 11.7 scoring average while hitting a team-high 38 3-pointers.

 

Sterk currently sits 17th in program history with 100 3-pointers made in just 55 career games with Washburn.

 

Sterk's career free throw percentage of 86.5 percent is the best for any Ichabod. 

 

Senior Gabi Giovannetti scored 10.7 points per game and is second on the team with 33 3-pointers. She also is swiping a team-high 1.8 steals per game, ranking seventh in the MIAA in steals.

 

Giovannetti is tied for sixth in program history with 145 career 3-pointers made. She is 19th among all Ichabods with 57 blocked shots and she ranks 31st in program history with 948 career points. 

 

Holding opponents to 57.7 points per game, Washburn ranks first in the MIAA in scoring defense.

 

Forcing 18.21 turnovers per game, the Ichabods lead the conference.

 

Five players scored in double figures for the Ichabods in Saturday's win over Northeastern State, led by 17 points from Giovannetti. Sterk had 11 points with five assists and junior Britany Kogbara came off the bench to score 11 points with nine rebounds and a pair of blocks. Senior Aniah Wayne and sophomore Brooke Gomez scored 10 points apiece. 

Nykaiya Dillard is scoring a team-high 12.4 points per game for Central Oklahoma while Kaitlyn McCarn is averaging 11.2 points. 

Jerney Bennett is averaging 8.5 points with team-highs of 4.0 blocks and 8.0 rebounds per game. She is fourth in the nation and first in the MIAA in blocks while ranking seventh in the conference in rebounds.

Washburn leads the all-time series between the two teams 16-12.

Washburn plays its final regular season road game of the year on Saturday against Rogers State in Claremore, Okla.

By TODD FERTIG

TopSports.news

A father coaching his son can be complicated. It can also produce some unforgettable moments. Tuesday night’s meeting between rivals Silver Lake and Rossville ended with one of those moments.

Senior Jakoby McDonnell celebrates his game-winning basket in Rossville's 51-50 win over Silver Lake Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]  

Rossville coach Brandon McDonnell shared a special Senior Night memory with his son, Jakoby, in Tuesday's 51-50 win over rival Silver Lake. [File photo/TSN]

Trailing by one point with 8.7 seconds remaining, Rossville coach Brandon McDonnell called a play to produce a shot for the win. The play broke down due to the roar in the crazed Rossville gymnasium. The coach could do nothing but watch helplessly as his son Jakoby improvised. The senior decided it was up to him to win the game.

“At that point, with just (a few) seconds left, you just got to go down the court and get to the basket, either make it or get fouled,” Jakoby McDonnell said. “I knew once I saw a little bit of space, I was going to get downhill and try to get fouled or get the basket.”

The senior stands just 5-foot-6, but he drove into the teeth of the Silver Lake defense, bounced off the chest of an Eagle defender, and banked a jumper through the rim as the buzzer sounded.

“I’ve been smaller my whole life and I’ve been playing against bigger people,” Jakoby McDonnell said. “So, the only way for me to make something happen…is to go downhill, get a little bit of contact and score or get to the free throw line. It’s just something I’ve always done.”

The shot by McDonnell the player gave McDonnell the coach one of the biggest wins in his four seasons as head coach of the Bulldawgs. And it came just shortly after the McDonnells participated in Rossville’s Senior Night ceremony.

“It was definitely a special moment for me because he’s coached me my entire life and especially on Senior Night and still playing for him,” Jakoby McDonnell said. “Just getting him that (win) with this rivalry, it was just great for both of us.”

“As a dad, you know, he hits that shot and the only thing I could think about is, holy hell, man that was awesome,” Brandon McDonnell said.

Read more …

By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Very few people are more familiar with Washburn Rural's golf program than Hayden Beck.

And now the former Junior Blues' star and 2020 Rural graduate will put that knowledge to work as Washburn Rural's new girls golf coach, beginning in the 2026 fall season.

Former Washburn Rural star Hayden Beck was announced Wednesday as the Junior Blues' new girls golf coach. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]

Beck takes over for his high school coach, Jared Goehring, as the Junior Blues' girls coach and will serve as an assistant under Goehring as a boys assistant this spring.

Goehring had a 15-year run as Rural's girls coach that included four Class 6A state championships, two runnerup finishes and three thirds while qualifying for state as a team 14 times. Goehring has also led Rural to a 6A boys title and will continue in that role for the foreseeable future. 

Beck, a teacher in Rural's social studies department, said his focus moving forward is to continue his alma mater's outstanding golf tradition while adding his own stamp on the program.

"I've talked to coach quite a bit and I have a lot of respect for the guy,'' Beck said. "Throughout my entire life, even before high school, playing junior golf and taking junior golf lessons through him, I've been able to learn from him and I've been able to learn from the other coaches that came before me, coach (Jeff) Stromgren, coach (Ronnie) McHenry at Washburn, who have been fantastic guys to learn from.

"We've got something great built here. Now my job is to carry on that tradition and keep building. We have that foundation because of all the great work that was done by those before us. Now it's our turn to see what we can do.''   

Beck played golf for the Junior Blues from 2017-2020 before going on to play collegiately at Washburn University.

In addition to his playing career, Beck has spent the past five years working as a junior golf instructor.

"We are excited to welcome Hayden back to Washburn Rural,'' Rural athletic director Charlie Nimz said. "His experience as a player, his passion for teaching and his familiarity with our program and community makes him an outstanding choice to lead our girls golf team.''