By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women scored 20 points in the fourth quarter and made crucial free throws to avenge its overtime loss at Northwest Missouri from 10 days ago with a 62-59 overtime win over the Bearcats on Tuesday evening in Lee Arena.
Macy Doebele and the Washburn women celebrate Tuesday's 62-59 home overtime MIAA win over Northwest Missouri. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
It was back-and-forth scoring to start the game, with neither team leading by more than two points until Washburn freshman Natalia Figueroa buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Washburn (10-14 overall, 6-12 MIAA) an 11-8 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.
The score continued to stay within two or fewer points for the entire second quarter, with ties at every odd number starting at 11 until Ichabod freshman Yibari Nwidadah broke the 17-all score with a free throw with 1:38 left in the half. That would be the final point for either team as the Ichabods held an 18-17 lead at halftime.
Emma Chapman and Aubree Dewey teamed up to score the Ichabods' first nine points of the second half and grew the lead to 27-23 at the 5:59 mark.
Northwest Missouri (13-12, 8-11 MIAA) closed out the quarter strong, going on a 13-3 tear in the final 5:46 to lead 36-30 heading into the fourth.
The Bearcats hit two free throws to start the final stanza to go up by a game-high eight points, but Washburn quickly trimmed the deficit down to one with a pair of jumpers from Dewey and a 3-pointer from Gabi Artis. Northwest Missouri answered with a 3-pointer of its own and led 46-43 when Figueroa hit another big triple to level the score with 3:12 to go in regulation.
With just under three minutes left, the Bearcats went one of two at the free throw line and then 56 seconds later, Chapman was fouled and made both of her shots from the charity stripe to put the Ichabods ahead, 48-47.
Chapman found herself back at the free throw line with 46 seconds to go and again made both to make it 50-47 in favor of Washburn.
NWMSU called a timeout to advance the ball and made a 3-pointer with 35 seconds to tie the game. Washburn turned the ball over with 32 seconds remaining to allow Northwest Missouri one more shot, but the 3-point attempt was off target and sent the game to extra time.
Washburn led from start to finish in overtime as the duo of Chapman and Dewey got the scoring started again, this time with a 6-1 run. The Bearcats made a 3-pointer with 11 seconds to go to pull within 60-59, but Macy Doebele followed that up with two free throws to push the lead back to three and the Bearcats' final heave was off-line again.
Doebele made six free throws in a row in the final 27 seconds to secure the overtime win.
Four of Washburn's starters finished in double-figure scoring. Dewey was six of 15 from the field for a team-high 15 points.
Chapman notched her first double-double as an Ichabod with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Figueroa and Doebele had 12 points apiece.
Molly Hartnett led the Bearcats with 17 points and went eight of nine from the free throw line.
The Ichabods will play their next two games on the road this week, first at Lincoln on Thursday.
No. 3 Bearcats roll past Ichabod men
The Washburn men's basketball team fell on Tuesday night to No. 3-ranked Northwest Missouri, 66-40.
The Ichabods (12-12, 9-9) trailed by as many as eight in the first half at 13-5 before going back and forth with the Bearcats (24-2, 17-2), trimming the margin to two at 23-21 Northwest with 1:58 to play in the half before the Bearcats scored five straight points to take a 28-21 lead into the break.
Starting the second half Washburn pulled within five on a layup by Michael Keegan but a 14-2 run over the next 6:10 of the game put the score out of reach as the Ichabods were held to a season-low 40 points in the loss.
Washburn was led by Jarmell Johnson off the bench with 11 points as the only Ichabod to reach double figures. Andrew Orr had eight points while adding a career-high four steals.
Wes Dreamer led four Bearcats in double-digits with a game-high 17 points.
Washburn struggled from field going 13 of 44 overall and three of 13 from deep. The Bearcats were 24 of 47 overall hitting while out-rebounding the Ichabods, 32-24.
Washburn will be on the road for contests at Lincoln on Thursay and at Central Missouri on Saturday.
