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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women's basketball celebrated its long-awaited return to Lee Arena Wednesday night with an 88-73 MIAA romp past Missouri Western, snapping the Griffons' seven-game winning streak while handing Western its first conference loss.
Junior Yibari Nwidadah (32) had a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds in Wednesday night's 88-73 home MIAA win over Missouri Western. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Payton Sterk (20) scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Wednesday's 88-73 MIAA win over Missouri Western. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"As we continue to grow the key word for us is maturity and making it about us,'' said Washburn coach Lora Westling, who does not have a senior on her roster. "We told our players that no matter what the result of this game is we're going to evaluate ourselves and how we executed and how we performed.
"I thought we did a nice job in our game plan and had a lot of players step up in big moments. It was nice to be home with a great crowd and I thought we did a good job.''
Missouri Western (9-4 overall, 4-1 MIAA) opened the game with a pair of 3-pointers that put it up 6-2 at the 7:50 mark of the first quarter, but Washburn (8-7, 2-3) got its offense going with five straight points from sophomore Madelyn Amekporfor that put the Ichabods in front 11-8.
It was a balanced offensive effort for Washburn as the Ichabods built a nine-point lead with 1:23 left in the opening quarter after junior Aniah Wayne connected from deep off the bench. Junior Amaya Davison the got a layup to go just before the buzzer to make it 28-22 after one.
After shooting 61.1 percent in the first quarter the Ichabods maintained their pace in the second, shooting 6-11 (54.6). With a 5-0 run in the middle of the quarter Washburn pushed the lead to double figures at 42-32 after junior Yibari Nwidadah hit a jump hook. For a second straight quarter Davison ended it at the buzzer, this time draining a 3-pointer to make it a 47-34 WU advantage heading into the locker rooms.
The Ichabods held Missouri Western from scoring for the first 2:07 of the third quarter. Once the Griffons cut their deficit down to 12, a 3-pointer by Amekporfor began a 6-0 WU burst to open up a game-high 18-point advantage.
Once again Washburn added to its lead just before the end of the quarter, this time with junior Payton Sterk working her way into the paint for a layup to make the score, 64-49.
The beginning of the fourth quarter started strong for the Ichabods again, with back-to-back layups for Nwidadah followed by a free throw by Davison making it a 20-point game with 7:40 left.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
With every win No. 2-ranked and 14-0 Washburn University men's basketball continues to set its bar just a little bit higher.
Senior Jacob Hanna, reacting to a basket Wednesday night, led Washburn with 21 points in a 92-74 MIAA romp past Missouri Western. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
But Ichabod coach Brett Ballard also wants his team to enjoy the ride, including Wednesday's 92-74 MIAA romp past Missouri Western in Lee Arena.
"That' a very good team, with seven or eight seniors that play,'' Ballard said of the Griffons. "That's a very experienced team, so that's a good win.
"I told our guys in the locker room, 'Do not take this for granted.' This is special what these guys are doing. To beat a team like that, which is a very good team, by 18, that's a very good win.''
The Ichabods, playing their first home game in 39 days, were never seriously threatened after scoring 19 of the first 21 points of the game over the first seven minutes.
"We got off to a great start, I thought probably as well as we've played defensively all year,'' Ballard said. "The first 10 minutes were tremendous. We went through a little lull there, but I like how we responded. And then the second half, especially offensively, we were really efficient.''
Washburn, now 5-0 in the MIAA, started out the night 6 of 8 from the field and hit all six of its free throw attempts while holding the Griffons to 1 of 5 shooting and forcing four turnovers en route to jumping out to the big lead.
With Washburn holding a 39-24 lead with 3:22 left in the opening half, Western closed the half on a 10-4 run to cut the Ichabod lead to nine at 43-34 heading into halftime.
Missouri Western (10-5 overall, 2-3 MIAA) trimmed the Ichabod lead to 45-39 with 18:06 left before a 13-5 spurt by the Ichabods pushed the lead back to 14.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 2-ranked Washburn University men's basketball will be back in Lee Arena for the first time in 39 days on Wednesday, hosting Missouri Western at 7:30 p.m.
Washburn men's basketball coach Brett Ballard picked up his 150th win at WU in Saturday's 105-77 win at Emporia State and has a 66.7-percent winning percentage with the Ichabods. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods improved to 13-0 overall and 4-0 in the MIAA with a 105-77 win over Emporia State on Saturday in Emporia, with WU scoring its most points in the 222-game series.
The Griffons are 10-4 this season and 2-2 in the MIAA after topping Fort Hays State 47-44 on Saturday in St. Joseph.
The No. 2 ranking is the highest by an Ichabod team since earning a No. 2 ranking on Dec. 18, 2012.
Ichabod head coach Brett Ballard picked up his 150th win at Washburn in the victory over Emporia State and is 150-75 in his eighth season as the WU head coach.
At 13-0 Washburn is off to its best start to begin a season since starting the 2003-04 season 16-0 en route to the MIAA regular-season championship. The Ichabods are one of four undefeated teams remaining in the NCAA Division II ranks, joining Minot State (17-0), Nova Southeastern (13-0) and Daemen (12-0).
Washburn senior Andrew Orr became the 28th member of the Ichabod 1,000 point club earlier this season and now has 1,067 career points, moving into 20th all time by passing Travis Robbins who scored 1,051 points in two seasons. Next on the scoring chart is former Topeka West star Alex North, who scored 1,082 points from 2010-15.
WU senior Jacob Hanna is closing in on 1,000 points in his collegiate career between Washburn and Illinois-Springfield, scoring 928 career points.
Ichabod senior Michael Keegan has 875 career points in 109 career games and he has moved into sixth all-time at Washburn in career blocks with 91. He has also moved into the top 10 on the WU all-time steal chart with 122, sitting eighth.
Sophomore Brayden Shorter, who leads WU with a 16.8 scoring average, is fourth in the nation in 3-pointers per game at 3.77 and he's ranked seventh in total 3-pointers made with 49.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
For the first time in over a month Washburn University women's basketball is back home to begin its season-longest four-game homestand on Wednesday, hosting Missouri Western State at 5:30 p.m. in Lee Arena.
Washburn women's basketball begins a four-game homestand on Wednesday against Missouri Western. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Washburn is 7-7 on the season after erasing a double-digit second-half deficit last Saturday to knock off Emporia State 64-61 for its first MIAA win.
Missouri Western moved to 9-3 on the year and stayed undefeated in the MIAA at 4-0 after knocking off No. 3-ranked Fort Hays State 67-66 at home on Saturday.
Wednesday's meeting with Missouri Western will be the 102nd all-time meeting between the two schools. Washburn leads the all-time series between the two teams, 57-47.
Yibari Nwidadah leads the Ichabods with a 16.7 scoring average while also shooting a team-high 70.7 percent from the field and grabbing a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game. The junior has started all 12 games she has played in, logging 25.8 minutes per game.
She has shot at or above 50.0 percent in every game this season and has two double-doubles. The Olathe North product has the best field goal percentage in the nation while ranking fourth in the MIAA in points per game and ninth in rebounds per game.
With 180 career offensive rebounds Nwidadah is ninth in program history. She is six boards away from moving up to No. 8. In overall rebounds she is tied for 23rd in Washburn history with 478. Nwidadah's career field goal percentage of 58.3 percent is the second-best in program history and she ranks 42nd with 705 career points.
Junior Payton Sterk averages 15.7 points while starting all 14 contests and playing a team-high 30.2 minutes per game. Sterk is shooting 42.6 percent from the floor and a team-high 38 percent from 3-point range while hitting a team-high 30 3-pointers.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
CAMRYNN AHRENS, Washburn Rural
A junior, Ahrens earned second-team All-City recognition last season after helping the Junior Blues post a second-place team finish in the Class 6A state tournament. Ahrens shot a 557 three-game series at state and shot a 502 series to help Washburn Rural win a 6A regional team championship.
ASHLEY BILLUPS, Washburn Rural
Billups, a senior, received second-team All-City honors last season after helping Washburn Rural finish as the state runnerup in the Class 6A state meet. Billups shot a 557 three-game series in the state tournament. Billups shot a 520 series in the city tournament and a 493 series in 6A regional competition.
Washburn Rural sophomore Megan Glinka was a first-team All-City pick last season as a freshman after helping Rural finish second in Class 6A. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
MEGAN GLINKA, Washburn Rural
Glinka, a sophomore, was a first-team All-City selection last season as a freshman after playing a major role for a Washburn Rural team that won Centennial League and regional championships and placed second as a team in the Class 6A state tournament. Glinka shot a 535 series at state after placing 11th at regionals (550), 13th in the Centennial League (487) and shooting a 536 in the city tournament.
Junior Claire LaDuke helped Seaman place third in Class 5A in 2024. [File photo/TSN]
CLAIRE LaDUKE, Seaman
A junior, LaDuke shot a 484 three-game series in the 2024 Class 5A state tournament, helping Seaman earn the third-place team trophy. LaDuke finished seventh individually in 5A regional competition with a 541 three-game series. LaDuke shot a 504 series in the city championships.
