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 thirdin 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.
Washburn Rural junior Daniel Allen, a multiple event city and Centennial League individual and relay gold medalist. leads the city contingent for the state swimming championships Friday and Saturday at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatics Center.
Washburn Rural junior Daniel Allen is the top Class 6A seed for the 100 butterfly and the No. 2 seed for the 100 backstroke. [File photo/TSN]
Allen, a multiple Class 6A medalist as a freshman in 2024 before sitting out the '25 high school season, is the No. 1 seed for the 100-yard butterfly (51.39 seconds) and the No. 2 seed in the 100 backstroke (52.82).
City and Centennial League team champion Washburn Rural will be well-represented in the 6A state meet, with sophomore Thomas Appuhn (200 individual medley, 100 backstroke), junior Andres Morao-Jaspe (200 individual medley, 100 backstroke) and freshman Braeden Montgomery (200 freestyle, 500 freestyle) all qualifying in two individual events while sophomore Castle Wallace is qualified in the 100 breaststroke, sophomore Quenten Jessop is qualified in the 50 freestyle and freshman Benjamin Allen is qualified in the 100 butterfly.
Washburn Rural sophomore Thomas Appuhn is the No. 4 seed in Class 6A for the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 backstroke. [File photo/TSN]
Appuhn is the No. 4 seed in the 200-yard individual medley (2:01.27) and the No. 4 seed in the 100 backstroke (55.50).
The Junior Blues are also qualified in the 200 medley relay, 200 free relay and 400 free relay.
Topeka High senior Will Stewart is qualified in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle.
Seaman junior Kinser Barbosa is the No. 5 Class 5A-1A seed in the 100 freestyle and the No. 7 seed in the 50 freestyle. [File photo/TSN]
In 5A-1A Seaman junior Kinser Barbosa is the No. 5 seed in the 100 freestyle (49.23) and the No. 7 seed in the 50 free (22.41).
Hayden sophomore Patrick Luke is an individual qualifier in the 50 free while Seaman is qualified in the 200 medley, 200 free and 400 free relays and Hayden is qualified in the 400 free relay.
The three-day state meet will get under way with Thursday's diving prelims and semis, with the 5A-1A event at 10 a.m. and 6A at 4:30 p.m., but the city does not have a qualifier in either of those events.
The 5A-1A swimming preliminaries will start at 10 a.m. on Friday, with the 6A prelims following at 4 p.m.
Championship 5A-1A finals will get under way at 10 a.m. Saturday, followed by the 6A finals at 4 o'clock.
Shawnee Heights girls basketball protected its share of the United Kansas Conference lead with a 64-51 road win at Basehor-Linwood Tuesday night, the T-Birds' sixth straight win.
Senior KK Emmot (1) scored 21 points Tuesday night as Shawnee Heights improved to 17-4 with a 64-51 UKC win at Basehor-Linwood. [File photo/TSN]
KK Emmot led four T-Birds in double figures with 21 points, including four 3-pointers, as Shawnee Heights improved to 17-4 overall and 13-1 in the conference.
Heights also got 17 points from junior Pearmella Carter, 13 from senior Reianna Vega and 11 points from senior Imani McGlory.
The T-Birds led 15-10 at the end of the opening quarter, 34-25 at the halftime break and 50-35 after three quarters before cruising the rest of the way.
Shawnee Heights will travel to Kansas City-Turner on Friday for a UKC contest.
T-Bird boys take 57-56 thriller over Bobcats
Shawnee Heights boys survived a last-second shot from Basehor-Linwood to take a 57-56 United Kansas Conference road victory over the Bobcats on Tuesday.
With the win the T-Birds improved to 13-7 overall and 9-5 in the UKC and have now won four out of their last five games.
Shawnee Heights will travel to Kansas City-Turner on Friday for a UKC game before hosting Pittsburg on Saturday in a non-league tilt.
Junior Prince Lassiter led Topeka West with 22 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 78-54 win over De Soto. [File photo/TSN]
West boys roll to 78-54 UKC victory at De Soto
Topeka West improved to 17-3 overall and 12-2 in the United Kansas Conference with a 78-54 Tuesday night road win at at De Soto.
West took control from the opening tipoff, outscoring the Wildcats 27-8 in the first quarter.
The Chargers led 45-27 at the half before opening up a 64-40 margin at the start of the final period.
Junior Prince Lassiter led Topeka West with a game-high 22 points while also grabbing eight rebounds.
Seniors Malakyah Duncan and Gad Munganga added 16 and 14 points, respectively, with both Chargers connecting on four 3-pointers as West hit 10 treys as a team.
Brandon Serna led De Soto (7-12, 4-9) with 11 points.
De Soto tops West girls, 70-41
De Soto's girls romped to a 70-41 United Kansas Conference home victory over Topeka West Tuesday night.
De Soto improved to 10-9 overall and 7-6 in the conference while Topeka West fell to 5-15, 2-12.
Pirates knock off UKC-leading Seaman, 59-50
Piper avenged an earlier United Kansas Conference loss to Seaman Tuesday night, taking a 59-50 home win over the Vikings.
The Vikings suffered only their second UKC loss, dropping to 16-4 overall and 11-2 in the conference.
Piper improved to 14-6 overall and 10-3 in the UKC, winning for the seventh time over its last eight games.
Seaman will be at home Friday to host Basehor-Linwood in a UKC matchup.
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.''
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.
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] 
