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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball picked up its second straight 22-point victory on Friday, dispatching Truman State 81-59 on Friday morning.
Washburn's women posted their second straight 22-point win Friday in Kirksville, Mo., rolling to an 81-59 win over Truman State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
After six games on the road to begin the season, the Ichabods will return home on Monday to host Lincoln in a 6 p.m. game in Lee Arena.
After falling behind 4-2 to start the game Washburn (2-4) got a layup by NIa McKenzie and a 3-pointer by Payton Sterk to go in front with 7:20 to play and the Ichabods would not look back the rest of the way.
The Bulldogs (2-3) shot a blistering 60.0 percent in the first quarter, but the Ichabods were able to lead 18-16 after one thanks to extra opportunities and limiting turnovers.
In the second quarter, it was Washburn that began to light the nets on fire. The Ichabods started the frame on a 10-2 run to lead by 10 after Emporia product Rebecca Snyder connected on her first career 3-pointer with 7:49 to play in the half.
Truman State continued to chip away at the lead and would trail by just four at the 2:04 mark. From that point on the Ichabods closed the half on a 7-0 run with five points coming from Sterk to lead 40-29 at the half. Washburn shot 75.0 percent (9-12) in the second quarter while going 4-6 from beyond the arc.
There was no rust coming out of the half as the Ichabods went on a 7-2 run to lead 47-31 after an old-fashioned three-point play from McKenzie. Washburn pushed the lead to a game-high 17-points in the third quarter after a triple by Aniah Wayne, who had seven points in the quarter.
Defensively, the Ichabods held the Bulldogs to 5-14 (35.7) shooting for a second straight quarter to lead by 15 going into the fourth.
A deep shot from Sterk and layup by Yibari Nwidadah pushed the lead up to 20 in the opening minute of the final quarter.
The advantage never dipped below 15 the rest of the way, with a free throw by Wayne in the final minute making the final lead a game-high 22 points in the 81-59 victory.
Washburn shot a season-high 55.0 percent from the floor while also going 9-22 (40.9) from three-point land. The Ichabods won the paint battle 46-30 and the bench outscored Truman State's benhc 31-15.
Defensively, Washburn forced 17 turnovers while committing just 12. The Ichabods also had a 35-30 rebounding advantage and dished out more assists as well, 15-11.
Sterk delivered her second straight 20-point game, scoring 22 on 8-15 shooting and 5-8 from deep.
Nwidadah had her first double-double on the year with 13 points on 5-6 shooting and 10 boards. Wayne added 11 points on 4-7 shooting off the bench.
Jordan Cunningham led the Bulldogs with 18 points on 5-7 shooting and Molly Joyce had 12 points.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 5 nationally-ranked Washburn University men's basketball will be back in Lee Arena for a second straight contest on Saturday, facing William Jewell in a 2 p.m. non-conference tilt.
The Ichabods improved to 5-0 with an 89-71 victory over Pittsburg State in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.
Senior Jacob Hanna is tied for Washburn's team lead in scoring with a 15.8 average in his first season with the Ichabods. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Andrew Orr is averaging 15.8 points for the 5-0 Washburn Ichabods, tied for the team lead in scoring. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
All five Washburn starters cracked double figures againt Pittsburg State as the Ichabods posted their fifth straight win by at least 17 points.
"It's a confident group in the right ways,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "They don't seem to get rattled. It's a long season and we're going to be in some tough situations, but so far this group has a sense of urgency.
"We don't have any cool guys. I told them down in the locker room (after the Pittsburg State win), we don't have anybody that's cool. Sometimes you have guys that are a little cool and when things go their way they're pretty good and when things don't go their way they're not as good, but everybody just seems to be bought in and it's early, but I'm really pleased with that part of it.''
Senior Jacob Hanna led the Ichabods with a game-high 20 points while adding seven rebounds.
Senior Andrew Orr scored 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting while sophomore Brayden Shorter finished with 15 points and senior Michael Keegan and sophomore Jack Bachelor both scored 13. Bachelor had four steals in the game and Brady Christiansen had seven rebounds.
Orr needs 35 points to become the 28th member of the Ichabod 1,000 point club while Michael Keegan has 820 career points as an Ichabod and has moved into sixth all-time at Washburn in career blocked shots with 83.
Hanna and Orr are tied for the team scoring lead at 15.8 points a game while Shorter is averaging 15.6 points with a team-high 15 3-pointers, Bachelor is averaging 11.6 points with a team-high 24 assists and Keegan is averaging 11.4 points with a team-best 14 steals.
Christiansen leads the Ichabods with an 8.0 rebounding average.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 25-ranked Washburn University volleyball came up short in its MIAA Tournament Quarterfinal match with Northwest Missouri Thursday night as the Ichabods fell 3-1 in St. Joseph, Mo.
Washburn volleyball dropped a 3-1 quarterfinal match to Northwest Missouri Thursday in the MIAA Tournament. [File photo/TSN]
The 20-7 Ichabods will find out their NCAA Tournament fate on Monday night during the NCAA Selection Show.
The first set was in No. 4 seed Washburn's control the entire way as the Ichabods won 25-19. The No. 5 seeded Bearcats (16-11) evened the match with a 25-22 win in the second and continued their winning ways with 25-14 and 25-21 victories in the next two sets.
Both sides traded the first eight points of the match before a kill by Natalie Hedlund began a 4-2 burst from Washburn to put it ahead. Throughout the middle of the set a pair of 3-0 runs for the Ichabods began with a kill by Jalyn Stevenson with the second putting them up 18-12.
Northwest Missouri got back within three but never got any closer as the Ichabods held them back on the defensive end, holding the Bearcats to a -.024 hitting percentage in the set. Alex Dvorak finished off the first set with a kill at 25-19.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn University Ichabod men's cross country team returns to the NCAA Championships for the second time in three seasons on Saturday, running at 10 a.m. (PST) in Sacramento, Calif.
Washburn's men's cross country team will compete in the 2024 NCAA Division II National Championships on Saturday in Sacramento, Calif. {Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods finished 26th in the national meet in 2022 before narrowly missing a national berth a year ago.
Washburn turned in a strong regional finish which gave it a chance at a spot in the nationals field and junior Tommy Roehl, who ran on the '22 team, said the Ichabods were cautiously optimistic that WU would get a national bid.
"We felt pretty confident,'' Tommy said. "We'd done what we needed to earlier in the season. We beat out of region teams that helped us get that at large bid at the end of the day.''
Sophomore Sebastiaan Horselenberg agreed.
"We just all ran as hard as we could and knew no matter what it was going to be we tried our best,'' Horselenberg said. "And after we finished we had no clue what was going to happen. We were all scrolling on our phones and looking at the results that were coming in.
"The numbers were changing and eventually at some point all the numbers were standing still and it was just perfect for us and we were in a really good spot.''
Having said that, sophomore transfer Ross O'Brien said the team was a little nervous until it got the final word.
"From what I had heard and from what everybody was saying I felt comfortable we could get in, but I also knew last year we felt the same and we didn't get in so there's also that nervousness,'' O'Brien said. "We were walking to the vans to go drive to go on a long run when they announced the list, so we all found out together.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
(Kickoffs at 7 p.m.)
Hayden senior Jensen Schrickel has 681 receiving yards, 523 rushing yards and has scored 21 touchdowns for the 10-1 Wildcats. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/Special to TSN]
Class 3A
HAYDEN (No. 3 East: 10-1) at WELLSVILLE (No. 1 East: 11-0)
Hayden, second in Class 3A last fall, is one win away from a second straight berth in the state championship game after a 56-6 rout over Perry-Lecompton last Friday while Wellsville remained undefeated with a 35-14 quarterfinal win over Prairie View. Hayden senior quarterback Jett Wahlmeier has completed 111 of 163 passes for 1,765 yards and 21 touchdowns while junior Kade Mitchell has carried the ball 87 times for 705 yards, caught 26 passes for 419 yards and scored 23 total touchdowns. Senior Jensen Schrickel has caught 37 passes for 681 yards, rushed for 523 yards on 36 attempts and scored 21 total TDs after a seven-touchdown performance against Perry-Lecompton. Senior Broderick Desch has carried the ball 54 times for 351 yards and scored 11 touchdowns. Junior Jude Krentz leads Hayden with 115 total tackles (66 solo). Wellsville junior running back Armond Graves has carried the ball 136 times for 1,125 rushing yards (8.3 yards per carry) and scored 24 touchdowns while sophomore quarterback Pete Dorsey has completed 54 of 93 passes for 878 yards and nine TDs. Senior Matt Newhouse has caught 31 passes for 558 yards and five TDs while senior Kenyon Gillins has 37 receptions for 425 yards and three scores. The winner of Friday's game between the Wildcats and Eagles will advance to face the winner of Friday's game between No. 1 West seed Andale (11-0) and No. 7 Holcomb (9-2) in the state championship game Nov. 30 at Hutchinson.
Rossville senior Tayson Horak has passed for 1,322 yards and rushed for 1,062 yards for the 8-3 Bulldawgs. [File photo/TSN]
Class 1A
ROSSVILLE (No. 4 East: 8-3) at CENTRALIA (No. 3 East: 10-1)
Rossville advanced to the sub-state round of the Class 1A playoffs with a dramatic 42-38 comeback win over No. 1 East seed and previously-unbeaten Jackson Heights last Friday on the road, the Bulldawgs' eighth straight win. The Bulldawgs trailed by 17 points with five and half minutes remaining before recovering two onsides kicks and scoring three late TDs to pull out the victory. No. 3 East seed Centralia advanced with a 46-14 win over No. 2 East seed Pittsburg Colgan. Rossville senior quarterback Tayson Horak has completed 86 of 147 passes for 1,322 yards and 16 touchdowns and has rushed for 1,062 yards and 15 TDs on 130 attempts. Junior Conner Bush has carried the ball 69 times for 658 yards and 10 TDs while junior Jack Donovan has 31 catches for 466 yards and four TDs and senior Mekhi Jackson has 20 catches for 386 yards and four TDs. C. Bush has been in on 110 tackles with 9.0 tackles for loss while junior Andre Johnson has been in on 95 stops (45 solo). The Rossville-Centralia winner will play in the state championship game on Nov. 30 at Hutchinson against the winner of Friday's game between No. 1 West seed Conway Springs (11-0) and No. 3 Valley Heights (9-2).
