By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women's basketball team jumped out to an early lead with a hot-shooting first quarter and held on down the stretch for an 85-78 MIAA win over Nebraska-Kearney Saturday in Lee Arena, getting 30 points and a 13 of 14 performance at the free throw line from junior Payton Sterk.
Junior Payton Sterk scored 30 points and went 13 of 14 at the free throw line in Washburn's 85-78 MIAA win over Nebraska-Kearney Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"I think we handled everything really well,'' Sterk said. "We started the game hot and that always helps, and then after (losses) last Saturday and Thursday, we wanted to beat them and I think our whole team had that common goal.''
"I'm proud of them,'' Washburn coach Lora Westling said of her team. "I think we did a good job under pressure. I thought (the Lopers) hit some really tough shots late and you know it's difficult to guard people when they have nothing to lose, but we stepped up at the free throw line, which has been a little bit of an achilles heel for us the last few weeks so it was nice to see those points on the board.''
Washburn, 12-10 overall, 6-6 in the MIAA, never trailed and led by as many as 17 points over the Lopers (16-5, 8-3), but the Ichabods had to endure more than a few anxious moments, particularly after junior star Yibari Nwidadah (21 points, 8 of 8 shooting) fouled out in the fourth quarter.
But WU, which snapped a two-game losing streak, did an outstanding job of continuing to get the ball to Sterk, who continued to can clutch free throw after clutch free throw to keep the Lopers at bay.
"I thought Amaya Davison did a really nice job of coming in and running the team and kind of made sure the ball went to where we needed it to go,'' Westling said.
Nwidadah got the scoring started for Washburn and Sterk followed with a 3-pointer as WU went up 5-0. The Ichabods continued to shoot well from deep, making their next two triples coming from Madelyn Amekporfor and Gabi Giovannetti to make it 15-9 at the 4:44 mark. Washburn continued to light up the nets, shooting 9-13 (69.2%) in the first quarter to build a 25-17 lead.
To open up the second quarter the Lopers brought the deficit down to five before a bucket inside from Nwidadah and a triple by Sterk pushed the lead to double-digits. The lead continued to grow, with Nwidadah scoring six straight points to make it 40-23 with 5:05 left in the half.
Nebraska Kearney was able to keep pace, with both teams shooting exactly 7-14 in the quarter. Washburn would head to the locker room with a 44-33 advantage.
Out of the break the Ichabods got off to a quick start, leading 54-37 after Nia McKenzie converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play. The Lopers were able to make up some ground, bringing the lead down to 10 but never into single digits in the quarter. A jumper from the visitors on the final possession of the quarter made it an 11-point game once again heading to the fourth.
Washburn kept Nebraska-Kearney off the board for the first two minutes of the fourth, building the lead to 15 after Giovannetti got a layup to go. After a Nwidadah basket made it 72-58 with 5:44 remaining the Lopers scored the next nine points, cutting the deficit to just two with 2:01 left.
Sterk got a layup to go on the next possession and from that point Nebraska-Kearney put Washburn at the line the rest of the way.
In the final 40 seconds of the game Sterk was sent to the line five times, and she was able to convert all 10 of her chances to hold off the Lopers' comeback bid and secure the 8-point win.
The Ichabods finished the game shooting 25-46 (54.3%) overall and were efficient all around, shooting 8-15 (53.3%) from deep and 27-34 (79.4%) at the line. Nebraska Kearney shot 30-62 (48.4%) and were held to just 7-26 (26.9%) shooting from deep.
Washburn narrowly lost the rebounding battle 30-26 but shared the ball well, with 17 assists to just nine for the visitors.
Sterk reached the 30-point mark for the second time on the year, going 7-15 shooting and to go with her 13 of 14 showing at the line and five assists.
Washburn junior Yibari Nwidadah had 21 points in 21 minutes in the Ichabods' 85-78 win over Nebraska-Kearney. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Nwidadah's 21 points came in 21 minutes of action while Amekporfor had 12 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and Giovannetti scored 13 points.
Four players scored in double figures for Nebraska-Kearney, led by Jordan Sears with 20 points. Kia Wilson had 19 to go along with seven rebounds.
The Ichabods have a week off before finishing out their homestand against Central Missouri next Saturday at 1 p.m.
