By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After two straight losses by a total of 9 points and fighting for a berth in the MIAA postseason tournament, Washburn University's women's basketball team was in dire need of a bounce-back win Thursday night.
Riding a strong defensive effort and big nights from senior Hunter Bentley and freshman Lauren Cassaday, the Ichabods achieved that objective with a 51-41 victory over Missouri Western at Lee Arena.
Washburn freshman Lauren Cassaday scored 11 points, including 10 in the first half, helping the Ichabods snap a two-game losing streak with a 51-41 win over Missouri Western. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Improving to 8-10 on the season, Washburn held Missouri Western in the 30s until there were less than two minutes remaining while Bentley and Cassady combined for 31 points as the Ichabods earned a regular-season sweep over the Griffons.
"Tonight we needed this,'' McHenry said. "It was a big game for us. I told them before the game, and I cheated from David McCormick (Kansas men's player), that it was a non-negotiable game.
"I like this group and I think they're headed in the right direction. We've just got to get there quicker than later because we're coming down the stretch here, but they will battle and I enjoy that about them.''
Washburn never trailed after Bentley put her team in front 11-10 with 1:44 left in the opening quarter and the Ichabods fought through a couple of Griffon mini-runs in the third quarter to go on to lead by 15 points, snapping Western's three-game winning streak.
Bentley, who had burned Missouri Western for 27 points in WU's 61-49 road win on Jan. 9, turned in another big performance Thursday, finishing with a game-high 20 points (4 of 7 3-pointers) while also recording 6 assists, 5 steals and 4 rebounds.
"I think (Western's) zone is good for me in getting my shot off because you can always find the middle open and you have a jump shot there and you can always find the top of the key which is kind of the two places that I was playing, so I just try to step up and hit those shots,'' Bentley said.
The Ichabods also got a lift from freshman Lauren Cassaday, who helped Washburn open up a 30-21 halftime advantage with 10 first-half points on 5 of 5 shooting from the field. She added a free throw in the second half to finish with 11 points.
"It is really important that we get off to a good start and just getting in the flow early and setting the tone of the game is really good for us because sometimes we can get out of whack and then lose that momentum,'' Cassaday said. "It's just nice to set the tone first.''
Freshman Mackenzie Gamble added 7 points for the Ichabods while junior Nuria Barrientos had 6 points and a team-high 5 rebounds while fighting through injuries.
Asia McCoy led Missouri Western (6-12) with 13 points.
Thursday's win helped keep the Ichbabods in the hunt for a berth in the conference tournament. Washburn entered the game tied for seventh in the MIAA standings, with the top eight teams advancing to the tournament.
"This was really important,'' Bentley said. "We knew that we were tied with a few people in the league and we had to get this win.''
The Ichabods will be back at Lee Arena Saturday to host Northwest Missouri in a 1 p.m. contest.
WASHBURN WOMEN 51, MISSOURI WESTERN 41
Missouri Western 13 8 11 9 -- 41
Washburn 16 14 12 9 -- 51
MISSOURI WESTERN (6-12, 6-12)
Fultz 1-5 0-0 2, Evans 2-5 2-4 6, Gray 1-3 0-0 2, McCoy 6-11 1-3 13, Cunningham 1-3 0-0 2, Hughes 1-5 4-4 6, Budgetts 4-11 0-0 9, Hogan 0-0 1-2 1, Rodney 0-2 0-0 0, Weishaar 0-1 0-0 0, Freemyer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-46 8-13 41.
WASHBURN (8-10, 8-10)
Gamble 3-12 0-0 7, Dewey 2-6 0-0 4, Bentley 7-16 2-2 20, Barrientos 3-10 0-1 6, Doebele 0-0 0-0 0, Cassaday 5-5 1-4 11, Narber 0-2 0-0 0, Willey 1-2 0-0 3, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-54 3-7 51.
3-point goals -- Missouri Western 1-10 (Budgetts 1-3, Fultz 0-2, Cunningham 0-2, Gray 0-1, Rodney 0-1, Weishaar 0-1). Washburn 6-20 (Bentley 4-7, Gamble 1-6, Willey 1-2, Barrientos 0-2, Narber 0-2, Dewey 0-1). Rebounds -- Missouri Western 33 (McCoy 8), Washburn 33 (Barrientos 5). Assists -- Missouri Western 4 (Evans 2), Washburn 13 (Bentley 6). Turnovers -- Missouri Western 20, Washburn 16. Total fouls -- Missouri Western 11, Washburn 13. Fouled out -- none.
