By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball rolled to its first win of the season Tuesday night as the Ichabods downed William Jewell 80-58 in Liberty, Mo.
Ichabod newcomer Payton Sterk scored a Washburn career-high 25 points Tuesday night as the Ichabods picked up their first victory, 80-58 at William Jewell. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will play one more road contest against Truman State at 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 22 in Kirksville, Mo. before hosting Lincoln in their home-opener next Monday.
Through the first three minutes of Tuesday's game it was all Washburn (1-4) as the Ichabods jumped out to a 5-0 lead, starting with a triple by Gavi Giovannetti to open the game.
The Cardinals (1-2) nudged their way back to tie the game at seven before back-to-back Washburn 3-pointers, first by Giovannetti then by Payton Sterk, started a 10-2 run to put the Ichabods up 17-9 at the 2:07 mark of the opening quarter. William Jewell finished the quarter on a 6-0 run to make it just a two-point game.
Both sides got off to a slow start in the second quarter with just one basket for either team in the first two and a half minutes. A layup by Giovannetti and an and-one by Madelyn Amekporfor ignited what would become a 24-point quarter for Washburn.
The Ichabod lead grew to double digits as Sterk connected on a triple with 4:18 to play in the half. On the defensive end, the Ichabods held William Jewell to 2-13 shooting in the quarter.
Giovannetti ended the half with a buzzer-beating triple to cap off a 7-0 run and make it a 41-23 WU lead at the break.
After the Cardinals scored the first bucket out of halftime the next nine points went to Washburn as Sterk connected on two triples and Giovannetti dialed up another shot from long range, putting the visitors up by a game-high 25.
After a pair of free throws by Sterk to end the quarter the Ichabods still led by 21 after a run by Jewell.
Washburn's offense went cold to start the fourth quarter as the Cardinals had the first eight points over the first three minutes.
A jumper by Yibari Nwidadah ended the run at the 6:39 mark. William Jewell never got closer than 13 the rest of the way and the Ichabods were able to push the lead back up over 20 as Amaya Davison wrapped up the game with four free throws to make it 80-58.
It was the most efficient offensive game of the season for Washburn shooting 26-55 (47.3 percent) overall while nailing eight triples and creating 30 free throw opportunities, converting on 20. Defensively, the Ichabods held the Cardinals to 20-55 shooting and 9-14 at the line.
A 40-31 rebounding advantage helped give the Ichabods an edge, along with outscoring William Jewell 30-20 in the paint and holding the Cardinals to just five second chance points.
Sterk led the way with a Washburn career-high of 25 points on 8-14 shooting and 4-8 from deep. She added a team-high four assists. Giovannetti also made four triples, going 4-7 from beyond the arc and 7-11 overall for 18 points. Amekporfor had seven points and 10 rebounds while Nwidadah scored nine points with three blocks.
Kristen Hauck had 20 points on 7-8 shooting and 5-6 from deep to lead William Jewell. Kate Hillyer added 17 points.
