By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball rung in the new year with its fourth straight win on Saturday, rolling to an 86-59 MIAA decision over rival Emporia State in the Turnpike Tussle at Lee Arena.
Washburn seniors Yibari Nwidadah (32) and Payton Sterk (20) combined for 41 points in Saturday's 86-59 win over Emporia State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Ichabods, now 10-3 overall and 3-1 in the conference, went wire to wire for the win after scoring the first seven points of the game and leading by as many as 33 points.
"We wanted to see the momentum build from Oklahoma (16 and 29-point wins), where we started defending well,'' Washburn coach Lora Westling said. "That's what we challenged our players to do and I thought that gave us a great cushion early.
"It was just a great team effort on both ends of the floor.''
Senior Payton Sterk scored 21 points and hit 5 of 7 3-pointers in Saturday's 86-59 MIAA win over Emporia State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Payton Sterk led Washburn with a game-high 21 points on 8 of 14 shooting overall and a 5 of 7 performance from 3-point range while also adding four assists.
Sterk had gone 0 of 8 on 3-point attempts in her first three conference games before Saturday's breakout game.
"I think the Christmas break was good,'' Sterk said. "We were shooting a lot at practice and that kind of thing, so it got us going.''
Senior Yibari Nwidadah scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Saturday's 86-59 win over Emporia State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Yibari Nwidadah had a double-double with 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting along with 12 rebounds. Senior Gabi Giovannetti added nine points on 3 of 4 shooting from 3-point range along with seven rebounds, a steal and block. Senior Aniah Wayne also had nine points off the bench.
After entering concussion protocol following an injury against Central Missouri, Nwidadah missed one game and played limited minutes in WU's next two games before Saturday's big game.
"I feel great,'' Nwidadah said. "We talked in the locker room about just making sure that everyone knew we were ready to go and just pouring energy into everyone else.
"I felt like we did a really good job of that and it started from the beginning of the game.''
The Lady Hornets (7-6, 1-3) were held in check for nearly the first four minutes before getting on the board.
Washburn responded by scoring the next 11 points, leading 18-2 after two straight 3-pointers by Sterk.
Sterk connected on another trey to end the first quarter with the Ichabods leading 23-6 after holding Emporia State to 1 of 11 shooting from the floor.
The hot shooting for the Ichabods continued to start the second quarter as Washburn pushed its lead to 20 points after another set of back-to-back 3s by Sterk.
Washburn shot 6 of 11 from deep in the quarter and finished the first half with 11 makes from behind the arc on 17 attempts.
The Ichabods scored 26 points in the second quarter to take a 49-26 advantage into halftime.
Nwidadah scored the first six points of the second half for Washburn to push its lead to 25. The Lady Hornets eventually reduced their deficit to 18 points, but a pair of buckets inside by Nwidadah pushed the lead back over 20 with the Ichabods shooting 9 of 12 from the floor in the quarter to lead 73-49 after three.
A 5-0 run for Washburn early in the fourth quarter gave the Ichabods their game-high 33-point advantage after a 3-pointer by Giovannetti and a layup from Nwidadah.
The Ichabods held Emporia State without a field goal in the final quarter until the final 30 seconds of the game.
The quick offensive start offensively pushed the Ichabods to their most efficient game of the year, with Washburn hitting 33 of 65 attempts from the floor (50.8 percent), including a 12 of 20 showing from outside the 3-point arc (60.0%).
The Lady Hornets shot just 29.6% overall while going 7 of 21 from deep.
Washburn held a 39-34 advantage on the boards and a 24-11 edge on assists. Points in the paint went big in favor of the Ichabods, 36-16, while WU had just 10 turnovers compared to 16 for Emporia State.
Former Emporia High standout Gracie Gilpin had 13 points to pace Emporia State, while Kaitlyn Sanders added 12.
Silver Lake product Makenzie McDaniel scored 4 points and grabbed a team-high 5 rebounds for Emporia State in Saturday's 86-59 loss to Washburn. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Silver Lake product Makenzie McDaniel scored 4 points and grabbed a team-high five rebounds off the bench for the Hornets in nearly 13 minutes of action.
The Ichabods will now hit the road for the first time in MIAA play, taking on Missouri Western next Wednesday.
Washburn will play four straight road games, including a rematch with Emporia State on Jan. 15, before returning home on Jan. 21 to face Northwest Missouri.
WASHBURN 86, EMPORIA STATE 59
Emporia State 6 20 23 10-- 59
Washburn 23 26 24 13 -- 86
Emporia State (7-6, 1-3) -- Tjaden 1-2 0-0 3, Gandee 1-5 4-4 6, Gilpin 4-14 3-5 13, Sanders 2-9 8-10 12, Noonan 0-2 0-0 0, Coleman 2-2 0-0 6, Hannah 1-5 4-4 6, McDaniel 2-4 0-0 4, Casey 0-2 0-0 0, DeWitt 1-2 1-2 4, Kirmer 2-7 0-0 5, Ciavero Seubas 0-0 0-0 0, Montes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-54 20-25 59.
Washburn (10-3, 3-1) -- Amekporfor 2-7 0-0 5, Nwidadah 7-11 6-6 20, Gomez 1-1 0-0 3, Giovannetti 3-4 0-2 9, Sterk 8-14 0-0 21, Kogbara 3-7 0-0 6, McKenzie 2-3 0-0 5, Hunter 2-5 0-0 4, Wayne 4-7 0-0 9, Jackson 0-3 2-2 2, Shipman 0-1 0-0 0, Luebbert 0-0 0-2 0, Gideon 0-0 0-0 0, Jansky 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 33-65 8-12 86.
3-point shots -- Emporia State 7-21 (Gilpin 2-6, Coleman 2-2, Kirmer 1-4, Tjaden 1-2, DeWitt 1-2, Sanders 0-4, Casey 0-1), Washburn 12-20 (Sterk 5-7, Giovannetti 3-4, Amekporfor 1-3, Wayne 1-4, Gomez 1-1, McKenzie 1-1). Rebounds -- Emporia State 34 (McDaniel 5), Washburn 39 (Nwidadah 12). Assists -- Emporia State 11 (Three with 2), Washburn 24 (Gomez 4, Sterk 4, Hunter 4). Turnovers -- Emporia State 16, Washburn 10. Total fouls -- Emporia State 15, Washburn 21. Fouled out -- Casey. Technical fouls -- none.
