By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Washburn women’s basketball was in action Thursday evening at Lee Arena against Missouri Southern for Senior Night.
A slow offensive night would spoil the senior ceremonies as the Ichabods fell 55-50 to the Lions.
Even in the loss Washburn coach Ron McHenry still saw a lot of the characteristics that kept the team competitive after starting 1-7, with the senior class leading by example.
“It’s a great group,” McHenry said. “They are a solid group of people and players and really for however many years they have been here have put in a lot of time and effort into this year trying to get us back and competitive in the league.”
Washburn women's basketball honored its six seniors Thursday on Senior Night at Lee Arena, with the Ichabods dropping a 55-50 decision to Missouri Southern. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/The Washburn Review]
Hunter Bentley, one of six seniors honored on Senior Night, will end her Washburn career as the program's career leader in minutes and games played. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/The Washburn Review]
“It’s kind of crazy to think about how much I have grown as a player and a person. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience, I mean, all of my teammates throughout the five years and coach Mac, Brette (Herber) and Erika (Yoder),” said senior Hunter Bentley. “It’s just been awesome to get to know them and to be able to be a part of this program.”
The contest was the last at Lee Arena for the team's six seniors headlined by Bentley, the programs all-time leader in minutes and games played.
“It might take awhile for me to have that set in. It’s crazy, there have been so many good players that have gone into this program so to be one of those it’s really awesome and I couldn’t have asked for anything more out of my career,” Bentley said.
“She looked tired tonight but that’s my fault, I run her through a lot of stuff and put a lot on her plate and she handles it well,” McHenry said. “She is just a really complete player and a player that is hard for me to get off the floor for five years.”
The loss moved Washburn to 13-14 on the year and the Ichabods sit in eighth place in the MIAA.
Defense dominated the first quarter, with each team shooting 33 percent from the floor. A 12-6 rebounding advantage for Missouri Southern provided extra opportunities that the Lions capitalized on to take a 14-11 lead after 10 minutes.
Washburn’s offense continued to stay cold in the second quarter, with a 3-pointer from Bentley at the 6:36 mark the first score for the Ichabods in the quarter, ending a 7-0 Southern run.
Even at a size disadvantage, Washburn’s defense against the Lions remained strong to close the quarter, holding them to just 16.7-percent shooting in the frame.
The Ichabods shot under 20 percent themselves but two 3-pointers in the quarter and preventing turnovers cut the deficit to just two points as Missouri Southern led 24-22 at half.
After scoring on its first two possessions in the third quarter to tie the game at 26 Washburn’s offense went cold. Over the next nearly five minutes the Lions went on a 12-0 run, led by freshman Lacy Stokes who had 25 in the game.
“They have been a good defensive team all year, they are one of the top teams in the league. So, we just struggled to score,” McHenry said.
Bentley and Abby Oliver scored the final four points for the Ichabods to pull within nine points at the end of three.
The game stayed under 10 points through the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. Under the five-minute mark freshman guard Aubree Dewey knocked down back-to-back pull up jump shots to pull WU within five points.
That is where the deficit would stay until sophomore Oliver made a driving layup with 16 seconds left. Washburn was forced to foul and Missouri Southern knocked in the two free throws with nine seconds left to go back up by five.
The Lions played strong defense as the Ichabods came up empty on the final possession, falling 55-50 in the game.
“If you told me going into the game that we would hold them to 55 I would say we had a chance, and we did. Just a little bit better clean basketball offensively and we win, but we didn’t,” McHenry said.
Bentley and Oliver each had 12 to lead Washburn in scoring. Senior Nuria Barrientos added 6 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals.
The loss moved the Ichabods to 11-10 in MIAA play.
Washburn will wrap up the regular season on the road, facing Emporia State Saturday.
WASHBURN WOMEN 50, MISSOURI SOUTHERN 55
Missouri Southern 14 10 19 12 -- 55
Washburn 11 11 12 16 -- 50
MISSOURI SOUTHERN (21-5, 18-3)
Skiles 0-5 0-0 0, M. Stokes 3-4 202 8, Hunnicutt 2-5 0-0 5, Stauffer 2-5 0-0 6, L. Stokes 9-21 5-6 25, Johns 2-8 3-4 7, Grant 0-4 4-4 4, Call 0-1 0-0 0, Flexer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-53 14-16 55.
WASHBURN (13-14, 11-10)
Dewey 2-3 0-0 4, Oliver 6-12 0-0 12, Bentley 3-13 5-6 12, Barrientos 3-12 0-0 6, Doebele 3-9 0-0 7, Sanchez 1-9 2-2 5, Willey 1-1 0-0 2, Cassaday 0-1 2-2 2, Chapman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-60 9-10 50.
3-point shots – Missouri Southern: 5-13 (Skiles 0-5, Hunnicutt 1-4, Stauffer 2-4, L. Stokes 2-8, Johns 0-1, Call 0-1). Washburn: 3-17 (Bentley 1-8, Doebele 1-2, Sanchez 1-7). Rebounds – Missouri Southern 41 (Skiles, M. Stokes 7), Washburn 37 (Barrientos 7). Assists – Missouri Southern 5 (Hunnicutt 2), Washburn 4 (Bentley 3). Turnovers – Missouri Southern 17, Washburn 11. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
