No. 3 seed Washburn University women's basketball rallied from 16 points down in the second half of Saturday's MIAA Tournament semifinal to defeat No. 7 Missouri Western 67-63 and advance to Sunday's championship for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
Washburn senior star Yibari Nwidadah had 17 points and 13 rebounds Saturday as the Ichabods advanced to the MIAA Tournament championship game with a 67-63 win over Missouri Western. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods, who posted their eighth straight win, will face No. 1 seed Central Missouri at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
"We just talk a lot about five-minute battles and breaking the game up,'' Washburn senior Yibari Nwidadah told KTPK Radio about the WU comeback. "We can't win a game on one hero play and we just knew that next media (timeout), next dead ball, chip it away, chip it away, chip it away.
"So when it got to that last timeout we knew we had it in control and we just needed to continue to get stops and get great shots on offense.''
The Griffons (15-15) got off to a fast start Saturday, leading 11-4 at the 4:43 mark of the opening quarter after a 5-0 run.
Washburn senior Payton Sterk knocked down a 3-pointer late in the first that cut the lead down to four. The offense for Washburn (23-7) was cold, shooting just 22 percent in the opening quarter as the Ichabods trailed 15-9.
Seven quick points in the second quarter for Kellyn Hunter cut the Ichabod deficit down to two points at 7:28 after she connected on a 3-pointer.
Missouri Western answered back, scoring nine of the next 10 points to lead by 10 at 29-19. The Ichabods were held to under 30 percent shooting in the quarter as they went into the locker room trailing, 33-25.
A 4-0 ran to begin the second half for the Griffons pushed the lead back to double figures.
The Washburn deficit would grow to 16 points at the 5:14 mark of the third quarter.
A layup by Nia McKenzie was followed by five points from Gabi Giovannetti cut the Western lead back down to eight with 2:29 remaining in the third and that is where the deficit sat heading to the fourth.
After a bucket to start the quarter for Missouri Western, the next eight points were Washburn's.
A layup inside from Nwidadah made it a two-point game with 6:58 remaining.
Just inside five minutes a triple for McKenzie was followed by a layup inside from Aniah Wayne that gave Washburn the lead at 58-57.
Sterk and Wayne each knocked down triples on the next two trips down that grew the lead to five points.
The Griffons cut the lead down to one point inside the final minute.
Sterk knocked down one free throw, and after an offensive rebound by Nwidadah, she hit two more, putting the game away at 67-63.
"I think we were finally stacking stops and our depth has been paying off in the third and fourth quarters,'' Washburn coach Lora Westling told KTPK Radio. "We were finally getting some stops and rebounding the ball better.
"Defense has been saving us all year and it came down to that in the second half.''
Washburn ended the game shooting just 38.3 percent from the floor, but knocked down six triples and got to the free throw line 22 times, making 15.
A 42-35 rebounding advantage, including 20 offensive, aided the Ichabods. Both teams turned the ball over 18 times, while the Ichabod bench outscored the Missouri Western reserves, 24-5.
Nwidadah, a first-team All-MIAA pick, led the way with her second straight double-double, scoring 17 points with 13 rebounds while shooting 5-8 from the floor.
Giovannetti had 13 points while Sterk had 11 with three steals and four assists. Hunter had nine off the bench.
Mia Morel led the Griffons with 21 points, while Nakiya Harris added 11.
