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Washburn University women's basketball got a 31-point day from Payton Sterk and hit 15 3-pointers in Saturday's 87-60 MIAA win at Rogers State.

 

 

Washburn, now 19-7 overall and 12-5 in the conference, posted its fourth straight victory while surpassing last season's win total and reaching a high-water mark for victories in Lora Westling's four seasons as the Ichabods' coach.

 

Washburn scored its first 12 points of the day on 3-pointers to lead 12-8 midway through the first quarter.

Offense for both sides came easy in the first quarter as the Ichabods were able to out-pace the Hillcats (9-17, 6-11) and lead 18-16 at the start of the second quarter.  

Washburn opened the second quarter with an 11-0 Washburn run, capped off by an putback from senior Yibari Nwidadah to lead 29-16 at the 6:46 mark.

WU held Rogers State to 3-15 shooting in the second quarter and Sterk hit her third 3-pointer of the quarter just before the halftime buzzer to give the Ichabods a 41-23 advantage going into the locker room. 

The Hillcats cut their deficit down to 13 points at the 7:29 mark of the third quarter before Sterk hit another triple.

Rogers State went 7-9 in the quarter and 3-3 from deep, but Washburn still headed into the fourth stanza with a 60-46 advantage.

Ichabod senior Gabi Giovannetti conna 3-pointer with 8:38 left in the game that was the start of 16-0 run, capped off by another Sterk shot from downtown, extending the Washburn lead to 30 points with 5:34 left.

From that point on the Ichabods emptied their bench while wrapping up the 27-point victory. 

Washburn shot 48.5 percent for the game while drilling a season-high 15 3-pointers on 29 attempts, tying for the fourth most made 3s in a single game in program history. Rogers State shot 40.4 percent overall and was 7-23 from 3-point range.  

A 43-26 rebounding advantage led Washburn to a 17-4 advantage in second chance points and 30-22 in paint scoring. The turnover battle was also won 15-12. 

Sterk led the way with 31 points on 10-15 shooting and 7-10 from deep, the most points by any Ichabod this season. She also added four steals.

Nwidadah had a double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds and Giovannetti finished with 16 points on 6-9 shooting with a steal.  

Bailey Layman led Rogers State with 17 points as three Hillcats scored in double figures.  

The Ichabods return home for the final week of the regular season, beginning with a 5:30 p.m. game against Pittsburg State on Wednesday.