By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn's women's basketball team looked like it was on the verge of taking control of Wednesday's game against Benedictine when Macy Doebele scored to put the Ichabods up by 12 points with just over three minutes remaining in the first half.
It never happened, with the Ravens outscoring the Ichabods 42-27 the rest of the way to take a 64-61 win at Lee Arena.
"The offense has been horrendous this whole year for us,'' Washburn coach Ron McHenry said. "We don't have a problem getting attempts up, we have more problems getting it in the basket and a lot of that is just we don't find the right kids.
"It's been a struggle and we kind of know that. We've got a find a way to get the ball to kids who need the ball.''
Hanover native Macy Doebele led Washburn with 14 points and seven reboounds in the Ichabods' 64-61 loss to Benedictine Wednesday at Lee Arena. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Benedictine, which counted Wednesday's game as an exhibition, scored the final 10 points of the half to get back in the game and then pushed its lead to five in both the third and fourth quarters before holding the Ichabods off down the stretch.
Washburn, which fell to 1-2, got within a point twice over the final 5:20, the last time on a hoop from Mackenzie Gamble with 51 seconds remaining.
After a Ravens miss Washburn took a time out with 13.6 seconds left to set up its final play, but senior Hunter Bentley's 3-point attempt bounced off the rim.
Benedictine's Ali Brzozowski was fouled and hit two free throws with 1.3 seconds left to account for the final margin.
Brzozowski, a 6-foot-1 senior, led the Ravens (5-1) with game-high totals of 17 points and nine rebounds while Natalie Smaron (6-2 senior) added 14 points and eight rebounds and former Nemaha Central standout Alleigh Kramer also had 14 points.
Doebele, a 5-11 sophomore out of Hanover, led Washburn with 14 points, including eight straight second-half points to help keep the Ichabods in the hunt, and also led the Ichabods with seven rebounds.
"I felt like the shots I was taking were set up well by my teammates, especially in the second half,'' Doebele said.
"We needed to get going and someone needed to step up. I think everyone was trying to their shots to fall, too, and we just had to fight.''
Bentley added nine points for Washburn.
Washburn will host its Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 26-27, facing Winona State and Rockhurst.
BENEDICTINE WOMEN 64, WASHBURN 61
Benedictine 13 19 20 12 -- 64
Washburn 21 13 14 13 -- 61
BENEDICTINE (5-1 Wednesday counted as exhibition)
Smaron 6-10 2-3 14, Washington 3-6 0-0 8, Brzozowski 4-10 9-10 17, Kramer 4-12 4-6 14, Raines 1-4 4-4 7, Carrasquillo 0-1 0-0 0, Ronnebaum 0-1 0-0 0, Nicholson 0-1 2-2 2, Melton 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 18-45 23-27 64.
WASHBURN (1-2)
Cassaday 3-6 0-0 6, Glatczak 0-1 0-0 0, Bentley 3-10 2-2 9, Barrientos 2-6 2-4 6, Doebele 6-11 0-2 14, Gamble 2-5 0-0 5, Sanchez 2-5 1-2 5, Sanz 0-1 0-0 0, Oliver 3-7 1-2 7, Johnson 3-4 0-0 6, Chapman 0-0 0-0 0, Dewey 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 25-58 6-12 61.
3-point goals -- Benedictine 5-16 (Washburn 2-5, Kramer 2-6, Raines 1-2, Brzozowski 0-2, Ronnebaum 0-1), Washburn 5-19 (Doebele 2-5, Bentley 1-7, Gamble 1-2, Dewey 1-1, Barrientos 0-1, Shanchez 0-1, Sanz 0-1, Oliver 0-1). Rebounds — Benedictine 35 (Brzozowski 9), Washburn 30 (Doebele 7). Assists -- Benedictine 11 (Raines 4), Washburn 16 (Sanchez 4). Turnovers -- Benedictine 17, Washburn 11. Total fouls -- Benedictine 16, Washburn 22. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.
