By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Senior Aniah Wayne came off the bench to score a game-high 17 points in Thursday's 63-52 Washburn road win over Emporia State. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN] That would be the last points of the quarter for Emporia State as it was held to 33.3 percent shooting in the quarter while the Ichabods built a 14-10 lead.
The first points for either team in the second quarter came from WU sophomore Brooke Gomez with 6:44 to play in the half.
Wayne knocked down a 3-pointer shortly after that, pushing the Ichabod advantage to nine. Washburn shot over 50 percent in the quarter to take a 28-21 advantage into the halftime break.
Out of the half Wayne hit a layup at the 7:39 mark to give Washburn a double-figure lead for the first time in the game. The Lady Hornets reduced their deficit to eight before the Ichabods answered with a 8-0 run, started by a basket from senior Yibari Nwidadah.
The lead remained at 16 with a last-second layup from junior Britany Kogbara to end the third quarter.
Neither team scored for the first 3:36 of the fourth until Nwidadah hit another layup that began a 7-0 run to start the quarter and push the Washburn lead to more than 20.
The Lady Hornets never got within single-digits the rest of the way as Washburn completed the regular-season series sweep.
Washburn shooting 42.6 percent overall while going 3 of 10 from 3-point range. On the other end Emporia State was held to 32.3 percent shooting and just 3 of 6 at the free throw line while WU went 8 of 16 at the stripe.
"We know we've got to hang our hat on (defense),'' Westling said. "We know we can guard. We had a couple of lapses, but for the most part we've got to continue to be one of the top defensive teams in the league.''
The rebounding battle was won 45-34 by the Ichabods, leading to a 44-22 advantage in paint scoring.
Led by Wayne, Washburn's bench provided 36 points to 25 for the Lady Hornet reserves.
Washburn senior Yibari Nwidadah scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds in Thursday's 63-52 road win over Emporia State. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Nwidadah backed Wayne with 13 points on 6 of 10 shooting with seven rebounds. Senior Gabi Giovannetti had a team-high 10 boards along with three steals and three assists.
Kaitlyn Sanders led Emporia State with 12 points, while Silver Lake product Makenzie McDaniel came off the bench to score 10 points and grab seven rebounds.
Westling said that Amekporfor's injury did not appear to be serious.
"It's an ankle tweak, so it's just a matter of when she gets mobile again,'' Westling said. "Knock on wood, and we've got the best training staff in the country, so she'll be good.''
The Ichabods will face Newman on the road Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Wichita.
WASHBURN 63, EMPORIA STATE 52
Washburn 14 14 22 13 -- 63
Emporia State 10 11 13 18-- 52
Washburn (11-5, 4-3) -- Amekporfor 2-2 0-0 4, Nwidadah 6-10 1-2 13, Gomez 1-3 0-0 2, Giovannetti 2-7 0-0 4, Sterk 2-9 0-0 4, Kogbara 3-5 0-2 6, McKenzie 0-3 2-2 2, Hunter 3-9 2-4 8, Wayne 6-9 2-4 17, Jackson 0-3 0-0 0, Shipman 0-0 0-0 0, Luebbert 0-0 0-0 0, Gideon 0-0 1-2 1, Jansky 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-61 8-16 63.
Emporia State (8-8, 2-5) -- Coleman 0-2 0-0 0, Gandee 1-4 0-0 2, Gilpin 3-16 1-2 8, Sanders 5-14 0-0 12, Casey 2-5 0-0 5, Hannah 2-4 2-4 6, DeWitt 0-2 0-0 0, Noonan 0-0 0-0 0, McDaniel 5-10 0-0 10, Tjaden 3-6 0-0 9, Reese 0-0 0-0 0, Kirmer 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-65 3-6 52.
3-point shots -- Washburn 3-10 (Wayne 3-5, Sterk 0-2, Giovannetti 0-1, Gomez 0-1, Jackson 0-1), Emporia State 7-23 (Tjaden 3-4, Sanders 2-5, Casey 1-4, Gilpin 1-7, DeWitt 0-2, Coleman 0-1). Rebounds -- Washburn 45 (Giovannetti 10), Emporia State 34 (Gandee 7, McDaniel 7). Assists -- Washburn 16 (Sterk 5), Emporia State 14 (Gilpin 3). Turnovers -- Washburn 21, Emporia State 19. Total fouls -- Washburn 16, Emporia State 16. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.
