By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women's basketball team will host the two-day Thanksgiving Classic Friday and Saturday, taking on Winona State Friday and Rockhurst on Saturday at Lee Arena.
The 1-2 Ichabods will face 2-0 Winona State at 3 p.m. Friday and will close out the Classic at 3 o'clock Saturday against 1-0 Rockhurst.
This weekend's games will be the Ichabods' final tuneups before opening MIAA play next week.
MIAA member Northwest Missouri will also take part in the tournament, playing Rockhurst on Friday and Winona State on Saturday.
Hunter Bentley leads Washburn with an 11-point scoring average entering back-to-back games Friday and Saturday in the Thanksgiving Classic. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn will be looking to bounce back from a 64-61 loss to Benedictine in its home-opener last Wednesday.
Friday's opponents, Winona State, won two preseason exhibition games and is 3-0 in the regular season after a 73-69 win over Upper Iowa on Tuesday.
Rockhurst has played just one game so far this season and defeated Upper Iowa, 78-64.
Hunter Bentley is averaging a team-high 11 points for Washburn whiile Mackenzie Gamble is averging 10 points and has connected on eight 3-pointers.
Bentley needs 66 more points to hit 1,300 in her career and is 77 away from moving up to No. 11 on Washburn's all-time scoring list.
Macy Doebele tied a career-high with 14 points against Benedictine and was 6 of 11 from the field. She averages 8.0 points and 4.0 rebounds.
Taylor Hustad received all-NSIC second-team honors last year and led Winona State in points, rebounds and minutes played as the Warriors played just 12 games in 2020-2021.
Warriors coach Scott Ballard holds a record of 287-195 at the school and has taken Winona State to the NCAA Tournament three times.
Washburn will face a Rockhurst team that went 8-12 a year ago and returns four starters.
In the Hawks' season-opener, Keegan Sullivan had a double-double with 23 points and 10 boards to go with three assists.
Washburn continues its homestand and begins MIAA action next week against Fort Hays State on Wednesday and against Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday.
