By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Wednesday was a hectic day for first-year Washburn University women's basketball coach Lora Westling, but it ended with a 63-51 non-conference victory over Haskell Indian Nations University at Lee Arena.
Washburn freshman Natalia Figueroa (23) scored a team-high 13 points with three three-pointers in the Ichabods' 63-51 win over Haskell Wednesday night at Lee Arena. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Lauren Cassaday scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Washburn's 63-51 win over Haskell Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Westling found out at about 10:30 a.m. that Washburn's scheduled opponent, Central Christian College, would be unable to play Wednesday due to COVID protocols.
The Ichabods' two options were either to not play on Wednesday or find a fill-in opponent and Haskell answered the call to come to Topeka with seven available players.
"Our A.D., Loren (Ferre') told me at 10:30 and I said, 'Can I have 15 minutes just to see if we can find somebody?' '' Westling said. "There's a reason we really wanted to play it here. We had a lot of kids with family in town and it's a great last tuneup before we start conference play.
"It was just a really ideal time for us to play and fortunately Haskell was able to make the trip. We knew they were going to be pretty challenging but it's a lot of respect and we're really grateful that they made the trip.''
Coming off a 52-47 loss to Rockhurst last Saturday, junior Lauren Cassaday said it was important to be able to play and get a win on Wednesday.
"It was good to have a win, especially going into conference play,'' Cassaday. "It's good to be able to take some confidence in, but we still have a high ceiling that we've still got to fill. I think we have a lot of potential on this team and we've just got to find it.''
The Ichabods, who improved to 3-2, jumped out to a 7-2 lead at the 4:47 mark in the opening quarter but the Fighting Indians, who played Wednesday's game as an exhibition, scored eight of the final 11 points to forge a 10-all tie at the end of the first period.
Washburn quickly broke the tie with a 4-0 run to open the second quarter started and never trailed again.
With just under a minute left in the first half, freshman Natalia Figueroa drained a three-point shot to extend the Ichabods' lead to 29-19 at the half.
Washburn went 8 of 16 from the floor and scored 19 points for the second consecutive quarter and took a 48-34 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Haskell trimmed the deficit down to 11 points on four occasions over the final 10 minutes, but could get no closer as the Ichabods captured the 12-point victory.
The Ichabods finished the night shooting 38.2 percent from the field while the Fighting Indians made 23 percent.
Both teams made five three-pointers, but Washburn dominated with 42 points in the paint while Haskell had just 16. The Ichabods also finished with a 52-36 rebounding advantage.
Nine Ichabods scored in the game, led by Figueroa's 13 points. She also added five rebounds, four assists, three steals, and one block.
Cassady added 10 points with eight of those coming in the fourth quarter. Cassaday was two rebounds shy of a double-double, grabbing eight boards.
Amaya Davison made 4 of 6 shots from the floor and finished with nine points while Emma Chapman chipped in eight points. Macy Doebele registered a game-high 12 rebounds.
Mahpiya Irving led Haskell with 21 points and seven steals. Marily Goodman added 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Ichabods will make their first road trip and begin MIAA play on Monday at Northeastern State.
WASHBURN WOMEN 63, HASKELL 51
Haskell 10 9 15 17 -- 51
Washburn 10 19 19 15 -- 63
HASKELL (4-8)
Hearts 3-13 0-0 7, Irving 6-17 6-6 21, Goodman 2-7 6-6 11, Enemy 1-8 1-2 3, Tahawah 1-7 3-3 5, Brown 1-3 1-1 3, Doembo 0-6 1-2 1. Totals 14-61 18-20 51.
WASHBURN (3-2)
Cassaday 4-6 2-2 10, Gamble 1-6 0-0 3, Dewey 3-7 0-1 6, Figueroa 5-13 0-0 13, Doebele 2-5 1-2 5, Artis 2-11 0-0 4, Chapman 3-6 2-4 8, Schieferecke 0-1 0-0 0, Davison 4-6 0-0 9, Nwidadah 2-2 1-2 5, Sanders 0-3 0-0 0, Newfarmer 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-68 6-11 63.
3-point shots – Haskell 5-23 (Irving 3-10, Hearts 1-5, Goodman 1-1, Enemy 0-2, Tahawah 0-2, Doembo 0-2, Brown 0-1), Washburn 5-25 (Figueroa 3-9, Gamble 1-5, Davison 1-2, Dewey 0-2, Artiss 0-5, Schieferecke 0-1, Newfarmer 0-1 ). Rebounds – Haskell 36 (Hearts 7, Goodman 7), Washburn 52 (Doebele 12). Assists – Haskell 5 (Goodman 2, Tahawah 2), Washburn 11 (Figueroa 4). Turnovers – Haskell 16, Washburn 18. Total fouls – Haskell 11, Washburn 16. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
