By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women's basketball team took the lead with a third-quarter rally and held on late to begin the Washburn Classic with a 65-63 win over Southern Nazarene University Friday night at Lee Arena.
Junior point guard Aubree Dewey scored a game and career-high 20 points in Washburn's 65-63 win over Southern Nazarene Friday night. [FIle photo/TSN}
Junior point guard Aubree Dewey powered 2-1 Washburn with a career-high 20 points while freshman Natalia Figueroa had a career-high 14 points. Mackenzie Gamble and Emma Chapman added 10 points apiece and Chapman also grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
In a close game that saw neither team lead by more than eight points, Nazarene (1-3) had the final possession with a chance to force overtime or pull out the win with a 3-pointer, but the Crimson Storm were unable to get a good shot and the Ichabods celebrated the victory.
"I'm being truthful when I say this, no matter how that game ended up I would have been really, really proud of my team tonight, just for how they showed up, how they stayed together and went through some tough stretches but they continued to be sharp and they continued to execute and it paid off for them,'' Washburn coach Lora Westling said. "They earned that win.''
Wasburn was coming off a two-point loss to Oklahoma Baptist last Saturday and Dewey said it was important for the Ichabods to bounce back.
"It was so important,'' Dewey said. "Being 1-1, we really didn't want to be 1-2. I don't know a single person on this team that wants to lose and I don't know a single person on this team that doesn't want to give every single thing possible to win and that showed all week.''
Offense came easy for both teams in the first quarter of a fast-paced game.
The game was knotted at 11 midway through the first period before Dewey scored five straight points to put the Ichabods in front, 16-11.
The Crimson Storm moved the ball inside and took a lead late in the first quarter before two free throws from Lakyn Schieferecke gave Washburn a 20-19 lead after one.
Southern Nazarene forced a few turnovers and took a five-point lead with 4:18 left in the half, but Washburn went on a 10-4 run to end the half, with the first six points coming on two 3-pointers from Figueroa. Chapman scored the final three points of the half, putting the Ichabods up, 33-32.
The Crimson Storm began the third quarter on a 7-0 run before Dewey ended the run with a 3-pointer.
Figueroa hit her third 3-pointer with 2:47 left in the quarter to put Washburn back up by three.
After Southern Nazarene tied it up again the Ichabods would end the quarter on a 6-0 run to lead, 50-44.
In the fourth quarter the Crimson Storm made multiple runs, but the Ichabods always had an answer, with the lead fluctuating between five and one point over the final five minutes.
Chapman hit a jumper with 1:49 left to provide a five-point cushion but Southern Nazarene scored the next four points.
Washburn went up 65-62 with Macy Doebele scoring off an assist from Dewey with 16.3 seconds remaining, but the Crimson Storm hit a free thow to cut their deficit to the final margin.
Washburn turned the ball over with 6.4 seconds remaining to give Nazarene one last chance but the Ichabods came up with the defensive stop as time ran out.
Cassandra Awatt had 18 points to lead four Crimson Storm players in double figures.
Washburn played without freshman Gabi Artis due to an ankle injury, but Westling said she expects the former Bishop Miege standout to be able to return to action soon.
Washburn will play game two of the Washburn Classic at 3 p.m. Saturday against Rockhurst.
WASHBURN WOMEN 65, SOUTHERN NAZARENE 63
Southern Nazarene 19 13 12 19 -- 63
Washburn 20 13 17 15 -- 65
SOUTHERN NAZAENE (1-3)
Giddey 3-4 3-5 9, Adams 5-10 2-2 13, Awatt 7-14 4-4 18, Monaghan 2-2 7-10 11, Jones 3-8 2-4 10, Reither 0-1 0-0 0, Smith 1-4 0-0 2, Coccoli 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-43 18-25 64.
WASHBURN (2-1)
Cassaday 0-3 0-0 0, Gamble 4-5 0-0 10, Dewey 8-14 2-2 20, Figueroa 5-9 1-1 14, Doebele 4-11 0-0 8, Chapman 4-10 2-4 10, Schieferecke 0-2 2-2 2, Davison 0-0 0-0 0, Sanders 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-55 8-11 65.
3-point shots – Southern Nazarene 3-10 (Jones 2-5, Adams 1-2, Awatt 0-1, Reither 0-1, Smith 0-1), Washburn 7-12 (Figueroa 3-6, Gamble 2-2, Dewey 2-3, Davison 0-1). Rebounds – Southern Nazarene 25 (Giddey 8, Awatt 8), Washburn 30 (Chapman 6). Assists – Southern Nazarena 9 (Awatt 3), Washburn 16 (Dewey 3, Figueroa 3). Turnovers – Southern Nazarene 13, Washburn 15. Total fouls – Southern Nazarene 15, Washburn 21. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
Ichabod men fall at Rockhurst
The Washburn men never led, falling in a non-conference contest at Rockhurst on Friday night, 79-70.
The Ichabods trailed by 10 (37-27) at the half after starting the game 4 of 12 from the field and trailed by as many as 13 at 31-18 with 5:15 to play in the opening half.
With the Ichabods (2-2) trailing 59-46 with 10:08 to go in the game, Washburn ripped off an 11-1 run over the next 3:13 to cut the lead to 60-55 with 7:11 to play. Rockhurst came back with an 8-2 run of its own pushing the lead back to 11 just before the final media timeout.
The Ichabods' Andrew Orr scored the third of his three straight baskets as Washburn pulled within 72-67 with 1:41 to play, but the Hawks hit a 3-pointer on their next possession and hit their final four free throws to preserve the win.
Connor Deffebaugh hadd 17 points to lead the Ichabods and Jordan Vincent had season-bests of 12 points, six assists and five rebounds off the bench.
Orr scored all 10 of his points in the second half.
Rockhurst (2-2) was led by Jake Auer, who had a career and game-high 20 points.
The Ichabods will be back in action on Tuesday at Oklahoma Baptist before hosting Ottawa on Nov. 26 in Lee Arena prior to starting MIAA play against Northeastern State on Nov. 28.
