By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball used a 30-point third quarter to overcome a halftime deficit and top Newman 77-66 on Saturday afternoon in a foul-plagued contest in Lee Arena.
Junior Yibari Nwidadah led Washburn with 22 points and 8 rebounds in the Ichabods' 77-66 MIAA win over Newman on Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Gabi Giovannetti had 18 points and went 8 of 8 from the free throw line in Washburn's 77-66 win over Newman on Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Ichabods and Jets combined for 50 total fouls and 63 free throws, with four players, including three for Newman, fouling out.
"Obviously, they had the intention of being physical with us and we caught that early and any time you see that early in a game you know it's going to be hard to stay on your rhythm and stay in anything comfortable,'' WU coach Lora Westling said.
"And so credit to them, they kept us from getting comfortable all night, but I think we had enough weapons and obviously a dominant inside presence (with junior Yibari Nwidadah) that kind of helped us trudge through the mud a little bit.''
WU junior standout Gabi Giovannetti said finding a way to get Saturday's win was very important for the Ichabods, who won three of four games in their just concluded homestand, with the only loss coming in overtime.
"It was very momentum-building for us to get this win and we knew that,'' Giovannetti said. "We came in kind of flat, but we really locked in after halftime and realized what we needed to do.
"We needed to give it to Yibari obviously on offense and then lock in on defense and not them shoot any more 3s and then maximize their fouls on the offense that they were giving us.''
The Jets (6-11 overall, 1-7 MIAA) got off to a fast start with a pair of 3-pointers to build a 10-3 lead at the 5:20 mark in the first quarter.
Washburn (10-8, 4-4) scored the next five points, but Newman remained in front the whole quarter.
Payton Sterk hit a driving layup on the final possession of the quarter to make it a one-point Newman lead at 18-17.
Amaya Davison began the second quarter with a driving layup to give Washburn its first lead of the game.
After two free throws from Nia McKenzie the Ichabods led 25-20 with 7:40 left in the half, but the Jets scored the next seven points to regain the lead.
Washburn was able to get to the line, making eight free throws in the quarter, but shot just 3-12 from the field as Newman ended the half with a 3-pointer to lead, 34-31.
A bucket from junior Nwidadah and a 3-pointer by Sterk tied the game for the Ichabods in the opening minutes of the third quarter.
Washburn took the lead at 45-44 after Nwidadah got a tip to go and Giovannetti followed with a 3-pointer which was part of a 16-3 run for the Ichabods, who went up by double-digits with 2:09 to play in the quarter after Nwidadah got another layup to go.
The Washburn lead remained in double figures at 11 points heading to the fourth as Washburn shot 8-12 from the floor in the quarter.
The Ichabod offense continued to churn to begin the fourth quarter, pushing the lead to 18 points after an 8-0 run capped off by a layup from Davison.
The Jets responded with eight straight of their own but were unable to cut the deficit below 10 as Washburn held on for its tenth win of the season.
From the field the Ichabods shot 22-47 (42.6 percent) while holding Newman to 22-62 (35.5), but it was at the line that Washburn created an advantage as they shot 32-44 from the charity stripe to just 13-19 for the visitors.
A 40-32 rebounding advantage went in the Ichabods favor, leading to a 30-24 advantage in points in the paint. Both sides were near even in assists with 11 for Washburn and eight for the Jets.
Nwidadah had a game-high 22 points on 7-10 shooting with eight rebounds while Giovannetti scored 18 points on 4-5 shooting and 8-8 at the free throw line while also snagging two steals. Sterk chipped in nine points.
Newman had four players score in double figures, led by Jaeden McMillin with 15 points and Valeriya Lioukina with 14.
The Ichabods will now head back out on the road, taking on Northwest Missouri State at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22.
WASHBURN WOMEN 77, NEWMAN 66
Newman 18 16 16 16 -- 66
Washburn 17 14 30 16 -- 77
NEWMAN (6-11, 1-7)
Lioukina 6-9 2-4 14, Craft 3-9 2-3 10, Grampsas 0-2 0-0 0, Redondo 3-9 2-2 11, McKillin 4-10 6-7 15, Weiss 0-0 0-0 0, Pierce 1-7 0-0 3, Williams 2-5 0-0 4, Wylie 2-5 0-0 6, Love 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 1-5 1-2 3. Totals 22-62 13-19 66.
WASHBURN (10-8, 4-4)
Amekporfor 1-3 2-4 4, Nwidadah 7-10 8-14 22, Gomez 0-4 6-6 6, Giovannetti 4-5 8-8 18, Sterk 3-10 1-2 9, McKenzie 1-4 4-6 6, Wayne 2-5 2-2 7, Davison 2-4 1-2 5, McCallop 0-1 0-0 0, Luebbert 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-47 32-44 77.
3-point goals -- Newman 9-24 (Redondo 3-7, Wylie 2-4, Craft 2-3, McMillin 1-3, Pierce 1-3, Williams 0-2, Grampsas 0-1, Williams 0-1), Washburn 5-12 (Sterk 2-4, Giovannetti 2-2, Wayne 1-3, Amekporfor 0-2, Luebbert 0-1). Rebounds -- Newman 32 (McMillin 6), Washburn 40 (Nwidadah 8). Assists -- Newman 8 (Three with 2), Washburn 11 (Gomez 2, Amekporfor 3). Turnovers -- Newman 10, Washburn 11. Total fouls -- Newman 31, Washburn 19. Fouled out -- Lioukina, McMillin, Wylie, Amekporfor. Technical fouls -- none.
