By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball will put its three-game winning streak on the line Saturday as the Ichabods head to St. Joseph, Mo. for a 1:30 p.m. contest against Missouri Western.
MIAA player of the week Yibari Nwidadah leads Washburn in scoring and rebounding and leads the nation in field goal percentage. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods are11-8 on the year and 5-4 in the MIAA after beginning their road swing with a 71-60 win over Northwest Missouri on Wednesday.
Missouri Western fell to 11-6 overall and 6-3 in the MIAA with a 68-62 overtime battle to Central Missouri at home on Wednesday.
Saturday's contest against Missouri Western will be the 106th all-time meeting between the two teams.
Washburn opened up the 2025 calendar year inside Lee Arena with an 88-73 win over Missouri Western, snapping the Griffons' seven-game winning streak.
Junior Yibari Nwidadah leads Washburn with a 17.8 scoring average and 7.5 rebounds while also shooting a team-high 67.0 percent from the field. Nwidadah has started all 17 games she has played in, logging 27.5 minutes per game. She has shot at or above 50.0 percent in all but one game and has four double-doubles.
The Olathe North product has the best field goal percentage in the nation while ranking second in the MIAA in points per game and eighth in rebounds. She has 15-plus points in 12 games this year. She was named the MIAA Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week on Monday for the first time in her career.
With 194 career offensive rebounds Nwidadah is seventh in program history. She needs 23 offensive boards to move up to sixth. In overall rebounds she is 15th in Washburn history with 519. Her career field goal percentage of .585 is the best in program history. In scoring she ranks 38th with 807 career points.
Junior Payton Sterk is averaging14.9 points while starting all 19 contests and playing a team-high 30.1 minutes per game. Sterk is shooting 43.8 percent from the floor and a team-high 40.4 percent from 3-point range while drilling a team-high 40 3-pointers. She has 15-plus points in nine games this year. Sterk is fifth in the MIAA in total points, third in 3-point percentage and ranks fifth in total 3-pointers.
Junior Gabi Giovannetti is averaging 11.5 ppg while shooting 41.9 percent from the floor. Giovannetti has started all 19 games and is second on the team with 29 made triples. She has scored in double figures in three straight games. Among MIAA players she is 11th in total 3-pointers.
Giovannetti is 16th in program history with 94 career 3-pointers made. She needs 15 triples to move into the top-15.
Alyssa Bonilla leads Western with a 17.5 scoring average while also leading the team with 5.7 assists and 3.1 steals per game.
Marie Sepp is scoring 12.6 points a game on a team-high 53.1 percent shooting.
Washburn leads the all-time series between the two teams, 58-47.
Washburn comes back home to Lee Arena for a Thursday night contest against Fort Hays State at 5:30 p.m.
