Box Score | Season Stats | Photos

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The 12th-ranked Washburn Lady Blues used a 14-4 first-half run to get control moved on to a 68-44 victory over Missouri Western Saturday night in Lee Arena. Washburn will be in action on Wednesday, Feb. 6 in Joplin, Mo., to take on Missouri Southern for the second time in a week. The Lions defeated the Lady Blues on Jan. 30 in Topeka 69-61.

The Lady Blues (15-4, 7-3 MIAA) secured the win by holding the Griffons (9-9, 4-6 MIAA) without a field goal for more than nine minutes in the second half.

Washburn never trailed in the game, but Western would score six straight points, with Megan Gawatz's three-pointer knotting the game at 12-12 with 13:34 left in the opening half.

Kalee Silovsky broke the tie on the next trip downcourt for WU, sparking the deciding outburst. Jessica Mainz capped the run with another trey and made it 26-16 with 5:09 left in the half.

A three by Yanique Javois made it a seven-point game, but Washburn finished on an 11-2 run to take a 37-21 halftime lead. Janice Bright had two three-pointer in the last three minutes of the half.

After Javois' jumper at the 12:43 mark made it 54-30, the Griffons missed their next nine from the field and had two turnovers while making 7-of-7 from the foul line.

Javois finally broke the dry spell with a jumper with 3:04 remaining. She ended up as the only Griffon in double-figure scoring with 16 points. Western was 4-of-21 (19.0 percent) from the field in the second half, but made 14-of-16 (87.5 percent) at the charity stripe in the period.

Bright and Corkey Stiger each had 14 points for Washburn, while Mainz added 13. Bright had five assists, while Stiger added four. Hope Gregory had 10 rebounds, tying a career-high.

Notes: Lady Blues are now 8-4 on Groundhog Day ... Washburn has tied the series with Missouri Western at 37-37 ... Washburn has won three straight in the series with the Griffons ... the 11 field goal attempts by Jessica Mainz is a career high ... the Lady Blues are 3-0 this season when following a loss and 30-10 under head coach Ron McHenry ... the Lady Blues avoided losing back to back home games for the first time since the 2000-01 season when Washburn lost three straight to Pittsburg State, Missouri Western and Pittsburg State.