Box Score | Season Stats

OMAHA, Neb. -- The sixth-ranked Lady Blues went on the road to open the second half of the MIAA schedule and were upset 87-83 by Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday night at Sapp Fieldhouse. The loss drops Washburn into a first place tie with Northwest Missouri State. WU will travel to Maryville on Wednesday night for a showdown with the Bearcats.

Washburn (14-2, 10-2 MIAA) shot 52 percent from the floor compared to 49 percent for the Mavericks (6-10, 3-9 MIAA) and out-rebounded UNO by 22, but the Lady Blues committed 20 turnovers, 14 in the second half and fell to the Mavs.

The Lady Blues jumped out to an early lead and led by as many as nine at 23-14 with 13:37 to play in the half. The Mavericks began to chip away at the lead and took their first lead of the game after a 17-6 run, 33-31. Washburn came right back with a 10-2 run to regain the lead by six with 3:54 left in the opening stanza. The game was tied again with just over a minute to play, but a 6-2 run to close the half gave WU a 49-45 lead at the intermission.

UNO came out in the second half and quickly tied the game at 53-53 with 17:50 to play. Washburn regained the lead on a pair of Cassie Lombardino free throws only to see the Mavs come right back to regain the advantage at 57-55 with 14:30 left in regulation.

The game was tied one last time at 58 apiece with 13:18 on the clock. The Mavericks took the lead for good with a 14-4 run and opened a 72-62 lead with just under eight minutes to play in the game. UNO was able to push the lead to as many as 12 before Washburn rallied late. The Blues got to within four at 79-75 with 2:20 to play and had the ball, but a turnover gave it right back to UNO and Jamie Nash hit a jumper to push the lead back to six with 1:13 left.

A Megan Lassley layup got WU to within three at 84-81 with 14 ticks left, but the Mavericks made 3-of-4 from the foul line to ice the game.

Washburn finished 29-of-56 from the floor and 8-of-20 for 40 percent from behind the arc. The Lady Blues were 17-of-21 from the charity stripe, but committed the 20 turnovers compared to just six for UNO.

Lombardino led four Lady Blues in double figures with 23 and had a game-high nine rebounds. Alyssa Mullen had a career-high 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting to go along with eight boards. Laura Kinderknecht had 16 and Stevi Schultz chipped in 15.

Heather Pohl led UNO with a game-high 29 points and Nash had 23 to go along with 11 assists. Jessica Zaruba had 16 points and Paige Frauendorfer added 12.

The Mavericks were 28-of-57 from the field and hit on 9-of-20 three point attempts for 45 percent. UNO was 22-of-29 from the foul line and had 12 steals.