Box Score | Season Stats
WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The 16th-ranked Lady Blues struggled from the floor in the second half, but held off Central Missouri 55-49 on Wednesday night at the UCM Multipurpose Building. Washburn shot just 2-of-20 from the floor in the second half, but went 17-of-22 from the foul line.
Laura Kinderknecht got the scoring started with a nice driving layup less than 20 seconds into the game to give Washburn (16-4, 12-4 MIAA) a 2-0 lead. Central Missouri (12-11, 8-9 MIAA) tied the game on a jumper from Saraethea Brown, but the Lady Blues quickly regained the lead with a 4-0 run.
The teams went back-and-forth over the next three minutes before the Lady Blues used a 7-2 run to open a 21-12 lead with 11:25 remaining in the half. The Jennies pulled to within five with just under nine minutes left, but Washburn closed the half on a 12-4 run and led 33-20 at the break.
The Lady Blues opened the second half on a 7-2 run and pushed their lead to 18 at 40-22 after a Kinderknecht three. That was Washburn's first made field goal of the half and would be the only made field goal for awhile as the Lady Blues went 1-of-11 from the field to start the second half and let UCM crawl back into the game.
Nearly seven minutes ticked off the clock before Washburn's next field goal, a Cassie Lombardino jumper in the paint, gave the Lady Blues a 47-34 advantage with 9:08 to play in the game. That would be Washburn's last made field goal of the game.
Central Missouri began to chip away at the lead and pulled to within two at 50-48 with 42 seconds left in the game. Megan Lassley sank a pair of free throws to give the Lady Blues a four point lead. After Central missed the front end of a one-and-one Stevi Schultz knocked in one of two from the charity stripe to push the lead to five. The Jennies made 1-of-2 free throws on the next trip down the court, but Schultz iced the game with a pair of free throws to give Washburn the six point win.
Lombardino led Washburn with 14 points and also pulled down seven rebounds. Kinderknecht had 13 points and Schultz chipped in 12 to go along with a game-high eight boards. Alyssa Mullen also had five rebounds for Washburn and Lassley added eight points, six boards and three assists.
Despite their poor shooting in the second half the Lady Blues shot 33.3 percent (16-of-48) for the game and from three point range (4-of-12). Washburn finished 19-of-26 from the foul line for 73.1 percent and out-rebounded Central Missouri 40-33.
Nicole Caddell led the Jennies with 18 points and six rebounds, while Kara Fleming chipped in 13 points. UCM shot 35.7 percent (20-of-56) from the field, 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from three-point range and 50 percent (6-of-12) from the charity stripe.
Washburn is back in action this Saturday at Southwest Baptist at 1:30 p.m.
Head Coach Ron McHenry talks about the win at Central Missouri
