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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Lady Blues used a 13-0 run midway through the second half to lead to a 73-64 win Wednesday night at Lincoln in Jason Gym. The win propelled the Lady Blues into a first place tie with Pittsburg State in the MIAA standings midway through the conference season.

No. 16 Washburn improved to 16-3 overall and 9-1 in the MIAA while the Blue Tigers fell to 10-6 and 4-6 in the league. Washburn will be idle Saturday and then return to action Wednesday in Lee Arena at 5:30 p.m. against Northwest Missouri.

Reigning MIAA athlete of the week Ebonie Williams scored 21 points for the second straight game after going 7 of 15 from the field and 6 of 6 from the free throw line. She added a season-high six assists. Stevi Schultz also went 6 of 6 from the line and totaled 15 points.

Washburn trailed by a point at halftime, 29-28, and then was down by four with 16:05 left in the game. A minute later the Lady Blues regained the lead for good as they started a 13-0 run that ended with the score 50-39, Washburn, with 11:21 remaining. Nine of those 13 points came off the bench. Brittney Lynch's lay-up at 13:53 started the run and a three-point play from Alyssa Nikkel ended it.

The Blue Tigers got within five after that but two free throws from Schultz at 2:21 pushed it back to double figures. Washburn made 8 of 9 free throws in the final three minutes.

The Lady Blues shot 68 percent in the second half to raise their game average to 49 percent after shooting just 36 percent in the first half. The Blue Tigers shot under 40 percent in both halves and ended with a 38 percent effort. Washburn was 81 percent from the free throw line.

Laura Kinderknecht, Cassie Lombardino, Casyn Buchman and Tiara George each scored eight points. Buchman was 3 of 3 from the field to score a career-high eight points for the third time this year.

Lombardino grabbed nine rebounds to lead Washburn on boards, but the Lady Blues were out-rebounded 37-34. Washburn, fourth in the nation in rebound margin, was out-rebounded for just the third time this year.

Vivian Essuon, third in scoring in the MIAA, had 17 points to lead Lincoln. She took 23 shots and made eight of them. Dahlia Booker had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Lady Blues led the first eight minutes of the game until a lay-up from Arriana Walker put Lincoln up 11-10. Washburn scored four straight after that to regain the lead but the Blue Tigers later followed with an 11-4 run that put them up by a game-high seven points at the 3:48 mark in the first half.

Williams scored five straight points during an 8-0 Washburn run after that to put the Lady Blues back up by a point but Booker scored the final basket of the half at the 1:05 mark to give Lincoln a 29-28 lead.

Washburn out-scored Lincoln 45-35 in the second half to pull away with the win and move to 20-0 all-time against Lincoln.

Lombardino blocked three shots for Washburn while Lincoln had one block. The Lady Blues committed 14 turnovers to Lincoln's 15.