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TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 15 Washburn jumped out to a 16-0 lead and went on to beat No. 8 Pittsburg State 59-45 Saturday afternoon in Lee Arena in the MIAA Game of the Week.

The Lady Blues improved to 23-4 overall and drew even with the Gorillas in the loss column for first in the MIAA with a 16-2 record. The Gorillas fell to 23-3 overall and 17-2 in the MIAA. PSU leads the MIAA by half a game with one game to play. Washburn has two games left including at Emporia State Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. and at home Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against Lincoln in Senior Day. Two wins would give Washburn at least of share of the title.

Stevi Schultz led Washburn with 15 points and came within two points of reaching 1,000 in her career. She went 6 of 9 from the field with three 3-pointers and came one rebound shy of a double-double with a team-high nine. Sierra Moeller also had nine boards and scored eight points.

Cassie Lombardino scored 13 points off 4 of 10 shooting and Ebonie Williams scored 12 points with seven rebounds.

Williams opened the game with a 3-pointer and then Schultz hit three straight from behind the arc to make the score 12-0. After a Lombardino free throw, Williams hit a 3 to give Washburn a 16-0 lead. Brooke Conley finally got the Gorillas, winners of nine straight MIAA games since losing to Washburn on January 11, on the board with a 3-pointer at 14:49.

The lead dipped into single digits just once in the first half and Washburn led by 11, 30-19 at halftime.

Pitt State opened the second half on a 7-2 run to get within six and then got within four at the 15:17 mark on a lay-up from Conley. An 8-2 run later gave Washburn a 49-38 lead with 4:10 to play.

PSU got Washburn's lead to six with 2:37 to go but the Lady Blues scored the final eight points after that with four points each from Schultz and Elliott to give Washburn the win.

Washburn shot 37 percent in the game but kept PSU to 27 percent shooting. Washburn made 5 of 17 3-pointers while the Gorillas made just 3 of 15. Washburn won the rebound battle 50-31 but committed 13 turnovers while the Gorillas had just seven.

Laura Kinderknecht led Washburn with five assists and Moeller blocked two shots. Lizzy Jeronimus led the Gorillas with 19 points and Conley scored 14.

The Gorillas play at Fort Hays State Wednesday in their MIAA finale. A win would clinch at least a share of the title. Washburn can guarantee a share of the title with two wins and would have a chance to win the title outright if PSU loses. The Gorillas finish their regular season next Saturday at home against Northeastern State in a key regional match. PSU is No. 1 in the South Central Region rankings released Wednesday, Northeastern is No. 2 and Washburn is No. 3.