BISMARCK, N.D. – Washburn Women's Basketball opened its 2015-16 campaign with a 63-50 victory over the University of Mary on Friday night, Nov. 13.
 
Washburn (1-0) opened the game with four straight and never looked back, leading the entire way to push its record in season openers to 15-1 under Ron McHenry.
 
Ahead 4-2 in the opening two minutes, Erika Lane and Haley Pfau hit back-to-back three-pointers that opened up a 10-2 lead for the Ichabods midway through the fourth minute of play.  With 2:48 to go, ahead by four (14-10), Washburn opened up an 11-point lead (21-10) that ended the first and opened the second off Julie Ravn's three-pointer.
 
Leading 23-12 just 16 seconds into the Washburn saw U-Mary cut the lead to four, 25-21, thanks to a 9-2 run that lasted over six minutes.  Bowens hit another layup at 2:39 to stop the run and Erin Dohnalek followed with her first three-pointer of the night just 20 seconds later to make it a nine-point game, 30-21.  Another Bowens layup with 22 seconds to go in the half closed a 7-0 run for the Ichabods and sent Washburn to the locker room, up 32-21.
 
The teams played evenly through the first half of the third before Washburn went on a 10-0 run that lasted over four minutes, pushing the lead over 20 (48-27).  Bowens opened the run with four straight free throws and Dohnalek and Pfau hit three-pointers to end the burst.
 
U-Mary put together runs of nine and 11 unanswered in the fourth quarter to bring the lead back to single digits (53-47) with 3:28 to play, but that was as close as the Marauders came as a late 8-1 Ichabod rally brought the game inside the one-minute mark and sealed the win.
 
Bowens led the team with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Lane finished with 12 points and Pfau and Felisha Gibbs each had eight.  Bowens, Lane and Pfau all shot 50 percent from the field and had three assists, tying Dohnalek for the team lead. 
 
Dohnalek hit 2-of-3 from beyond the arc for her only field goals of the game.  Jayna Smith paced the squad with nine rebounds.
 
For U-Mary, Brittney Dietz had 22 points and six rebounds, matching Hannah Larson on the boards, who finished with 10 points to go with five assists.
 
The Ichabods close the weekend with a Saturday, Nov. 14 matchup against Minot State in Minot, N.D.  Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.