OMAHA, Neb. – Washburn Women's Basketball scored 23 fourth quarter points on its way to a 61-56 exhibition win over NCAA Division I opponent Omaha on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at Baxter Arena.
 
WU shot 40.4 percent from the field and 36.4 percent beyond the arc, while outrebounding the Mavericks 41 to 29 to overcome a slow start in the win.
 
Scoreless for the opening five minutes, Washburn trailed UNO 10-0 before Erin Dohnalek sunk a free throw at 4:49 to break the Mavericks' opening run.  After the teams traded layups in transition, Washburn cut the lead to seven (12-5) after Dohnalek hit another jumper on a fast break. After even play brought the quarter inside the one-minute mark, UNO pushed its advantage back to double-digits briefly before Jayna Smith sunk a jumper as time expired in the first, making it 20-11.
 
WU carried the momentum from Smith's buzzer-beater in the second quarter, running off five unanswered to cut the lead to four (20-16) off Haley Pfau's three-pointer at 8:08.  Smith continued the Ichabods' comeback with a layup inside two minutes to go, prompting a UNO timeout at 22-20.  All told, the Ichabods closed the period on a 10-0 run, holding the Mavericks scoreless for the final 7:10 of the half to take a 26-22 lead into the locker room.
 
The second half opened with an 8-0 UNO run before WU recovered with a 7-1 run to regain a 33-31 lead. Tied 33-all at a media break, WU's Alyxis Bowens hit a field goal to open a run of five unanswered for the Bods, giving WU a 38-33 lead.
 
After four unanswered for UNO closed the third at 38-37, the Mavericks continued to push, leading 41-38 early in the fourth before Dohnalek responded with a jumper to bring it back to a one-point game (41-40).  Later on, tied at 45, Julie Ravn hit three three-pointers in the span of less than two minutes at the end of an 11-1 run to open up an eight-point lead, 54-46.  UNO recovered to tie it at 56, but Bowens scored three unanswered to give the Ichabods a 59-56 lead with 30.3 seconds to play.  Ichabods came up with a defensive stop on the other end, and two free throws from Smith with 14 seconds to go sealed the win.
 
Smith posted a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, leading the team in rebounds and steals (three).  Smith was second on the squad behind Ravn, who finished with 16 points behind a 4-for-10 effort from beyond the arc. 
 
Bowens also hit double-digits in scoring, finishing with 11 to go with seven rebounds. 
 
Felisha Gibbs, Erika Lane and Haley Pfau each had five rebounds while Ravn and Erin Dohnalek (who finished with eight points) finished with three assists apiece.
 
For the Mavericks, Mikaela Shaw scored 18 points and had eight rebounds while Amber Vidal (five assists) and Remy Davenport (eight rebounds) each scored nine.
 
The Ichabods open their season in Bismarck, N.D., on Friday, Nov. 13 at the University of Mary.