TOPEKA, Kan. – Five players scored in double digits, three Ichabods had 10-plus rebounds and Felisha Gibbs tallied the Ichabods' first double-double of the season as Washburn ran away from Lincoln, 89-44, on Monday, Jan. 4 inside Lee Arena.
 
Washburn improves to 9-4 (5-2 MIAA) on the season and 4-0 at home, closing its home stand to open the New Year with a win. 
 
Washburn opened the game on a 17-2 run and never looked back, stretching the lead to 17 at the end of the first (31-14) after Gibbs' third layup of the night.  Washburn had a burst of nine unanswered midway thru the second quarter with six of those coming from Julie Ravn and took a 48-26 lead into the locker room at half.
 
Ravn hit another three just nine seconds into the third quarter to spark WU towards an 11-0 run that ended at 5:24 with a layup from Alyxis Bowens.  All told, Washburn held Lincoln without a point for the first 5:28 of the third quarter and outscored the Blue Tigers, 23-7, in the third frame.
 
A stretch of eight unanswered for WU in the fourth proved to be the final push, as WU took its largest lead of the night (84-38) with 4:14 to go, sending the Ichabods towards their first 40-plus margin win since Dec. 31, 2014 (93-42 over Saint Mary).  The last time Washburn won by 40-49 points was Nov. 16, 2014 against Southwestern (108-60).
 
Five Ichabods reached double digits for the first time since Dec. 19, 2013, as Bowens reached the 20-point threshold for the second straight game to lead the team with 20.  Ravn had 15 points and finished 4-for-5 from long range, just ahead of Gibbs, who scored 14 points to go with a career-high 13 rebounds and two blocks for her first career double-double.
 
Haley Pfau dished out six assists to lead the team and finished with 10 points, tied in scoring with Erin Dohnalek, who also added three assists. 
 
On the boards, Gibbs was joined in double-digits by Cindy Demosthene, who had 13 boards (career-high) and Jayna Smith had 10.  This was the third straight game Smith grabbed over 10 rebounds, and the fifth game in the last six overall.  Smith was also 2-of-2 from the field with six points.
 
Erika Lane had six points as well, adding four assists and a team-leading three steals on the defensive end.
 
All 11 Ichabods available for the game saw action and scored, as Makayla Vargo and KayLee Farmer recorded their first points while wearing an Ichabod uniform.
 
WU shot 54.2 from the field for the game, hitting 8-of-16 (50 percent) from long range.  The Ichabods shot lights out in the first period, missing just one shot (12-of-13) while going 5-of-5 on three-pointers.  WU had a 70.8 percent field goal percentage at halftime and was 87.5 percent (7-of-8) from beyond the three-point arc at the break.
 
Washburn heads for Oklahoma the rest of the week, taking on Northeastern State on Thursday, Jan. 7 and Central Oklahoma on Saturday, Jan. 9.