JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. --- Powered by sound free throw shooting the Washburn women's basketball team improved to 4-0 in MIAA action on Monday evening as it picked up a 66-58 road win against Lincoln in Jefferson City, Mo. With the result, the Ichabods extend their win streak against the Blue Tigers to 26-0, while moving to 10-1 overall for program's best record record heading to the holiday break since the 2005-06 team which went into the break at 11-0.
The Ichabods completed 14-of-16 from the line inlcuding 5-of-6 in the fourth quarter.
Cara Donley led all shooters with a career-best 6-for-6 outing from the charity stripe.
Reagan Phelan and
Alexis McAfee were also perfect from the line in effort with Phelan completing all four of her attempts, while McAfee was 2-for-2.
Despite shooting 40 percent during the opening period, Washburn trailed Lincoln (3-8, 0-4 MIAA) 19-14.
The Ichabods began to find their rhythm early into the second with consecutive buckets from
Axelle Bernard as Washburn regained the lead behind a 6-0 spurt with 7:17 left in the half. After a pair of Blue Tiger layups, free throws from
Denesia Smith and Phelan nudged Washburn to a 25-23 advantage with 3:54 remaining. Lincoln narrowed the margin 29-28, but a costly foul with one second left sent Donely to the line.
Leading 31-28 to start the third, Washburn saw its advantage disappear with as Lincoln rattled off a 7-2 run opening 2:23 of the period to take a 35-33 lead before pushing the score to 43-40 with 3:47 left. Phelan then single-handly fueled a 7-0 run for the Ichabods she netted seven unanswered points in 50-second span pushing Washburn out to a 47-43 lead before ending the period with a 49-46 lead.
An early jumper from Lincoln trimmed the Ichabod margin to one but was met with a 10-0 run giving them their largest lead of the night at 59-48 with 3:10 to go. The scoring stretch for Washburn was a drawn out run that consumed nearly six minutes of action and was highlighted with back-to-back threes from
Makayla Vargo and Bernard.
A Blue Tiger trey returned the Washburn margin to single-digits as it held a 61-54 with 2:09 left as they outscore the Ichabods 7-5 for the remainder of the contest. but it was Washburn however was able to stave off the circling Blue Tigers with its keen shooting from the line, making 5-of-6 over the course of the final 1:51 to seal the victory.
Phelan and Bernard led the charge for the Ichabods as they finished with 19 points apiece and each pulled down seven boards. Bernard completed 8-of-10 from the field with 2-of-3 shooting for deep while Phelan shot 7-for-14. McAfee followed as she registerd eight points and had game-highs with 10 rebounds and four assists.
Collectively, Washburn dominated the glass out rebounding Lincoln, 37-26, while also outscoring the Blue Tigers in the paint, 38-22.
The Ichabods will close out the calendar when they return to action on Saturday, Dec. 30 when they play host to Benedictine with tip-off from Lee Arena slated for 4 pm.
