TOPEKA, Kan. --- Missed opportunities and a cold third quarter shooting held back the Washburn Ichabods as it dropped a heartbreaker Saturday night with a 69-65 final to Southwest Baptist.
Opening the game with 5-0 run, Washburn (16-10, 9-8 MIAA) controlled the tempo and momentum during the first period. The Ichabods eventually took its largest lead of the game at 19-11 as
Reagan Phelan and
Alyxis Bowens helped WU to a 7-2 run with 2:25 left in the first.
After opening the second period with narrow 23-20 advantage, WU was able to hold off the Bearcats (15-11, 7-10 MIAA) until the 4:23 mark when a Morgan Henderson tied the game at 31-31. SBU then took the lead as a layup from Megan Rosenbohm who finished the night a team-high 15 points. WU was able to force a pair of ties before the end of the half was unable to reclaim a leading position as SBU took a 38-36 margin into the locker room.
The Ichabod struggles begin early in the third as a turnover and foul allowed SBU to open up a five-point lead (43-38). A layup from Bowens then trimmed the deficit to three with 8:10 remaining. Washburn then hit a rough patch as it was then held without a field goal basket until the 1:32 mark when a jumper from
Erika Lane snapped the 6 minute and 39 second drought. After opening a double-digit lead during the SBU margin was brought back to single-figures as a 4-0 spurt from Lane make it 55-46.
Trailing 57-48 at the start of the fourth, Washburn rediscovered its rhythm as it netted seven of the quarter's first nine points, reducing the Bearcat lead to 59-55. SBU's margin inflated to seven (64-57) midway through the period before Phelan and
Jharian Bowen combined for a 6-0 run to pull WU win one (64-63) with 3:53 remaining. The late rally however fell short for the Ichabods as Southwest Baptist did enough to escape by.
Phelan lead all players with 21 points, converting 7-of-14 attempts from the field and all five attempts from the line. Phelan also dished out a game-best five assists. Bowens and Lane meanwhile followed with 15 and 14 points respectively. Lane went 6-for-8 from the charity stripe and pulled down a game-high eight boards.
Aside from its 3-of-11 shooting (27.3 percent) in the third, Washburn averaged 47.6 percent shooting during the other third quarters. SBU edged out WU in shooting 43.8 to 43.4. The teams tied in rebounding with 30 apiece.
The Ichabods will look to snap their first consecutive loses of season on Thursday when they take on Central Oklahoma. Tip off from Lee Arena is slated for 5:30 p.m.
