TOPEKA, Kan. --- Fueled by four double-figure scorers the Washburn women's basketball team downed Southwest Baptist, 77-72, in overtime Wednesday at Lee Arena to snap a two-game skid against Bearcats. 

Trailing 55-52 to begin the fourth, Washburn (14-5, 6-4 MIAA) opened the period with a 5-2 run to level the score at 57. After a pair of made free throws from SBU (12-7, 4-6 MIAA), the Ichabods took their first lead of the second half as Reagan Phelan, Axelle Bernard and Taylor Blue combined for a 6-0 spurt pushing Washburn out to a 63-59 advantage.

During the spurt, the Ichabod defense held Southwest Baptist shooters 0 for 6 from the field en route to a 4 for 17 period, its worst of the night.

In spite of their earlier offensive woes, the Bearcats managed to find the bottom of the net late as they knotted the period at 67 with 2:03 to play behind an 8-4 rally. 
Scoring for the remainder of 2:03 of regulation was then stagant however not for the lack of trying as both teams tried to win it late but were unable to get their shots to fall.

Washburn opened the extra period with a 4-0 spurt as Phelan and Alexis McAfee knocked down back-to-back buckets to give the Ichabods a 71-67 lead during the opening 1:09 of overtime and forcing a timeout from the SBU bench.

The Bearcats came out of the timeout to net three quick points trimming the Washburn margin one with 2:07 to play.

Undaunted, the Ichabods turned to Phelan who pushed the advantage back to four before late made free throw from McAfee gave Washburn a 75-70 lead with 12 seconds left. A late layup from SBU narrowed the margin to three with eight ticks before a pair a made buckets from the charity stripe for Phelan nudged the cushion to back to five for the game's final score, 77-72.

The Ichabods trailed for most of contest as they were outscored 18-11 in the first before heading into the halftime break behind, 38-31. 

For the third time in four games, Phelan reached or eclipsed the 25 points as finished the evening with a game-high 25, while helping the cause with five assists. Blue followed with 17 points and eight rebounds. Bernard and McAfee meanwhile each tallied double-doubles as Bernard had 10 points, 12 boards with McAfee netted 12 and pulled down 10 boards. Bernard also finished four blocks.

Collectively, Washburn owned the glass out rebounding the Bearcats by 33 as it claimed a 62-29 advantage including a 19-9 margin on the offensive end. Washburn's rebound total for the game was six shy of the program's all-time single game record of 68. The Ichabods also dominated SBU with points in the paint, 52-28.

The Ichabods return to action at Lee Arena Saturday when they host nationally-ranked Central Missouri.