TOPEKA, Kan. — The Washburn Ichabod women's basketball improved to 2-0 in the MIAA play on Saturday as it knocked off defending national champion, Central Missouri, by the score of 62-57. The Ichabods (4-4) used a complete team effort and managed the ball well to record the victory as they finished with 13 assists.
For the second consecutive game, Hunter Bentley led the Washburn offense in scoring as she finished with 15 behind five of 10 shooting. Alexis McAfee followed with 12 points as she converted on four of nine from the field including two of four from behind the arc.
Bentley and McAfee also led the charge on the defensive end, combing for seven steals as the Jennies (6-2, 1-1 MIAA) finished with a 21 turnovers.
Nicole Murugarren chipped with eight points and pulled down a team-best six rebounds including five defensive boards.
A defensive opening minutes saw 12 turnovers while Central Missouri's three for 12 shooting edged out Washburn's three of 14 effort from the field.
Trailing 10-7, the Washburn offense heated up in the second beginning with a jumper from Denesia Smith 12 seconds into the period before Mackenzie Loe converted from the line to give the Ichabods an 11-10 lead. The Jennies reclaimed the lead before layups from Murugarren at helped Washburn lead 13-12 and 15-14.
Trailing 17-15, Bentley sparked an 11-0 run for the Ichabods with a routine jumper at 5:10. The rally lasted just under four minutes as Washburn completed four of seven from the floor in addition to three from the line to take a 26-17 lead with 1:40 left till half. During the stretch, Murugarren had four points, while Shelbe Piggie and Reagan Phelan chipped in with two points each.
UCM broke its scoring drought of 4:12 with a layup, but an old fashioned three-point play from Piggie before the end of the half game Washburn a 29-19 advantage at the break.
During the second period, the Ichabods knocked down eight of 16 attempts from the floor, while controlling the glass with an 11-8 margin in rebounding for the period.
In the second half, Washburn never relinquished control the board as it it used a 6-1 run midway to take its largest lead the day, 45-32, at the 4:08 mark.
The Jennies threatened early in the fourth, as they carried over an 8-0 run to close the third and added a three-pointer pulled within two, 47-42, with 8:56 remaining. Washburn though kept UCM at bay with a 4-1 spurt as Taylor Blue and Bentley added layups to make it 51-46. From there Washburn kept the UCM at arm's length, maintaining a five-point margin till the final buzzer sounded, with the Ichabods claiming a 62-57 win.
Saturday's result also marked win number 430 for Washburn head coach Ron McHenry, putting him two shy surpassing previous head coach Patty Dick as the all-time winningest coach in program history.
Washburn will look to add to McHenry's mark when it returns to action in two weeks as it takes part in the 2018 Las Vegas Hoopla. There the Ichabods will face St. Edward's (Texas) on Monday, Dec. 17 before squaring off against nationally-ranked Embry-Riddle (Fla.) the following day. Stats and video links for those matches available at wusports.com/live.
