EMPORIA, Kan. --- The Washburn women's basketball team avenged a loss and spoiled the Lady Hornets' senior night ceremony as it downed Emporia State 74-59 on Tuesday, snapping a 12-game losing streak and earning its first victory at White Auditorium since February 12, 22 2012.

After trailing by as much as nine during the opening half, the Ichabod offense caught fire late into second quarter as Makayla Vargo, Alexis McAfee and Reagan Phelan drained consecutive three-pointer before the end of the period to erase the deficit and head into the halftime break tied at 35.

The Ichabods maintained it momentum into the third quarter behind 8-2 run, pushing themselves to a 43-37 lead and they never looked back. Taylor Blue fueled the early scoring as she registered six points while Cara Donley filled out the balance.

Emporia State answered back by closing the margin to four with 6:07 left in the third, but that was the closest it came to taking the lead. 

The Ichabods took their first double-digit lead 16 seconds into the fourth as McAfee hit an open Hunter Bentley under the basket for an easy layup. After a layup from ESU's Tyra Jones, Washburn began to pull away behind an 8-0 rally giving itself largest lead of the game at 66-49. McAfee sparked the stretch at 7:41 as she buried a three from the wing before Bentley knocked down a trey of her own while Axelle Bernard tallied a layup.

A 9-2 spurt from the Lady Hornets late into the fourth reduced the WU margin to 10, but the rally fell short as sealed the victory at the free throw stripe where it converted 6 of 8 during the final 1:16.

Emporia State open the scoring with back-to-back buckets before the Ichabods rattled off 10 unanswered including back-to-back to three-pointers from McAfee and Reagan Phelan. ESU took the lead midway through the first period as result of a 12-2 run.

McAfee led the all scorers as she finished with a career-high 22 points as she made 7 of 12 from the field including 4 of 5 from three-point distance. Bernard followed with 16 points, while Phelan netted 15 points. Bernard also finished with a game-best four assists while her three blocks on the night pushed her season total to 53, tying Jannica Beam for second in the single-season record book. Bentley had nine points in the win.

Collectively, Washburn notched a season-best 61.5 percent from three-point range as it converted 8 of 13 attempts. Overall, the Ichabods hoovered around the 50 percent mark shooting for each period except the second en route to posting 45.6 percent from the field. WU forced ESU into a season-high 21 turnovers.

Washburn continues its season-ending road swing on Saturday when it heads to Bolivar, Missouri to take on Southwest Baptist at 1:30 pm.