TOPEKA, Kan. --- The third time was the charm for the Washburn Ichabod women's basketball team as it handled Southwest Baptist, 80-70, in first round action of the MIAA Tournament on Monday evening at Lee Arena. The Ichabods (20-9) came into game having lost to the Bearcats (15-14) in their two previous tournament meeting in 2014 and 2017. For head Ron McHenry, the result also snaps a four-year drought of not advancing to tournament play in Kansas City at Municipal Auditorium, the site of the WU's next game, where it will face No. 2-seed Pittsburg State on Thursday at 2:15 pm.

Tickets for Thursday's game and the men's game on Friday can be purchased through the Washburn Box Office by calling 785-670-2637. 

Trailing 40-37 at the half, the Ichabods opened the third period like gangbusters blitzing Southwest Baptist with a 16-4 run as they converted 8-of-11 from the field and limited SBU to 2-of-6 shooting. Axelle Bernard shouldered the lionshare's of the stretch notching 10 of her 13 third quarter periods. Washburn outscored the Bearcats, 26-13, in the period with 22 points coming from the paint.

Washburn continued to dictate the tempo into the fourth, opening with nine unanswered points and extending its lead to 70-53. A 4-2 spurt from the Bearcats did little to phase the Ichabods as Hunter Bentley and Reagan Phelan buried back-to-back buckets to give Washburn its largest lead of the night at 76-57 with 4:18 remaining. 

Southwest Baptist though continued to pressure and nip at Washburn's heels and  eventually trimming the score to an eight-point margin thanks to a 13-2 run. The late run was shared between four Bearcats with Laura Vierkant leading the way with six points.

The effort however fell short as Washburn slammed the door on SBU's plans to end the Ichabod season as it held Southwest Baptist to 0-for-1 shooting during the final minute, while Alexis McAfee sealed the victory with a pair of late free throws and helped WU register it's first 20-win since 2013-14.

The Ichabods fell behind early as SBU jumped out a 10-4 run during the opening 2:32 of the game. However, led by a combined 13 first quarter points from Bernard and Phelan, Washburn found its rhythm late and accounted for 10 of the period's final 12 points for a 23-19 lead. The Bearcats continued to fight in second as it shot .368 from the field edging out WU's mark of .316 to claim a three-point advantage at the half. 

For Bernard it was a career night as she tallied a personal best 21 points behind 10-of-14 shooting. In addition, Bernard also became the program's single-season block leader passing WU legend Brenda Shaffer-Dahl. Bernard was three shy of Shaffer-Dahl's mark of 60, but eclipsed that late into the third, before finishing with five on the night pushing her total to 62.

McAfee posted her second career double-double as she netted 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Phelan and Taylor Blue also finished in double-figures with 13 and 12 points respectively. Hunter Bentley collected a career-high 10 boards as she chipped in with eight points.

Collectively, Washburn completed 31 of 70 from the field for the night, with 6-of-23 from three-point range and 12-of-18 from the free throw stripe, while SBU was 24-of-62 on field goals, 8-of-29 from deep, and 14-of-16 at the line. The Ichabods dominated paint scoring, 44-22, and edged out the Bearcats in rebounds, 43-40.