FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Washburn women's basketball team held on for a 74-69 victory over Harding on Thursday evening in their final game at the Cruzin' Classic. The Ichabods are on a three-game winning streak and move to 6-4 on the season while Harding drops to an even 5-5.

The Ichabods came out cold in the first quarter, going 2-for-12 from the field and scoring six of their 11 points on free throws. Harding held a 14-11 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes of the game.

Trailing 23-15 with 6:11 left in the first half, a pair of free throws by Hunter Bentley ignited a 20-2 scoring tear for the Ichabods, who went into the intermission with a 10 point lead, 35-25. 

A three-point shot by Reagan Phelan early in the third quarter gave Washburn its largest lead of the game at 42-27. The Lady Bisons slowly chipped away at the deficit, but the Ichabods regained a double-figure lead with a 4-0 run to end the period in front 59-49.

Harding continued to battle into the fourth quarter where it used a 13-6 run over the course of three minutes to cut the Washburn lead down to five, 67-62. With just under a minute left in regulation, the Lady Bisons drained a three point shot and followed that up with a made jumper with 31 seconds left to get within two, 71-69. With time running out, Harding was forced to foul and Phelan made three clutch free throws for the Ichabods to put the game out of reach at 74-69.

Washburn finished the game with a 44.1 shooting percentage (26-of-59) and went 6-of-21 from three-point land. Harding shot 38.1 percent 24-of-63 and was nearly even with Washburn from behind the arc, converting on 6-of-22 attempts. The Lady Bisons won the battle on the boards with a 44-33 advantage.
 
McAfee scored a season-high 22 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the field, and grabbed a team-best five rebounds. Phelan tallied 18 points and handed out four assists. Bentley and Shelbe Piggie chipped in 11 and 12 points, respectively, and each had four boards. 

The Lady Bisons were led by Kennedy Cooper with 13 points. Jacie Evans pulled down 11 rebounds for Harding to go with her nine points.
 
The Ichabods will close out their non-conference schedule at home on New Year's Eve against the University of Saint Mary (Kan.). Tip-off in Lee Arena on Dec. 31^st is slated for 2 p.m.