CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Washburn offense exploded in the second half with 50 points in Saturday's 76-61 road win at Rogers State. With the victory, the Ichabods improve to 2-3 while the Hillcats fall to 1-4.
It was a game of scoring runs for both teams.
Aubree Dewey scored the first two buckets for Washburn and a made free throw by
Nuria Barrientos put the Ichabods up 5-0 at the 6:27 mark. Rogers State got on the board with 5:23 on the clock and went on an 8-2 scoring run to take its first lead of the game at 8-7.
Macy Doebele hit two free throws to reclaim the Washburn lead and the Ichabods finished out the quarter on a 6-0 scoring run to go up 13-8.
Washburn continued its scoring tear into the second, making 3-of-4 from the field in the first two minutes, and rattle off 12 unanswered points in 4:46. It was the Hillcats' turn to put together a scoring run as they had a 14-0 offensive burst to go in front 22-19 with 4:12 left in the opening half.
Hunter Bentley converted on an old-fashioned three-point play to even the score at 22-all and added four more points to keep things close, but Rogers State went into the break with a one point lead, 27-26.
After two quarters, Washburn was shooting just 28.1 percent from the field (9-of-32) while Rogers State was at a 43.5 percent (10-of-23) clip from the floor.
Things quickly changed, though, as it was all Washburn in the third quarter.
Abby Oliver made a layup 86 seconds into the second half to spark a 19-2 run and the Ichabods held the Hillcats scoreless until the 4:07 mark.
Hannah Willey made a layup as time expired in the third to give Washburn a 55-37 advantage heading into the final frame. The Ichabods outscored the Hillcats, 29-10, and shot 62.5 percent from the field (10-of-16).
The Ichabods held their largest lead of the game after
Adyson Narber hit a three-pointer to make the score 60-39 with 8:20 remaining in the contest. The Hillcats got within 10, 68-58, with just over two minutes left in the game but couldn't get any closer as the Ichabods closed out the 15 point victory.
Washburn finished the game with a 43.3 field goal percentage (26-of-60) while Rogers State shot 36.4 percent (20-for-55). Neither team found much success from beyond the arc as the Ichabods were just 2-for-13 from deep and the Hillcats were 4-for-20. Both teams, however, did well at the free throw line with WU going 22-for-27 from the charity stripe and RSU converting on 17 of its 19 attempts. The Ichabods dominated on the boards and out-rebounded the Hillcats, 44-30.
Four Ichabods finished in double-figures led by Bentley who finished with 22 points and had nine rebounds. Doebele had a career-high 14 points and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. Barrientos recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards. Oliver tied a career-high with 12 points after shooting 6-for-10 from the field. Dewey also set a personal-best with a team-high eight assists.
Samariah Thompson led the Hillcats with 21 points and went 10-for-11 from the free throw line.
Washburn will wrap up 2020 at home with games against Central Missouri (Dec. 17) and Lincoln (Dec. 19).
