TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn women's basketball team held No. 21 Nebraska-Kearney to 23 points below its scoring average, but the Ichabods came up just short on Saturday afternoon in the 49-43 loss. The Ichabods will play their first road MIAA games next week at Central Oklahoma (Dec. 9) and Newman (Dec. 11).
 
Both teams got off to a hot start and made each of their first three shot attempts without a miss. The Lopers (7-1, 2-0 MIAA) put together an 8-2 scoring run and ended the opening period up, 16-11.
 
Nebraska-Kearney drained a three-pointer to make it 19-11 at the start of the second quarter when Washburn started to slowly trim down the deficit. Trailing 24-20, a layup from Mackenzie Gamble started a 7-2 Washburn (1-6, 0-2 MIAA) scoring run over the final 2:14 of the first half to send the Ichabods into the break in front, 27-26.
 
It was back-and-forth scoring in the third quarter with three lead changes and two tie scores at 28 and 34. The Lopers closed out the quarter with five unanswered points all scored by Haley Simental to lead 36-34 heading into the final stanza.
 
Lauren Cassaday made a layup and Hunter Bentley added a free throw to give the Ichabods a 37-36 advantage while the Washburn defense held Nebraska-Kearney scoreless until 5:37 on the clock. The Lopers found their groove and reclaimed the lead with an 8-1 run to make it a 44-38 game. Washburn pulled within three points, 44-41, with 31 seconds left in regulation, but that would be as close as it got as Nebraska-Kearney closed out the game 5-for-6 at the charity stripe.
 
Washburn finished the game shooting 37.0 percent from the field while Nebraska-Kearney shot slightly less at 35.4 percent. The Lopers held a slight edge in rebounds, 36-30, forced 12 turnovers and turned that into 13 points.
 
Bentley had a team-high nine points and grabbed five rebounds. Gamble and Nuria Barrientos both chipped in seven points.
 
For the Lopers, Simental played all 40 minutes and led all scorers with 14 points.