JOPLIN, Mo. – The Washburn women's basketball team dropped its first game of the 2022 calendar year with a 69-50 loss at Missouri Southern on Thursday evening. The Ichabods will close out their road trip on Saturday afternoon at Pittsburg State.

The Washburn (5-8, 3-4 MIAA) offense got off to a slow start, making just 3-of-15 shot attempts from the field while the Lions (9-5, 6-3 MIAA) went on an 8-0 run in the final 5:07 to close out the opening quarter in front, 15-6.

Aubree Dewey ended the Ichabods' scoring drought with a pull up jumper at the 8:34 mark in the second quarter and Macy Doebele followed that up with a pair of free throws to pull within 15-10. Missouri Southern responded with another scoring run, adding seven unanswered points in just over four minutes to extend its lead to 22-12. Emma Chapman made a layup to score the final points of the opening half, but it was the Lions who went into the break in front, 28-19.

Both teams were held scoreless until Nuria Barrientos made a jumper at the 7:01 mark. Doebele made a jumper midway through the quarter to cut the deficit back to seven, 33-26, but Missouri Southern ended the frame on an 11-4 run to push its lead back to double-digits at 44-30.

Despite Washburn having its best quarter of the game in the fourth by shooting 42 percent and scoring 20 points, the Lions also recorded their best period and put up 25 points to maintain their double-digit lead for the rest of the contest.

The Ichabods ended the night shooting 30.6 from the floor while the Lions made 42.9 percent. Missouri Southern went 9-for-26 from behind the arc and Washburn made 4-of-19 from deep with Bentley making all four triples. The Ichabods outrebounded their opponents, 43-38, and scored 12 points after 10 offensive boards. Washburn made all eight of its free throw attempts while Missouri Southern made just half, going 12-of-24 at the charity stripe.

Bentley led the Ichabods with a double-double, tallying 20 points and 10 rebounds. Off the bench, Shae Sanchez added eight points and six rebounds to go with two assists. Doebele had eight boards and made all four of her free throws.

Four Lions finished in double-figure scoring led by Lacy Stokes' 18 points. Stokes also contributed seven assists, five steals, and five rebounds.