TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn women's basketball team took its first lead of the second half with 2:06 left in regulation and then later forced a Central Missouri turnover in the final seconds to capture the 72-71 victory on Saturday afternoon. Washburn will play two road games next week at Missouri Western (Feb. 17) and Northwest Missouri (Feb. 19).
The Ichabods have now won the last three meetings against the Jennies dating back to last season's MIAA Tournament quarterfinal victory. The last time Washburn won three or more consecutive games against Central Missouri was an eight-game winning streak from 2009-2011.
The opening quarter was wire-to-wire with four lead changes and four ties.
Hunter Bentley hit a three-pointer with two seconds left on the clock to give Washburn (12-11, 10-7 MIAA) the 20-16 advantage at the end of the first period.
Central Missouri (16-9, 12-6 MIAA) came out firing in the second quarter and shot 61.5 percent from the field to outscore Washburn, 20-9, and take a 36-29 lead into the break.
The Ichabods trailed by eight, 49-41, with just under two minutes left in the third when
Nuria Barrientos made a layup to start a 7-0 burst to close out the frame and pull Washburn within one, 49-48.
The Jennies pushed their lead back up to seven with 7:42 in the final stanza when Washburn started to make its move. An 8-2 run that included triples from Bentley and
Shae Sanchez made it a one-point contest again with 6:10 to go. A wide open three-pointer by
Macy Doebele leveled the score at 65 and ignited a 10-3 spurt by the Ichabods to give them a 72-68 lead with 1:42 on the clock. The Jennies converted on an old-fashioned three-point play with 90 seconds remaining to pull within one, 72-71, but those would be the final points of the game. Central Missouri had the final possession with 4.8 seconds on the clock, but were unable to inbound the ball cleanly and ultimately turned it over right before the buzzer.
The Ichabods shot an even 50 percent on the day while the Jennies finished at 47.2 clip. Behind the arc, Washburn was 8-of-21 and Central Missouri was 6-for-18. WU finished with a slight edge in rebounds, 30-28, and scored 11 points off of 13 UCM turnovers.
Bentley played the entirety of the contest and led the Ichabods with 19 points, five assists, and three steals.
Abby Oliver made 8-of-12 from the field and totaled 17 points. Barrientos chipped in 12 points and six boards. Doebele led the team with 11 rebounds to go with seven points.
Brooke Littrell also played 40 minutes of the contest and finished with 25 points, eight rebounds, two blocks, two steals, and two assists.
