SHAWNEE, Okla. -- Washburn pulled close down the stretch but were unable to overcome early turnover problems falling 63-58 to Southwestern Oklahoma State University in the 2023-24 season opener. The Ichabods finish up the Central Region Crossover tournament on Saturday against the host school Oklahoma Baptist at 6 p.m.
Neither team scored for the first 3:10 of the game before Nia McKenzie laid in the first basket of the game and of her career with 6:50 in the first. A 3-pointer by Aniah Wayne put Washburn (0-1) up 9-6 with 4:40 in the quarter and gave her five early points off the bench. The Lady Bulldogs (1-0) finished the quarter on a 6-1 run to lead 12-10.
Southwestern Oklahoma State extended its lead to five early in the second. By the 5:22 mark the Ichabods were able to take the lead back after a layup by Yiibari Nwidadah to make it 18-17. Turnovers continued to plague Washburn with six turnovers negating an 8-11 shooting performance in the quarter. The Bulldogs shot only 33.33% from the floor but took 10 more attempts. The Ichabods were only able to cut one point off the lead from the start of the quarter and went into the break trailing 30-29.
It took more than two minutes for either team to score in the third quarter. SWOSU opened it up with a 7-3 run. The first six points for Washburn in the quarter all came from Wayne on an old school three-point play followed by a triple to put her in double figures. Two free throws by Aubree Dewey cut the lead down to one at 39-38 but Southwestern Oklahoma scored 11 of the next 12 points to go up by double digits.
The Bulldogs lead grew to 12 with 7:44 left in the fourth quarter, the largest margin of the game. With 3:00 a 10-point lead was cut to seven on an offensive rebound putback and-one by Nwidadah. The extra chance bucket sparked a 7-0 run over the next 1:32 to cut the lead to three with 1:28 left.
The Ichabods forced a turnover on the ensuing offensive possession but were unable to convert on offense and had to foul. SWOSU converted on its free throws to pull away and win 63-58.
Yiibari Nwidadah finished with a 15 point and 16 rebound double-double in her first career start. Sixteen rebounds is tied for the fourth most rebounds in a game in program history. Aniah Wayne knocked down 5-10 shots for a game-high 16 points. Aubree Dewey had eight points and six rebounds.
Washburn shot 43.8% from the floor while holding SWOSU to 35.4% shooting but were only 3-12 from behind the arc. The Ichabods held a 42 to 34 rebounding advantage but Southwestern Oklahoma was able to score 20 points on 27 turnovers.
Rees Berkley had 14 points on 5-7 shooting to lead the Lady Bulldogs. Averi Zinn added 12 and led all players with six assists.
