TOPEKA, Kan. – Washburn scored 20 points in the fourth quarter and made crucial free throws to avenge its overtime loss at Northwest Missouri from 10 days ago with a 62-59 overtime win at home against the Bearcats on Tuesday evening. The Ichabods will play their next two games on the road this week, first at Lincoln on Thursday.
It was back-and-forth scoring to start the game with neither team leading by more than two points until
Natalia Figueroa buried a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Washburn (10-14, 6-12 MIAA) an 11-8 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.
The score continued to stay within two or fewer points for the entire second quarter with ties at every odd number starting at 11 until
Yiibari Nwidadah broke the 17-all score with a free throw with 1:38 left in the quarter. That would be the final point for either team as the Ichabods held an 18-17 lead at halftime.
Emma Chapman and
Aubree Dewey teamed up to score the Ichabods' first nine points of the second half and grew the lead to 27-23 at the 5:59 mark. Northwest Missouri (13-12, 8-11 MIAA) closed out the quarter strong, going on a 13-3 tear in the final 5:46 to lead 36-30 heading into the fourth.
The Bearcats hit two free throws to start the final stanza to go up by a game-high eight points. Washburn quickly trimmed the deficit down to one with a pair of jumpers from Dewey and a three-pointer from
Gabi Artis. Northwest Missouri answered with a three of its own and led 46-43 when Figueroa hit another big triple to level the score with 3:12 to go in regulation.
With just under three minutes left, the Bearcats went 1-of-2 at the free throw line and then a 56 seconds later, Chapman was fouled and made both of her shots from the charity stripe to put the Ichabods ahead, 48-47. Chapman found herself back at the free throw line with 46 seconds to go and again, made both to make it 50-47 in favor of Washburn. NWMSU called a timeout to advance the ball and made a three-pointer with 35 seconds to tie the game. Washburn turned the ball over with 32 seconds remaining to allow Northwest Missouri one more shot, but the three-point attempt was off target and sent the game to extra time.
Washburn led from start to finish in overtime as the duo of Chapman and Dewey got the scoring started again, this time with a 6-1 run. The Bearcats made a three-pointer with 11 seconds to go to pull within 60-59, but
Macy Doebele followed that up with two free throws to push the lead back to three and the Bearcats' final heave was off-line again. Doebele made six free throws in a row in the final 27 seconds to secure the overtime win.
Northwest Missouri finished the evening shooting 32.1 percent from the field while Washburn shot slightly less at a 31.7 clip. The Bearcats went 8-of-22 from three-point range and the Ichabods were 3-for-14 from deep. At the free throw line, Washburn was 19-of-27 and Northwest Missouri was 15-for-19. NWMSU grabbed one more rebound than WU, 43-42.
Four of Washburn's starters finished in double-figure scoring. Dewey was 6-of-15 from the field for a team-high 15 points. Chapman notched her first double-double as an Ichabod with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Figueroa and Doebele had 12 points apiece.
Molly Hartnett led the Bearcats with 17 points and went 8-of-9 from the free throw line.