TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn will close out its three-game road trip with a midweek game at Newman. Tip-off in Wichita, Kan. on Wednesday is set for 5:30 p.m.

OPENING TIP

• The Ichabods (9-12, 5-10 MIAA) are looking to get back into the win column after two road losses last week.
• The Jets have lost seven in a row and are 6-15 (3-13 MIAA). Their last win came at Northeastern State on Jan. 7.
• Newman finished the 2021-22 season with a record of 3-25 (1-21 MIAA).
• Washburn has won three games in a row against Newman, including a 47-30 win in the last meeting on Jan. 26, 2022.
• Wednesday's game will be the only regular season matchup between these two teams this year.
• Washburn is 2-5 on the road this season and Newman is 3-6 on its home court.
• The Ichabods are ninth in the MIAA standings and the Jets are 12th.

BODS AND ENDS

• Washburn is averaging 56.2 ppg and shoots 37.2 percent from the field.
• The Ichabods are third in the league in fewest points allowed per game as they hold opponents to 57.7 ppg.
• They also hold opponents to the second-lowest three-point percentage in the MIAA at 28.7 percent.
• Washburn carries a 64-game three-point streak into this week after hitting three at Northwest Missouri.
• Macy Doebele is one game away from playing in 100 games in her four-year Ichabod career.
• The Ichabods are 8-4 when out-rebounding their opponent this season...they are 0-8 when their opponent has more rebounds.
• Washburn has made exactly 20 free throws in two of the last three games.
• Saturday's game against Northwest Missouri was the first overtime contest of the 2022-23 season...the Ichabods' last overtime game was also at Northwest Missouri and the Bearcats won, 58-53.
• Washburn is 34-22 all-time in overtime games.
• The Ichabods' 75 points on Saturday matched its season high...WU scored 75 at Central Oklahoma on New Year's Eve.

THE WU CREW

• Dewey has been an anchor in the starting lineup as she leads the team with 10.5 ppg, 3.8 apg (sixth in the MIAA), and 33.3 mpg (fourth in the MIAA) while adding 4.1 rpg.
• She played 44 of the 45 minutes at Northwest Missouri and finished with 16 points, seven assists, and six rebounds.
• Natalia Figueroa is the only Ichabod besides Dewey who has started all 21 games. She leads the team with 35 three-pointers to go with a 33.0 shooting percentage from beyond the arc and has a seven-game three-point streak going.
• Overall, Figueroa scores an average of 8.3 ppg and has scored in every game.
• Emma Chapman turned in a career performance at Northwest Missouri as she totaled a career-best 18 points after shooting 8-of-11 from the field and made two free throws... she scored half of her total in the third quarter.
• For the season, Chapman averages 7.5 ppg and 4.7 rpg.
• Off the bench, Macy Doebele adds 7.4 ppg and 4.8 rpg off the bench. She scored a layup and hit a free throw in the final second of regulation at Northwest Missouri to send it to overtime.
• Yiibari Nwidadah put up a season-high 17 points at Northwest Missouri and was a rebound shy of her third double-double.
• In her freshman campaign, Nwidadah averages 15.2 mpg off the bench and chips in 6.8 ppg, while shooting 56.0 percent, and team-high 5.8 rpg. Out of her 105 rebounds, 52 of them have been offensive.
• Gabi Artis, also a freshman, is scoring 6.6 ppg and adding 3.6 rpg in 19 games.
• Lakyn Schieferecke averages 2.4 rpg and 2.1 ppgs. She saw her eight-game scoring streak come to an end at Northwest Missouri.
• Amaya Davison has played in all 21 games off the bench and averages 2.0 ppg.
• In limited playing time, Lauren Cassaday averages 1.8 ppg and 2.7 rpg.

HEAD COACH LORA WESTLING

• Former Washburn women's basketball student-athlete Lora Westling has returned to Topeka and is in her first season as head coach in 2022-23.
• Westling returns to her alma mater after six seasons at Western Colorado, where she compiled a record of 77-78 and led the team to back-to-back NCAA Tournament selections – the first two in program history.
• Her overall victories is second on the Western all-time list and her 63 RMAC wins is tied for second in program history.
• Prior to Western Colorado, Westling spent three seasons as the head coach at the Division III program, Illinois College.
• Before accepting the head job at Illinois College, Westling was the top assistant at Truman State from 2010-13.
• Westling's first full-time position came at University of Missouri-St. Louis where she was the top assistant from 2007-10.
• She got her start in coaching at Washburn, where she served as a graduate assistant for the women's basketball and women's soccer teams.
• Westling was a standout member of Washburn's women's basketball team from 2001-05 and helped the Lady Blues to the school's first NCAA Division II national championship in 2005.
• She is currently sixth in games played (132), sixth in career three-pointers made (144), 10th in assists (299), and 14th in three-point field goal percentage (.363).
• She also played one season of soccer for the Lady Blues.

WASHBURN ASSISTANT COACHES

• Coach Westling brought in a new coaching staff for her first season and chose J'nae Squires-Horton and Will Marchino as her assistants.
• Squires-Horton served as a graduate assistant at the University of Colorado Springs-Colorado.
• As a student-athlete, Squires-Horton was a three-year member of the MSU Denver basketball team and earned all-RMAC second team honors twice.
• Following her graduation at MSU Denver with a degree in Journalism, Squires-Horton played one season in Latvia with the Latvian Basketball League's SBK Liepaja/LSSS.
• Marchino spend the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Seward County Community College where he oversaw recruiting and scouting.
• Prior to his time in Liberal, Kansas, Marchino was an assistant coach for Grand View University.
• Before making the jump to the college ranks, Marchino was the varsity girls basketball head coach at Iowa Christian Academy.
• Marchino is a 2008 graduate from the University of Iowa where he received his degree in Health and Sports Studies.

WASHBURN'S LAST TIME OUT
Northwest Missouri 76, Washburn 75 - OT (Feb. 4, 2023)
MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Washburn women's basketball team came up just short in a 76-75 overtime loss at Northwest Missouri on Saturday afternoon. It was a back-and-forth battle that saw 13 lead changes, 15 tie scores, and nine points scored in the final five seconds of regulation to send the game to extra time.

Washburn (9-12, 5-10 MIAA) held a 12-4 advantage with 4:25 to go in the opening quarter, but Northwest Missouri (11-11, 6-10 MIAA) used an 8-4 run to cut the Ichabod lead to four. Yiibari Nwidadah was responsible for 10 of Washburn's 16 points in the frame.

The Bearcats carried their momentum into the second quarter and scored seven unanswered points to go in front, 19-16. A three-pointer by Gabi Artis leveled the score at 25 and then a minute later she hit a pair of free throws to tie up the score at 25-all. The Bearcats regained the lead with a layup and a jumper, but Aubree Dewey trimmed the deficit to 29-28 after hitting jumper at the buzzer just before the break.

Emma Chapman scored the first seven points for the Ichabods in the third quarter to give them a 35-34 advantage. Washburn led 40-38 with 3:51 to go in the period when Northwest went on a 10-2 tear to retake the lead. Natalia Figueroa buried a triple in the waning seconds of the quarter to get the Ichabods back within one, 48-47, heading into the fourth.

Chapman made a layup 10 seconds into the fourth quarter to spark an 10-4 run to lead 57-52 with 5:42 left in regulation. The Bearcats got right back into it with a three-pointer and a jumper. Back-and-forth scoring ensued, but the Ichabods broke a 62-all tie with a 3-0 mini run. After a pair of missed Washburn free throws, Northest Missouri hit a three-pointer with five seconds remaining to tie the game at 65. The Ichabods called a timeout to advance the ball and Macy Doebele made the go-ahead layup with 1.4 seconds left. Then the Bearcats called a timeout, inbounded the ball and were fouled attempted a three-pointer. Molly Hartnett made all three foul shots to give the Bearcats a one-point advantage, 68-67, with :01 on the clock.

The Bearcats were called for a foul before the ball was inbounded which put Doebele at the line, where she made one of two attempts to send the game into overtime.

The Ichabods scored five unanswered points to begin overtime and led 73-68 with 1:20 to go. The Bearcats made it a one-point game, 75-74, after a 6-2 run with 44 seconds left. With six seconds on the clock, Hartnett made a layup to give Northwest Missouri its first lead in overtime. The Ichabods called a timeout, but missed their last two shot attempts to fall short.

Both teams finished the afternoon shooting an identical 41.3 percent from the field. The Bearcats made 6-of-20 from three-point distance while the Ichabods were 3-for-11 from deep. At the free throw line, Washburn was 20-of-29 and Northwest Missouri was 18-for-20. NWMSU had a 41-37 advantage in rebounds.

Chapman led the Ichabods in scoring, going 8-of-11 from the field en route to a career-high 18 points. Nwidadah was a rebound shy of a double-double as she finished with a season-best 17 points, shooting 5-of-8 from the floor and 7-of-9 at the free throw line. Dewey rounded out the double-digit scorers with 16 points to go with seven assists in 44 minutes of playing time.

Harnett led all scorers with 24 points and had six rebounds and three steals. Emma Atwood chipped in 11 points and eight boards.

ABOUT THE NEWMAN JETS

• The Jets have already doubled their win total from last year and sit at 6-15 (3-13 MIAA). Their three conference wins were against Lincoln, Emporia State, and Northeastern State.
• Heading into this week, Newman averages 63.4 ppg, but allows 72.0 ppg.
• The Jets do own the MIAA's best three-point field goal percentage, ranking 19th in Division II shooting 35.9 from deep.
• Newman's offense is led by Britney Ho, who is fourth in the league in scoring and averages 17.4 ppg with a 47.7 shooting percentage (fifth in MIAA) ... she is also 10th in the MIAA in rebounds with 6.6 rpg.
• Carissa Beck has made a team-high 41 three-pointers this season and averages 8.3 ppg. She has also done well at the free throw line, making 36-of-38 attempts.
• Maddie Spagnola contributes 7.9 ppg and leads the team with 3.3 aps and 1.9 spg.

HEAD COACH DREW JOHNSON

• Drew Johnson is in his second season coaching the Jets and the team finished 3-25 in his first year.
• His wife, former WNBA star Nicole Ohlde-Johnson, is the co-head coach.
• Before coming to Newman, Johnson coached four years at Bethel.
• While at Bethel, Johnson broke numerous program records and led the team to its first ever NAIA National Tournament appearance.
• Prior to coaching at Bethel, he coached high school basketball for nine years.

SERIES WITH NEWMAN

• These two programs first met in 1975 and Washburn holds a 11-4 series advantage.
• The Ichabods are on a three-game winning streak against the Jets and all three victories have been by double-digits.
• When playing in Wichita, WU is 4-1.

WASHBURN'S LAST TIME AGAINST NEWMAN
Washburn 47, Newman 30 (Jan. 26, 2022)
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn women's basketball team held Newman to a program-low 30 points as the Ichabods extended their home win streak to five in a row with a 47-30 victory on Wednesday evening.

After the Ichabods (8-9, 6-5 MIAA) scored the opening basket, the Jets (2-18, 0-14 MIAA) responded with five unanswered points to take the lead. Washburn put together a 5-0 run of its own to go up, 7-5. Back-to-back layups from the Jets gave them the two point advantage before Abby Oliver hit a jumper to even the score at 9-all to end the frame.

Offensive struggles continued in the second quarter for both teams as Washburn narrowly outscored Newman, 6-5, to take a 15-14 lead into the break.

It was back-and-forth scoring to start the second half as the teams traded one point leads until a layup by Shae Sanchez with 4:23 on the clock sparked an 11-0 spurt to give the Ichabods a 28-18 advantage at the end of three.

The Jets pulled within seven points on two occasions in the fourth quarter, but it would get no closer as Washburn outscored Newman 15-5 in the final 4:09 to cruise to the 47-30 win.

The Ichabods finished the night shooting 35.4 percent from the floor while the Jets shot 23.3 percent. From beyond the arc, Washburn was 4-for-20 and Newman made 2-of-15. Washburn grabbed 17 more rebounds than Newman and finished with 47.

Sanchez made 4-of-6 from three-point range and finished with a team-high 14 points. Macy Doebele also added double-digits with 10 and continued her success at the free throw line, making all six attempts from the charity stripe. Nuria Barrientos led the team with eight rebounds to go with four points and two assists.

For the Jets, Britney Ho and Laura Bello recorded six points apiece.

WASHBURN HISTORY

• Washburn women's basketball is 980-473-1 (.677) all-time and are in the 54th year of the program's history.
• Washburn claimed the 2005 NCAA National Championship over Seattle Pacific with a 70-53 win to cap off a 35-2 season.
• Washburn has made 17 NCAA Tournament appearances and is 26-16 all-time in those postseason games.
• The program has won 18 total MIAA Championships, earning nine regular season conference titles and winning nine MIAA Tournament championships.
• There have been 30 All-American awards given to Washburn players, with 11 of those coming from the WBCA.
• Washburn has finished 14 seasons with 25 wins and four seasons with 30 victories.

NEXT UP

• Washburn will play its first home game of February this Saturday against Central Oklahoma. Game time against the Bronchos in Lee Arena is set for 1 p.m.