TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn will face the Emporia State Lady Hornets for the second time in as many weeks this time inside Lee Arena at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday evening. 
 

OPENING TIP

• For the second time in less than two weeks Washburn takes on Emporia State in another edition of the turnpike tussle. 
• The Ichabods will take on the Hornets inside of Lee Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 15 with tip-off set for 5:30 p.m.
• The game is also Bods Care Night empowered by Envista/Can Emporia. 
• Washburn is 8-8 on the year and 2-4 in the MIAA after losing for the first time at home this season in a 66-61 overtime defeat to Northwest Missouri on Saturday. 
• They are coming off a 13-16 season in 2023-24, finishing 10th in the MIAA with an 8-14 record in the conference and advancing to the first round of the MIAA Tournament. 
• The Ichabods were picked to finish 9th in the MIAA Preseason Media Poll and were tabbed 10th by the coaches.  
• Emporia State is 7-8 on the year and 2-4 in the MIAA in the midst of a three-game losing streak. Last time out they fell 79-68 to Nebraska Kearney in Emporia on Saturday. 

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

• The 2024-25 season marks the 41st season of play in Lee Arena as the facility opened in the 1983-84 season.
• Washburn is 459-129 all-time in Lee Arena. 

BODS AND BITS

• Washburn returns seven letterwinners from last season's roster while adding seven total new faces with five incoming freshmen and two junior transfers rounding out the 14-player roster.  
• The five freshmen are flanked by three sophomores and a junior class that is six players deep. It is the first roster without a senior going back to the 1980's.  
• The Ichabods are scoring 74.6 ppg on 45.0% shooting overall and 30.8% from behind the arc. 
• They are grabbing 38.6 rpg while giving out 14.0 apg. On the defensive end they come away with 8.8 spg and swat away 2.7 bpg. 
• Opponents average 65.3 ppg on 40.8% shooting and 28.4% from deep. 
• Washburn is 3-1 inside of Lee Arena while going 3-5 in road contests and 2-2 in neutral court games.  
• Washburn hit four triples against Northwest Missouri to extend its streak of games with a made triple to 114 games. 
• Wednesday's contest against Emporia State will be the 116th all-time meeting between the two teams. 

BLUE REPORT

• Yiibari Nwidadah leads the team offensively scoring 16.6 ppg while also shooting a team-high 66.0% from the field. She grabs a team-best 7.5 rpg and swats away 1.0 bpg. The junior has started all 14 games she has played in logging 26.9 mpg. She has shot at or above 50.0% in all but one game and has three double-doubles. The Olathe, Kan. native has the best field goal percentage in the nation while ranking 5th in the MIAA in ppg , 6th in rpg and 11th in bpg. She has 15+ points in nine games this year. 
• Payton Sterk is second on the team scoring 15.3 ppg while starting all 16 contests and playing a team-high 29.9 mpg. She is shooting 43.6% from the floor and a team-high 37.3% from deep while dishing out 2.4 apg and grabbing 3.8 rpg. The Colorado Springs native has drilled a team-high 31 3-pointers. She has 15+ points in eight games this year. Sterk is 4th in the MIAA in total points and seventh in 3-pointers. She ranks in the top-100 nationally in both categories. 
• Gabi Giovannetti is third on the team in scoring at 10.9 ppg while shooting 39.9% from the floor. The junior has started all 16 games playing 27.1 mpg. She is adding 2.6 rpg with 2.2 apg and is tied for the team-lead with 1.3 spg. She is second on the team with 25 made triples and has made a 3-pointer in all but two games. Among MIAA players she is 13th in total 3-pointers.
• Madelyn Amekporfor is scoring 8.1 ppg on 48.4% shooting while starting 14 of 15 games that she has appeared in, logging 24.3 mpg. She is grabbing 4.3 rpg while adding 2.3 apg. On the defensive end she is tied for a team-high with 1.3 spg. She has made five 3-pointers in the last two games, half of her season total. 
• Aniah Wayne is scoring 7.6 ppg in 18.8 mpg off the bench while playing in 14 games. She adds 2.8 rpg and 0.9 spg. Her six games with double figure scoring off the bench leads the team. She is shooting a team-high 81.5% from the free-throw line. 
• Brooke Gomez has played in all 16 games making 15 starts in her freshman season logging 20.4 mpg. She averages 5.0 ppg while adding 2.9 rpg and 1.1 spg. Her 2.6 apg are a team-high. In the last six games she has shot 50.0% or better in five of them. 
• Amaya Davison has played in all 16 games and started two logging 15.9 mpg. She scoring 4.3 ppg on 41.5% shooting while giving out 1.3 apg and coming away with 1.0 spg.  
• Nia McKenzie has played in all 16 games while making one start averaging 14.3 mpg. She is grabbing 4.0 rpg and scoring 3.7 ppg. She has pulled down at least four rebounds in six of the last seven games. 
• Rebecca Snyder has played in ten games with two starts logging 12.8 mpg and scoring 3.0 ppg with 2.7 rpg.  
• Emajin McCallop has played in 14 games scoring 1.3 ppg across 8.4 mpg.  
• Willow Gideon has played 9.0 mpg across eight appearances while scoring 3.3 ppg on 47.1% shooting. 
• Cloie Jansky has played in three games scoring 3.0 ppg with 1.3 rpg in 7.3 mpg. 
• Lauren Luebbert has logged 7.5 mpg of action in 11 appearances off the bench. 

STAT STACKING

• The Ichabods are shooting 45.0% from the floor, third best in the conference and 27th best in the nation. 
• Washburn is 32nd nationally scoring 74.6 ppg, fourth highest mark in the conference. 
• With a scoring margin of +9.3 they have the fourth best mark in the conference and 61st in the nation.
• The Ichabods hold opposing teams to 28.4% shooting from beyond the arc. The sixth highest mark in the MIAA and 99th nationally.
• With 12.8 orpg, Washburn is second in the MIAA at creating extra offensive opportunities. A mark that is good for 90th in the nation. In overall rebound margin they rank 46th nationally at +6.4.
• Giving out 14.0 apg the Ichabods are fifth in the conference and 85th nationally when it comes to sharing the rock. 
• Washburn attacks the basket and gets to the line averaging 20.00 free throw attempts per game, 3rd most in the MIAA and 59th nationally.

MILESTONE MARKERS

• With 187 career offensive rebounds Yiibari Nwidadah is 8th in program history. She is five boards away from moving up to No. 7. In overall rebounds she is 19th in Washburn history with 496. Last time out she passed head coach Lora Westling on the all-time charts. 
• Her career field goal percentage of .576 is the third best in program history. In scoring she ranks 39th with 737 career points. 
• Gabi Giovannetti is 17th in program history with 90 career 3-pointers made. She will move up to 16th with three more triples.  

HEAD COACH LORA WESTLING

• Lora Westling is in her third season as head coach at her alma mater entering the 2024-25 season. She has a 32-41 record with Washburn and is 109-119 at the DII level. 
• Westling comes back to Topeka 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 becoming a head coach Westling had stints as an assistant at Missouri-St. Louis from 2007-10 and Truman State from 2010-13.
• 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 also played one season of soccer for the Lady Blues.

WASHBURN ASSISTANT COACHES

• Assistant coaches Matt Barreiro and Katie Dalton along with student assistant Karly Neufeld round out the coaching staff.
• Barriero enters his second year on the staff. He is a 2005 graduate of Arizona Christian and got his masters from Walden University in 2012. He played basketball at both Washington State and Arizona Christian.  
• He has several years of head coaching experience with seven years at the helm at The King's University in Canada and most recently as the head coach at Central Christian College in McPherson, Kan. for two years.
• Dalton joins the staff for the 2024-25 season. She reunites with Westling who she played for at Western Colorado from 2017-22 and was a two-time All-RMAC selection. She graduated from Western Colorado in 2022. 
• She is originally from Magnolia, Texas and has spent time as a head rehabilitation technician and a physical therapy technician.
• Karly Neufeld joins the coaching staff after spending the 2023-24 season on the Ichabod roster.  

LAST TIME OUT

Northwest Missouri 66, Washburn 61 (OT)  (January 11, 2025)
TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn came up on the wrong end of its first overtime game of the season on Saturday afternoon as they fell 66-61 to Northwest Missouri State in 45 minutes. The Ichabods will remain at home next week as they take on Emporia State on Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 5:30 p.m.  

Through the first six minutes of play Washburn (8-8, 2-4 MIAA) jumped ahead to a 12-6 lead with half of the points coming from Payton Sterk. Amaya Davison knocked down a triple to move the lead up to seven points at the 2:26 mark in the quarter. The Bearcats (9-7, 2-4 MIAA) were held to just 2-7 shooting in the frame as the Ichabods built a 15-10 lead.  

Northwest Missouri bounced back offensively with two made triples to begin the second quarter and tied the game at 18 on a layup. Two more connections from deep from the Bearcats quickly put them up by six as they went 5-8 from 3-point range in the quarter. Washburn settled in on defense, keeping Northwest Missouri off the board for nearly four minutes as they went on an 8-0 run to take the lead. The advantage changed once more before the half and flipped back to the Ichabods after Aniah Wayne sank a 3-pointer to go up 31-29 at the break.  

Both teams went back and forth to begin the third quarter with nine lead changes and 12 ties in the entire game. Washburn led by four with 4:02 left after Madelyn Amekporfor made a pair of free throws. The Ichabods held the Bearcats to 3-11 (27.3%) shooting in the third but the visitors were able to keep pace shooting 6-6 at the line in the frame. They trailed by just one after a pair of free throws in the final minute to make it 44-43 in favor of the home team.  

Washburn started the fourth quarter with three straight points from Amekporfor, going up by four again. That would be the biggest margin on either side for the remainder of regulation. A 3-point lead for the Ichabods in the final five minutes was erased after a triple on the other end. Northwest Missouri went in front with 1:19 to play after a putback layup went in. Brooke Gomez went coast-to-coast just eight seconds later for a layup to tie the game at 57 and that is how it would stay after 40 minutes of play.  

The Bearcats scored the first five points of overtime to lead 62-57 with 3:16 left. Washburn pulled within three after Gabi Giovannetti got a 3-pointer to fall with 1:18 remaining in overtime. That was all they could muster in the final minutes as Northwest Missouri put the game at the way at the free throw line to win 66-61.  

The Ichabods finished the game shooting 42.1% overall and 4-10 from deep. The Bearcats shot 17-16 (37.0%) and were 8-20 from beyond the arc. The free throw advantage went to the visitors as they shot 24-27 at the line to just 9-13 for Washburn.  

Rebounding went in the Ichabods' favor, 36-26, as did a 38-16 points in the pant advantage. The Washburn bench also outscored Northwest Missouri's reserves 21-5.  

Caely Kesten led the way for the Bearcats playing 43 minutes and scoring 22 points with four 3-pointers. Holly Hartnett added 14 and Emree Zars had 11.  

ABOUT THE EMPORIA STATE LADY HORNETS

• Emporia State has lost three straight games and is now 7-8 overall with a 2-4 mark in the MIAA after losing 79-68 to Nebraska Kearney at home last time out. 
• Last season the Lady Hornets finished 14-16 overall with a 10-12 mark inside the MIAA. They advanced to the quarterfinal round of the MIAA Tournament before falling to Missouri Western. 
• This season, Emporia State is 5-4 inside of White Auditorium while going 1-3 on the road and 1-1 in neutral court games. 
• The Lady Hornets average 71.6 ppg on 39.8% shooting while allowing 74.9 ppg to opponents. They pull down 40.0 rpg while dishing out 13.3 apg.  
• They are third in the MIAA in 3-pointers attempted while ranking 4th in triples made per game. They rank 4th in the conference and 40th in the nation grabbing 28.5 defensive rpg. 
• Katie Horyna does a little bit of everything for Emporia State leading them in scoring at 16.8 ppg on 49.4% shooting and 35.3% from beyond the arc. She has started all 14 games she has appeared in playing a team-high 35.5 mpg. She also leads the team with 4.4 apg and grabs 5.7 rpg. In the MIAA she ranks first in mpg, fourth in ppg and sixth in apg. 
• Gracie Gilpin is second on the team scoring 11.7 ppg while playing and starting all 15 games logging 33.3 mpg. She leads the team with 39 made 3-pointers on 34.5% shooting and makes a team-high 1.7 spg. She is fourth in the MIAA in 3-pointers made and sixth in percentage. 
• Jayla Cornelius is scoring 9.0 ppg on 39.8% shooting while adding 2.5 rpg and 2.2 apg. She has appeared in all 15 games logging 16.6 mpg with three starts.
• Mackenzie McDaniel is scoring 7.9 ppg on 49.0% shooting in just 16.9 mpg across 14 games while making nine starts. She pulls down 5.9 rpg and adds 0.9 spg. 
• Janiyah Alvarez leads the team on the boards with 6.3 rpg. Offensively she chips in 5.5 ppg in 23.7 mpg with eight starts in 12 appearances.

HEAD COACH BRIAN OSTERMANN

• Is in his 2nd season as the head coach of the Lady Hornets where he has a 21-24 record. 
• He has 15 years of NCAA Division I experience, with the previous nine years at K-State.
• Prior to his time at K-State, Ostermann served as the Associate Head Coach at Texas Christian University from 2008-14.
• A native of Good Thunder, Minn., Ostermann earned his Bachelor of Science degree in physical education from Wisconsin-La Crosse in 1988.

LAST TIME VERSUS NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE

Washburn 64, Emporia State 61  (January 4, 2025)
EMPORIA, Kan. -- Washburn rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit to defeat Emporia State 64-61 inside of White Auditorium in the opening game of 2025. The Ichabods move back to .500 on the year and will return to Topeka for four straight games beginning Wednesday, Jan. 8 against Missouri Western at 5:30 p.m.  

After Washburn (7-7, 1-3 MIAA) scored the opening basket of the game courtesy of Gabi Giovannetti the next 10 points were all scored by the Lady Hornets (7-6, 2-2 MIAA). The Ichabods made up ground at the free throw line, connecting on five free throws in the quarter to get back within two. Late in the quarter they briefly went in front after a triple from Giovannetti. Emporia State knotted the game back up at 16 to end the first.  

Both sides struggled to score in the second quarter as defenses tightened up before halftime. Even with just five combined field goals in the quarter there were five lead changes and three ties as the game went back and forth. The final four points of the quarter went to the Lady Hornets, all at the free throw line, to lead 28-25 at the break.  

Coming out of halftime Emporia State started on a 8-0 run to lead by a game-high 11 points at the 7:32 mark in the third quarter. Inside of five minutes to play Nia McKenzie scored an old-fashioned three-point play which began a 13-2 stretch for Washburn to end the quarter. They went in front 41-39 after Brooke Gomez got a 3-pointer to go and would enter the fourth tied at 41.  

The first four points of the fourth quarter went to the Lady Hornets but the Ichabods battled back with a 9-0 run capped off with a 3-pointer by Aniah Wayne to go up 50-45 with 5:35 left. Twice over the next four minutes Emporia State pulled within one point, both times Washburn had an answer. The second came from Giovannetti connecting on a triple to go up by four at the 1:01 mark. Down the stretch the Ichabods went 8-10 at the free throw line to cap off a 23-point quarter and their first win in MIAA play by a 64-61 score.  

After shooting under 25.0% in the first half Washburn raised its percentage for the game to 31.6% (18-57). On the other end the Lady Hornets shot 23-62 (37.1%) and were held to 4-23 from beyond the arc. The Ichabods had a big advantage at the free throw line, converting 21-29 attempts while Emporia State went just 11-16.  

Rebounding went in Washburn's favor 47-37, as did fast break scoring 14-6. Points off turnovers along with bench scoring was equal for both sides.  

Brooke Gomez and Payton Sterk each had 14 points to lead the Ichabods in scoring. Gomez's was a career-high while she added three assists. Gabi Giovannetti had 13 points and made a trio of 3-pointers.  

Mackenzie McDaniel led Emporia State with 16 points while Katie Horyna had 13 and 11 rebounds.  

SERIES HISTORY WITH EMPORIA STATE

• Emporia State leads the all-time series between the two teams 63-51.
• The Ichabods have gone 23-30 all-time against the Lady Hornets in Lee Arena. 
• The series began on Dec. 6, 1974 with a 73-52 win for ESU in Topeka. 
• The Ichabods won the first meeting of the season between the two teams 64-61 in Emporia on Jan. 4. Payton Sterk and Brooke Gomez each led with 14 points in the game. 
• Washburn averages 64.35 points per game all-time against Emporia State. 

WASHBURN HISTORY

• Washburn women's basketball is 1,003-502-1 (.666) all-time and are in the 56th year of the program's history. They became the 11th team to reach 1,000 wins on Dec. 16 after defeating Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras.  
• 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. 

LOOKING AHEAD

• Washburn will finish out the homestand against Newman on Saturday at 1 p.m. 
• The home finale for the Ichabods will come on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 1p.m. against Rogers State.  
• The MIAA Basketball Championship Tournament will be held in Kansas City, Mo. at the Municipal Auditorium from March 5-9.