MARYVILLE, Mo. -- Washburn shot 84.6% and scored 25 points in the first quarter and held serve the rest of the way for a 71-60 road win over Northwest Missouri State on Wednesday night. The Ichabods continue their road swing on Saturday against Missouri Western at 1:30 p.m.
After the first two points of the game went to the Bearcats (9-10, 2-7 MIAA) the Ichabod (11-8, 5-4 MIAA) offense began to churn, pushing the lead to double digits after a Yiibari Nwidadah that made it 17-6. They continued on what would end as a 10-0 run after Gabi Giovannetti got a layup to go to make the score 21-6 at the 2:36 mark in the quarter. Amaya Davison ended the opening frame with a driving basket to give Washburn a 25-10 advantage.
Northwest Missouri was able to chip away at the lead through the free throw line to start the second quarter. They shot 6-7 from the line in the 10-minute period and brought the deficit back to single digits after a make at the line. The Ichabods continued shooting efficiently, going 6-13 in the quarter. On the other end the Bearcats were able to hang around because of extra opportunities, grabbing seven offensive boards in the first half. The lead got as low as six before Nia McKenzie made it 41-33 heading to the break with a last second basket.
Both sides traded baskets to begin the third quarter. Washburn was able to boost its lead up to 13 at the 3:25 mark after layups from Nwidadah and Madelyn Amekporfor. The Ichabods again shot 50.0% in the quarter and after a 5-2 push by the Bearcats in the final two minutes led by 10 going into the fourth.
It wasn't until the 7:24 mark in the third quarter that Washburn got its first 3-pointer of the game. It came off the hands of Brooke Gomez and pushed the lead back up to 10 after Northwest Missouri had chipped away. The Bearcats fought back once again, bringing the lead back down to six. In the fourth quarter it was the Ichabod defense that had the response, holding the home team scoreless over the final 2:49 of the game for a 71-60 double-digit road victory.
Washburn shot 27-48 (56.3%) in the game, a high mark in any game under Lora Westling. They were just 1-7 from beyond the arc, a season low in makes and attempts but it didn't affect the final score. Northwest Missouri finished 22-57 (38.6%) and was 5-17 from three-point range.
Rebounding went in the Ichabods favor by a small margin, 31-29, but points in the paint favored the visiting team 52-30. The Washburn bench added 14 points while the Bearcat reserves did not score a single point.
Yiibari Nwidadah stayed consistent, scoring a game-high 25 points on 10-14 shooting and added a block. Gabi Giovannetti scored 14 on 3-4 shooting and went 8-9 from the line. Nia McKenzie chipped in four points and grabbed a team-high seven boards off the bench.
Caely Kesten led Northwest Missouri with 23 points on 8-16 shooting. Emree Zars and Molly Hartnett each scored in double figures.
