TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn women's basketball starts the new year with another chapter against its most storied rival as they face Emporia State at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4 in White Auditorium. 

OPENING TIP

• Washburn women's basketball will begin the 24-25 edition of the Tunrpike Tussle to begin 2025 as they face Emporia State. 
• The Ichabods will take on the Lady Hornets at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4 in Emporia, Kan. inside of White Auditorium. 
• Washburn is 6-7 on the year after falling 85-72 on the road to Central Missouri on Dec. 21 in the final game of 2024. 
• 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 moved to 7-5 on the year and 2-1 in the MIAA after defeating Central Missouri 70-66 on Thursday evening at home. 

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 75.5 ppg on 45.8% shooting overall and 29.7% from behind the arc. 
• They are grabbing 38.0 rpg while giving out 14.9 apg. On the defensive end they come away with 9.8 spg and swat away 3.1 bpg. 
• Opponents average 65.0 ppg on 41.0% shooting and 26.7% from deep. 
• Washburn is 2-0 inside of Lee Arena while going 2-5 in road contests and 2-2 in neutral court games.  
• Washburn hit three triples at Central Missouri to extend its streak of games with a made triple to 111 games. 
• Saturday's meeting with Emporia State will be the 114th all-time meeting between the two teams. 

BLUE REPORT

• Yiibari Nwidadah leads the team offensively scoring 17.6 ppg while also shooting a team-high 71.8% from the field. She grabs a team-best 7.5 rpg and swats away 1.3 bpg while snagging 1.0 spg as well. The junior has started all 11 games she has played in logging 26.5 mpg. She has shot over 50.0% in every game this season and has two double-doubles. The Olathe, Kan. native has the best field goal percentage in the nation while ranking 2nd in the MIAA in ppg , 8th in blocks per game and 6th in rpg. She has 15+ points in each of the last five outings. 
• Payton Sterk is second on the team scoring 15.6 ppg while starting all 13 contests and playing a team-high 29.7 mpg. She is shooting 44.0% from the floor and a team-high 39.2% from deep while dishing out 2.6 apg. The Colorado Springs native has drilled a team-high 29 3-pointers. She has 15+ points in seven games this year. Sterk is 2nd in the MIAA in total points, fourth in 3-pointers and 4th in 3-point percentage. She ranks in the top-50 nationally in all three categories. 
• Gabi Giovannetti is third on the team in scoring at 11.3 ppg while shooting 41.7% from the floor. The junior has started all 13 games playing 26.3 mpg. She is adding 2.7 rpg with 2.3 apg and tied for a team-high 1.5 spg. She is second on the team with 20 made triples and has made a 3-pointer in all but two games. Among MIAA players she is 14th in 3-pointers.
• Madelyn Amekporfor is scoring 8.0 ppg on 49.4% shooting while starting 11 of 12 games that she has appeared in and logging 22.3 mpg. She is grabbing 33.7 rpg while adding 2.4 apg. On the defensive end she comes away with 1.5 spg. She has scored in double figures in two straight games including scoring a career-high 23 points last time out. 
• Aniah Wayne is scoring 7.5 ppg in 17.9 mpg off the bench while playing in 11 games. She adds 2.4 rpg and 1.0 spg. Her five games with double figure scoring off the bench lead the team. She has four games with multiple made 3-pointers. 
• Brooke Gomez has played in all 13 games making 12 starts in her freshman season logging 20.4 mpg. She averages 4.2 ppg while adding 3.0 rpg and 1.2 spg. Her 2.8 apg are a team-high. She has three or more assists in four straight games. 
• Amaya Davison has played in all 13 games and started two logging 15.5 mpg. She scoring 3.7 ppg on 37.5% shooting while giving out 1.2 apg and coming away with 1.1 spg.  
• Rebecca Snyder has played in ten games with two starts logging 12.8 mpg and scoring 3.0 ppg with 2.7 rpg.  
• Nia McKenzie has played in all 13 games while making one start averaging 13.1 mpg. She is grabbing 3.7 rpg and scoring 3.5 ppg. She has grabbed 3+ rebounds in four straight games.
• Emajin McCallop has played in 11 games scoring 1.5 ppg across 9.8 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 7.4 mpg of action in 10 appearances off the bench. 

STAT STACKING

• The Ichabods are shooting 45.8% from the floor, second best in the conference and 16th best in the nation. 
• Washburn forces 18.54 turnovers per game, fourth most in the MIAA and 91st nationally. 
• They also defend beyond the arc with opponents shooting 29.7% from three-point range, fifth best in the conference and 64th nationally.
• The Ichabods are 32nd nationally scoring 75.5 ppg, fourth highest mark in the conference. 
• With 12.9 orpg, Washburn is second in the MIAA at creating extra offensive opportunities. A mark that is good for 86th in the nation. In overall rebound margin they rank 65th nationally at +5.0.
• With 14.9 assists per game Washburn is dishing the 5th most in the MIAA and 60th in the nation. 
• Combined with protecting the ball, the Ichabods have an assist to turnover ratio of 0.88, 87th best in the nation. 

MILESTONE MARKERS

• With 178 career offensive rebounds Yiibari Nwidadah is 9th in program history. She is eight boards away from moving up to No. 8. In overall rebounds she ranks 24th in Washburn history with 473. 
• Her career rebounding average of 7.5 rpg is sixth highest in program history. With an average of 2.8 orpg she has the third highest offensive average of any Ichabod. 
• Gabi Giovannetti is tied for 17th in program history with 85 career 3-pointers made. She will move up to 16th with eight 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 30-40 record with Washburn and is 107-118 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

Central Missouri 85, Washburn 72 (December 21, 2024)
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Washburn led early on but was unable to withstand a hot second half from Central Missouri, falling 85-72 in the final game of the 2024 calendar year. The Ichabods return to action on Jan. 4, 2025 against Emporia State on the road.  

After falling behind 7-4 in the opening minutes Washburn (6-7, 0-3 MIAA) went on a 10-2 run beginning and ending with baskets by Madelyn Amekporfor to put them in front. The Jennies (9-5, 1-2 MIAA) scored the next five points to tie things back up but the Ichabod offense built the lead back up, shooting 50.0% in the quarter to lead 19-17.  

A triple in the opening minutes of the second quarter by Amekporfor made it 25-19 in favor of Washburn, the largest lead to that point. The margin grew to seven points on a pair of free throws by Payton Sterk with 2:41 to play in the quarter. In the final minutes of the half Central Missouri outscored Washburn 9-2, tying the game at 35 on three straight free throws in the final seconds before the break.  

Coming out of the half the Jennies sank two 3-pointers in the first 62 seconds to lead by six. It was the start of a 6-6 shooting performance from beyond the arc in the quarter. A triple by Sterk cut the lead back down to five with 5:13 left in the quarter but the next 13 points all went to Central Missouri who scored 31 in the quarter. Yiibari Nwidadah got a pair of buckets to go in the final minutes to cut the deficit back down to 14 heading into the fourth.  

Twice in the first three minutes Washburn got the lead down to 12 points but both times the Jennies responded. In the final two minutes the Ichabods went on a 6-0 run to bring the lead down to eight points as they shot over 50.0% in the quarter. On the other end Central Missouri kept the game out of reach shooting 9-9 at the free throw line in the final quarter to salt the game away and win 85-72.  

Washburn ended the game shooting 29-59 overall (49.2%) but were just 3-13 (23.1%) from beyond the arc. A strong second half from the Jennies brought their shooting percentage up to 45.5% going 30-66. They were 8-19 (42.1%) from three-point range and 17-19 at the line in an all-around efficient performance.  

Central Missouri outrebounded the Ichabods 38-30 for the game, with most of the advantage coming in the second half. Assists also went in the Jennies' favor 17-9. Neither team's benches were very involved scoring the ball, with Washburn's bench crew outscoring UCM's 7-2.  

Madelyn Amekporfor led all scorers with a new career-high 23 points on 9-11 shooting. She was everywhere on the defensive end as well, with four steals and three blocks. Yiibari Nwidadah had 20 points on 9-13 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds to near a double-double. Payton Sterk had 13 points and snagged six rebounds.  

Lauren Frost and Reece Schaaf each scored 21 points to lead Central Missouri. Frost added 10 rebounds and seven assists. Taylor Weishaar had 19 points along with 11 rebounds.  

ABOUT THE EMPORIA STATE LADY HORNETS

• Emporia State is 7-5 overall on the year and 2-1 inside the MIAA after defeating Central Missouri 70-66 at home on Jan. 2 for a third straight victory. 
• 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 5-2 inside of White Auditorium while going 1-2 on the road and 1-1 in neutral court games. 
• The Lady Hornets average 73.3 ppg on 40.8% shooting while allowing 74.5 ppg to opponents. They pull down 40.0 rpg while dishing out 13.7 apg.  
• They are third in the MIAA in 3-pointers made and attempted while ranking in the top-50 nationally in both. They score the sixth most points in the conference and also protect the ball with the fifth least turnovers. 
• Katie Horyna does a little bit of everything for Emporia State leading them in scoring at 17.8 ppg on 53.6% shooting and 38.5% from beyond the arc. She has started all 11 games she has appeared in playing a team-high 34.0 mpg. She also leads the team with 4.8 apg and grabs 5.6 rpg. In the conference she ranks second in pgg, fourth in apg and fifth in FG%. 
• Gracie Gilpin is second on the team scoring 12.2 ppg while playing and starting all 12 games logging 32.4 mpg. She leads the team with 31 made 3-pointers along with a team-high 1.9 spg. She is fourth in the MIAA in 3-pointers made and sixth in percentage. 
• Jayla Cornelius is scoring 8.8 ppg on 41.7% shooting while adding 2.4 rpg and 2.1 apg. She has appeared in all 12 games logging 15.8 mpg. 
• Mackenzie McDaniel is scoring 7.3 ppg in just 16.8 mpg across all 12 games. She pulls down 5.8 rpg and is making 0.9 spg. 
• Elizabeth Tjaden has started all 12 games logging 23.7 mpg. She chips in 7.2 ppg with 3.7 rpg. 

HEAD COACH BRIAN OSTERMANN

• Is in his 2nd season as the head coach of the Lady Hornets where he has a 21-21 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 CENTRAL MISSOURI

Washburn 59, Emporia State 58 (OT) (March 2, 2024)
TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn rallied from down 13 points in the second half to deliver a 59-58 overtime victory over Emporia State on senior day Saturday afternoon. The Ichabods finish the regular season as the No. 10 seed in the MIAA and will take on No. 7 Nebraska-Kearney in the opening round of the MIAA Tournament on Wednesday, March 6 at 2:15 p.m. in Kansas City, Mo.  

Seniors Aubree Dewey, Mackenzie Gamble and Lakyn Schieferecke were recognized prior to the game for their contributions over the last four years with Washburn women's basketball.  

It was a quick start for Washburn (12-15, 8-14 MIAA) with a pair of seniors, Dewey and Gamble starting the game on a 5-0 run. Over the next nearly five minutes of game time the Hornets (13-15, 10-12 MIAA) scored the next 10 points. The Ichabods ended the quarter on a 4-0 run, all coming at the line to make it 15-11 after one.  

Scoring was hard to come by for both teams in the second as they combined to shoot 7-32. Washburn held Emporia State scoreless in the final 4:48 on the quarter, in that time they finished the half on another 4-0 run to go into halftime down just 22-19.  

The Hornets came out of the half scoring the first five points but the Ichabods were able to weather the storm. A pair of free throws from Liz Boyd capped off a 5-0 run at the 4:32 mark in the third quarter. Emporia State would score 10 of the next 11 points, pushing the lead into double digits. The deficit grew to a game-high 13 points with 1:33 left in the quarter. For a third straight quarter the Ichabods ended it on a 4-0 run to make it a nine-point game heading into the fourth.  

Washburn started the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run, concluding with a 3-point play from Aubree Dewey with 8:15 left in regulation. Emporia State pushed the lead back up to six but the Ichabods battled back to tie the game with Yiibari Nwidadah knocking down a free throw with 42 seconds left. After the Hornets got a bucket to go Washburn was able to force overtime with Aubree Dewey sinking a jumper with 19 seconds left. Lakyn Schieferecke drew a charge on the final offensive possession for Emporia State to send the game to overtime.  

After Nwidadah got the first bucket of overtime the Hornets scored the next five, and led until Dewey drilled a jumper with 2:38 left to play. Washburn didn't get over the hump until Gabi Giovannetti knocked down a 3-pointer with 54 seconds left and those would be the final points of the game after back-to-back defensive stops for the Ichabods to win it 59-58 in overtime.  

Washburn shot 22-63 (34.9%) for the game, and made 13 free throws while Emporia State shot 22-58 (37.9%) and were 10-12 from the charity stripe. The tight game was most decided on the boards where the Ichabods grabbed five more rebounds than the Hornets, leading to 11 second chance points.  

Aubree Dewey led Washburn with 16 points and played all 45 minutes in the game. She dished out five assists and grabbed five rebounds. Yiibari Nwidadah had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds and Amaya Davison had 13 points on 4-6 shooting off the bench.  

Faith Paramore had a game-high 20 points along with six rebounds. Tylieea Wallace had 16 for ESU off the bench.  

SERIES HISTORY WITH EMPORIA STATE

• Emporia State leads the all-time series between the two teams 63-50.
• The Ichabods have gone 22-31 in Emporia. 
• The series began on Dec. 6, 1974 with a 73-52 win for the Lady Hornets in Topeka. 
• Both teams split the season series last year, each defending home court. 
• Washburn averages 64.35 points per game all-time against Emporia State. 

WASHBURN HISTORY

• Washburn women's basketball is 1,001-501-1 (.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 finally return back home for the first MIAA action inside Lee Arena against Missouri Western at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 8.
• 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.