KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Washburn's season came to a close in the MIAA Tournament Semifinals with a 71-57 loss to No. 9 nationally ranked and No. 1 seed Pittsburg State on Saturday night. The No. 5 seeded Ichabods close the season with a 18-13 record.
Scoring came early and often for the Gorillas (28-3), scoring the first five points of the game and turning that into a 19-2 run to open the game up. A bucket by Gabi Giovannetti at the 8:37 mark was the only thing breaking up the scoring. Washburn (18-13) closed the quarter strong, on a 10-4 run capped off by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Brooke Gomez to make it 22-12 after one.
The second quarter featured another strong start for Pittsburg State, extending the lead to 21 points after a 13-2 run to open the quarter. The Ichabods held them scoreless for the next three minutes and change, scoring six points in the span with the final two on a basket inside by Yiibari Nwidadah. The Gorillas finished the half on a 6-0 run, shooting 8-14 in the quarter to lead 41-20 at the break.
Both sides traded baskets out of halftime, twice Washburn cut the deficit down to 17 points but each time Pittsburg State had an answer. The Ichabods nearly matched their first half scoring as they put up 18 points in the third quarter, aided by 8-8 shooting at the line but faced a 19-point deficit with 10 to play.
Gomez led off the fourth quarter with a jumper, bring the deficit back down to 17. The Gorillas continued to respond back with each team trading baskets into the final five minutes. The lead was finally cut below 17 after Madelyn Amekporfor got free for a layup with 1:46 to play. Time ran out on Washburn as Pittsburg State came away with a 71-57 win in the semifinal round.
The Ichabods ended the game shooting 21-58 (36.2%) from the field. They were an efficient 14-16 at the line but just 1-12 from behind the arc. The Gorillas shot under 40.0% in the second half but finished the game at 28-63 (44.4%) overall with a 4-20 shooting effort from deep.
Rebounding went with a slight edge to Pittsburg State at 38-35, as did turnovers 16-14. Washburn was able to crash the glass for 8 offensive rebounds, but scored just two second chance points. Points off turnovers went in favor of the Gorillas 25-12.
Yiibari Nwidadah and Madelyn Amekporfor each scored 12 points to lead the Ichabods. Nwidadah had seven rebounds and tied a career high with four blocks. Off the bench Amaya Davison had nine points with 5-6 shooting at the line while Brooke Gomez scored seven and Payton Sterk had six.
Karenna Gerber finished with 26 points on 11-16 shooting to lead the Gorillas. Grace Pyle had 19 and Macie Mays had 18 for the tournaments No. 1 seed.
Season notes:
