WICHITA, Kan. -- Washburn used a big fourth quarter to pull away from Newman on Saturday afternoon and end a four-game road trip with a 69-55 win. The Ichabods return to Lee Arena to face Northwest Missouri State at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 21.
It was a fast start at home for the Jets (7-10, 1-7 MIAA) as they jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the first five minutes. Washburn (12-5, 5-3 MIAA) came back to tie the game at 10 on a triple by Aniah Wayne in what was part of a 18-4 end to the quarter highlighted by three connections from deep by Wayne to build a 22-14 lead.
A 5-0 run by Yiibari Nwidadah to begin the second quarter pushed the lead up to 13 points. Newman answered right back with a 7-0 run of their own. The Ichabod offense slowed down in the final five minutes of the quarter, shooting just 4-12 in the frame. Four 3-pointers by the Jets helped make it a 35-31 game going into the break.
Coming out of the break Newman continued to chip away at the lead before going in front at 40-38 with 6:00 remaining in the quarter. Washburn came back to score the next seven points to lead 45-40 after a steal and score by Kellyn Hunter. A score late by the Jets would cut the deficit back down to one after a low scoring quarter for both sides going into the fourth.
The Ichabod defense went up a level in the fourth, holding Newman without a point until the 5:55 mark and to 4-14 shooting overall. Washburn started the quarter on a 6-0 run but still the Jets wouldn't go away. After taking the lid off the basket they scored six in a row to make it 54-53 with 3:36 remaining. Another triple by Wayne with 1:56 left put the visitors up by six and started a 11-0 run in the final two minutes to end the game going away, 69-55.
After shooting 50.0% in the fourth the Ichabods ended the game shooting 42.9% overall while being aggressive to generate 36 free throw attempts, converting 23 of them. The Jets shot 37.3% overall, 9-30 from behind the arc and just 2-6 at the line.
A 36-28 rebounding advantaged aided Washburn, helping to create a 34-20 edge in paint scoring and a 18-2 lead in fast break scoring. Both teams were held to a combined 10 second chance points.
Kellyn Hunter and Aniah Wayne led a balanced scoring attack with 13 points each. Wayne had all four 3-pointers for the Ichabods while Hunter added four steals to her season-high point total. Madelyn Amekporfor had 12 points with five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals while Yiibari Nwidadah had 11 points and six boards.
Four Jets led in scoring with nine points, Jaeden McMillin grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
