KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- For a second straight day Washburn came back in the second half, this time defeating Central Missouri 53-44 to capture the tenth MIAA Tournament Championship in program history and first since the 2011-12 season. The win clinches the Ichabods spot in the NCAA Tournament which will be announced Sunday night at 9:30 p.m.
At the conclusion of the tournament Yiibari Nwidadah and Gabi Giovannetti were named to the MIAA All-Tournament Team with Nwidadah earning the title of tournament MVP.
Early on the Jennies (25-6, 17-2 MIAA) offense led the way as they buried four 3-pointers in seven attempts in the first quarter. Early on it was tied at eight before one of the triples from Central Missouri began a 7-0 run. Washburn (24-7, 14-5) trailed by eight after the first quarter at 18-10.
Neither team got on the board the first two minutes of the second quarter until Brooke Gomez got a driving layup to go. The next three points went to the Jennie, pushing the deficit to a game-high nine points. The Ichabods had a strong close to the quarter, finishing on a 9-2 run to trail by just two after Kellyn Hunter found Madelyn Amekporfor for a fast break layup with 28 seconds left in the half.
Amekporfor started the scoring in the third as she tied the game briefly until Central Missouri scored the next four points. Giovannetti found the bottom of the net for the first Washburn triple at the 5:48 mark and shortly after Gomez converted an old-fashioned three-point play to put the Ichabods in front for the first time since the first five minutes of the game. The lead traded hands five times the rest of the quarter and ended with Central Missouri leading 36-35 going into the fourth.
The Washburn offense started to roll in the fourth, scoring the first 10 points of the quarter after back-to-back 3-pointers for Payton Sterk as the Jennies were held scoreless until the 4:38 mark. With 1:48 to play Central Missouri had cut the deficit down to six but never got closer. Inside the final minute of the game Giovannetti went 6-6 at the free throw line to close out the game with a 53-44 championship victory.
The Ichabods needed to shoot just 27.4% from the field and knock down 3-13 triples to earn the win. They shot 16-19 at the free throw line while limiting Central Missouri to 30.6% shooting overall and 4-16 from downtown.
Washburn was +10 in rebounding margin at 45-35 while grabbing 16 offensive boards. They scored 14 second chance points while limiting UCM to just five on the other end. The Ichabods also had a 17-12 advantage in turnovers, leading to 13 points on the other end while the Jennies scored just two off takeways.
Gabi Giovannetti led the way offensively with 17 points, eigh rebounds and two steals while going 10-10 at the free throw line. Payton Sterk scored 12 while grabbing five rebounds. Madelyn Amekporfor scored six with ten rebounds, four steals and two blocks and Brooke Gomez scored five with three steals.
Reese Schaaf led Central Missouri scoring 16 points with 14 rebounds and swiping three steals.
