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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news

EDMOND, Okla. -- Washburn University's women's basketball team closed out the 2022 calendar year on a high note Saturday afternoon, with five Ichabods cracking double figures as WU held on for a 75-73 MIAA road win at Central Oklahoma.

Hanover native Macy Doebele led Washburn with a career-high 19 points and hit 17 of 20 free throws in the Ichabods' 75-73 win at Central Oklahoma Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN] 

Washburn leaves the floor after Saturday's 75-73 MIAA road win at Central Oklahoma. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN[

Hanover product Macy Doebele, a 5-foot-11 junior, led five Ichabods with a career-high 19 points, including a 17 of 20 performance from the free throw line to set a program record for the most free throws made in a single game. Doebele also pulled down six rebounds for WU, which improved to 6-5 overall and 2-3 in the MIAA.

Freshman Natalia Figueroa made five of eight shots from the floor and tallied 13 points while freshman Gabi Artis and junior Mackenzie Gamble both made three 3-pointers and totaled 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Freshman Natalia Figueroa (right), who score 13 points, drives to the basket Saturday in Washburn's 75-73 MIAA win at Central Oklahoma. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Washburn junior point guard Aubree Dewey (3) talks with Ichabod coach Lora Westling during WU's 75-73 MIAA win at Central Oklahoma on Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Junior Emma Chapman rounded out Washburn's double-figure scorers with 10 points while junior point guard Aubree Dewey hit four of her six shot attempts for eight points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and dished out a team-best seven assists.

The Bronchos led 6-2 to begin the game and went up 8-3 at the 6:16 mark of the first quarter when the Ichabods started to slowly chip away at the deficit with free throws.

Although the Bronchos made nine of 16 from the field for a 56.3 shooting percentage in the first quarter, fouls proved costly as they committed 10 fouls compared to the Ichabods' one.

Washburn made nine of 12 from the free throw line with Doebele going a perfect six for six in the opening quarter.

After the Ichabods made seven free throws, the shots started falling for Washburn as well as Figueroa made a jump shot with 3:29 left to spark an 11-4 run to close out the first period with a 20-19 lead.

Figueroa quickly got the scoring going with a layup 10 seconds into the second frame before the Bronchos (4-7, 1-6 MIAA) tied the score at 22 after an old-fashioned 3-point play and tied things up again at 24 before being held scoreless for nearly four and a half minutes while the Ichabods put up seven unanswered points to lead, 31-24.

The Bronchos hit a 3-pointer with 4:36 left in the first half to end their scoring drought and begin a run of their own, taking a 34-31 advantage after a 10-0 burst. A 3-pointer from Figueroa tied the game for a third time in the quarter, but UCO ended the first half on a 5-0 run, including a buzzer-beating trey to lead 39-34 at halftime.

The Ichabods chiseled the deficit down to one point on two occasions within the first four minutes of the second half, but the Bronchos used a 6-0 run to go up, 49-42.

Washburn responded with a 7-2 run and continued to keep the game in reach.

With 10 seconds remaining in the third, Artiz sank a 3-pointer to cut Central Oklahoma's lead to just two (56-54), heading into the final quarter.

Artis made another 3-pointer for Washburn's first points of the fourth and Chapman followed that with a layup 72 seconds into the quarter to give Washburn its first lead since the three-minute mark in the second period.

Back-and-forth scoring ensued with eight lead changes and six ties over the next six minutes.

Trailing 68-66 with 2:40 left, Figueroa was fouled on a made jump shot and then completed the and-one free throw to put WU ahead.

Central Oklahoma hit a pair of free throws with 31 seconds left to make the score 73-72 in favor of Washburn, but on UCO's next possession, the Bronchos committed an offensive foul and received a technical foul on the call.

Doebele was chosen for the free shots and went one for two and was fouled again three seconds later, but missed both of those free throws and committed a foul herself battling for the rebound.

With 19 seconds on the clock, Central Oklahoma made the first free throw and missed the second to keep Washburn's lead safe at 74-73.

The Bronchos committed their 27th and final foul of the contest with nine seconds left and Gamble went one of two at the free throw line to account for the final score.

Washburn's defense was tough throughout Central Oklahoma's last possession as the Bronchos' last-second 3-point attempt was off the mark.
 
The Ichabods scored a season-high 75 points and shot 44 percent from the floor while the Bronchos finished with a 40.3 field goal percentage.

Washburn hit one more 3-pointer than Central Oklahoma, making seven of 16 from 3-point range.

The Ichabods made a season-high 35 trips to the free throw line and successfully made 24 foul shots while the Bronchos went 13 of 15 attempts at the charity stripe.

Washburn had one more rebound than the home team, 37-36.

Brooke Rayner paced the Bronchos with 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals.

Washburn will play the first games of 2023 in Topeka, hosting No. 11-ranked Central Missouri on Jan. 5 and Lincoln on Jan. 7.