By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women rallied from 13 points down in the second half to deliver a 59-58 overtime victory over Emporia State on Senior Day Saturday in Lee Arena.
WU shot just 25 percent from the field in the first half and 34.9 percent on the day, hit just two of 16 attempts from 3-point range and missed some big free throws down the stretch, but the Ichabods found a way to pull out the rivalry win in their regular-season finale.
The Washburn women's basketball team celebrates at the end of Saturday's 59-58 overtime win over Emporia State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"We found a way,'' Washburn coach Lora Westling said. "We've been talking a lot about confidence and that's the thing, I think you've got to find ways first and then the confidence comes. That was big for us.
"It was a great team win and everybody contributed.''
The Ichabods finished 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.
"Any time we beat Emporia it's awesome,'' Washburn standout senior point guard Aubree Dewey said. "It's the last game of the (regular) season and we knew we wanted great momentum going into the tournament. No matter who this game was we wanted it no matter what.''
Washburn (13-15 overall, 8-14 MIAA) jumped out to a 5-0 lead but the Hornets (13-15, 10-12) rallied for a 15-11 first-quarter advantage and held a slim 22-19 advantage at halftime.
The Hornets pushed their lead into double-digits in the third quarter but the Ichabods ended the quarter on a 4-0 run to make it a nine-point game heading into the fourth.
Washburn started the fourth stanza with a 7-0 run, including a 3-point play from Dewey with 8:15 left in regulation.
Emporia State pushed the lead back to six but the Ichabods battled back to tie the game on a Yibari Nwidadah free throw with 42 seconds left. After the Hornets regained the lead Washburn was able to force overtime with Dewey hitting a shot with 19 seconds left.
WU senior Lakyn Schieferecke drew a charge on Emporia State's final offensive possession to set up the overtime.
After Nwidadah got the first bucket of overtime the Hornets scored the next five points, and led until Dewey drilled a jumper with 2:38 left to play.
Washburn didn't get over the hump until sophomore 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.
Senior Aubree Dewey scored 16 points in Washburn's 59-58 Senior Day win over Emporia State. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Dewey led Washburn with 16 points and played all 45 minutes in the game. She dished out five assists and grabbed five rebounds.
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.
WASHBURN WOMEN 59, EMPORIA STATE 58 (OT)
Emporia State 15 7 22 6 8 -- 58
Washburn 11 8 16 15 9 -- 59
Emporia State (13-15, 10-12) – Paramore 7-16 6-6 20, Stinchcomb 2-4 0-0 6, Gilpin 1-7 0-0 3, Horyna 2-11 1-3 5, Ulabo 2-4 1-1 5, Osterman 1-3 0-0 3, Wallace 7-12 2-2 16, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Bello 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 10-12 58.
Washburn (13-15, 8-14) – Nwidadah 4-12 3-7 11, Gamble 2-10 0-1 5, Dewey 7-17 2-5 16, Giovannetti 2-5 0-0 5, Schieferecke 1-7 0-0 2, Davison 4-6 5-5 13, Wayne 0-1 0-0 0, McKenzie 1-2 1-2 3, Boyd 1-2 2-2 4, Amekporfor 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-63 13-22 59.
3-point goals — Emporia State 4-14 (Stinchcomb 2-3, Gilpin 1-5, Osterman 1-2, Paramore 0-2, Horyna 0-1, Bello 0-1), Washburn 2-16 (Gamble 1-7, Giovannetti 1-4, Dewey 0-2, Schiefereke 0-2, Wayne 0-1). Rebounds — Emporia State 36 (Paramore 6), Washburn 41 (Nwidadah 11). Assists — Emporia State 6 (Stinchcomb 2, Horyna 2), Washburn 6 (Dewey 5). Turnovers — Emporia State 14, Washburn 13. Fouled out — Wallace, Gamble. Attendance — 1,983.
Hornet men ride Long's 36 points to 80-76 comeback win
The Emporia State men rallied from a 19-point deficit in the second half to take an 80-76 MIAA win over Washburn in the regular-season finale for both teams Saturday in Lee Arena as senior Owen Long scored 36 points for the Hornets with eight 3-pointers.
Washburn (18-10 overall, 14-8 MIAA) took a 46-32 lead into the halftime break and the Ichabods used an 8-0 run, capped by a Brady Christiansen 3-pointer, to take a 54-35 lead with 16:24 remaining.
But Emporia State (19-11, 12-10) rallied at that point and got within four (66-62) with just over five minutes remaining after Long hit his third and fourth 3-pointers of the half
A short while later Long hit another 3, his sixth of the half, to tie the game at 70.
Washburn went up 72-70 on two Sam Ungashick free throws with 1:09 left, but Long hit another trey to give the Hornets their first lead since 4-2 and moments later he hit his eighth 3 of the half to put ESU up 76-72 with 33 seconds remaining.
WU got within a point at 77-76 on an Ungashick drive with eight seconds left but Cael McGee hit a pair of free throws for Emporia State at the other end and Ungashick missed a desperation 3-point attempt.
Atavian Butler added another free throw for ESU to account for the final margin as the Hornets swept the season series in the Turnpike Tussle.
Alijah Comithier joined Long in double figures for Emporia State with 19 points while going 10-11 from the free throw line.
Ungashick led Washburn with 18 points while Andrew Orr added 17 points, Brayden Shorter 12 and Michael Keegan 10.
The Ichabods will start the postseason on Friday at 6 p.m. when they will face Rogers State in Kansas City, Mo. at Municipal Auditorium. The Ichabods are the No. 4 seed in the MIAA postseason tournament.
Emporia State secured the seventh seed in the MIAA Tournament and will take on No. 10 seed Lincoln on Wednesday, March 6 at 8:15 p.m. at Municipal Auditorium.
EMPORIA STATE MEN 80, WASHBURN 76
Emporia State 32 48 -- 80
Washburn 46 30 -- 76
EMPORIA STATE (19-11, 12-10)
Yohe 1-1 0-0 2, Comithier 4-8 10-11 19, Butler 1-7 1-2 3, Long 12-16 4-4 36, Evans 1-7 1-2 4, Tennial 3-9 0-0 7, McGee 1-4 4-6 6, Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 24-53 20-25 80.
WASHBURN (18-10, 14-8)
Christiansen 3-3 0-0 7, Orr 7-12 3-3 17, Ungashick 5-12 6-6 18, Bachelor 1-11 5-5 8, Keegan 5-8 0-2 10, Shorter 5-9 0-0 12, Johnson 1-4 2-2 4. Totals 27-59 16-18 76.
3-point goals -- Emporia State 12-22 (Long 8-10, Comithier 1-3, Evans 1-6, Tennial 1-1, Johnson 1-1, Butler 0-1), Washburn 6-19 (Shorter 2-5, Ungashick 2-6, Christiansen 1-1, Bachelor 1-5, Keegan 0-2). Rebounds -- Emporia State 26 (Yohe 7), Washburn 37 (Keegan 9). Assists -- Emporia State 6 (Long 2, Evans 2), Washburn 14 (Orr 5). Turnovers -- Emporia State 10, Washburn 12. Total fouls -- Emporia State 16, Washburn 17. Fouled out -- Orr. Technical fouls -- none.
