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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball fell just short of picking up its first win on Saturday afternoon in Quincy, Ill., falling 70-67 to the host team in the final game of the Quincy Classic.
Yibari Nwidadah scored a career-high 29 points with eight rebounds and four blocks in Washburn's 70-67 Saturday loss to Quincy. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will stay on the road to face William Jewell on Tuesday, with tipoff set for 5:30 p.m.
After creating a 5-2 lead early, Washburn (0-4) rode the hot hand of Yibari Nwidadah in the first quarter as she scored 10 straight points for the Ichabods to put them ahead 15-8 with 3:58 left in the frame.
The WU lead grew to double figures after Madelyn Amekporfor went 2-2 at the line at the 1:15 mark. The Hawks (3-1) offense got going late in the first as they cut the lead to eight, ending the quarter down 25-17.
Quincy scored the first four points of the second quarter and picked up the aggressiveness offensively. They went 8-10 at the free throw line in the second quarter alone after not shooting from the charity stripe in the first.
After Washburn shot 50.0 percent from the floor in the first quarter they were held to 5-17 shooting (29.4) in the second.
The Hawks went from down seven to up 31-28 with 4:24 left in the half before the Ichabods finished the half strong, beginning with a trey from Brooke Gomez to break a 32-32 tie and using a 10-4 run to end the half leading 42-36.
Both sides traded baskets coming out of the half. After the Washburn lead was reduced to four a 3-pointer by Payton Sterk and a free throw by Amekporfor put it back up to eight at the 4:54 mark of the third. Each team struggled to score as both shot under 30.0 prcent from the floor. A second chance opportunity by Nwidadah extended Washburn's lead from the quarter's beginning as it ended 53-46.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
In a season full of big plays for Washburn University football, Tre Richardson came through with one of the biggest on Saturday in Tahlequah, Okla., helping the Ichabods end their 2024 season with a 35-28 win over Northeastern State.
Former Highland Park star Tre Richardson caught the game-winning TD pass in Saturday's 35-28 Washburn win over Northeastern State. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn, which capped a 3-8 season, scored the tiebreaking touchdown with 48 seconds to play as Richardson pulled down a 3rd-and-10 pass from Sam Van Dyne in the back corner of the end zone for the game-winner, capping an 11-play, 75-yard drive that took 4:05 off the clock.
"Tre Richardson, getting the ball in his hands makes great things happen as everybody knows,'' Washburn coach Craig Schurig told KTPK Radio after the game. "We listen to our players and Tre said he felt like he could get them on a corner route and that's what it was. (Sam) put it on the money and it connected so we didn't have to rely on a fourth-down play and it felt good.''
After Richardson's TD (Trenton Brehm kick) Northeastern State (2-9) drove down to the Ichabod 28-yard-line, but the RiverHawks' final pass into the end zone was picked off by DeAndre Washington, giving the Ichabods their 12th straight win over Northeastern State.
The Ichabods took their first lead of the game at the 9:54 mark of the first quarter when Jaquez White picked off a Dereus Dortch pass and returned it 30 yards for the touchdown on his first interception of the season.
The RiverHawks came right back with a 75-yard drive of their own to tie the score with 5:34 to play.
Neither team would score the rest of the quarter and Washburn returned to the scoreboard with 8:01 to play in the opening half when Lucas Oitker had a 2-yard run up the middle, putting Washburn up 14-7.
The RiverHawks came right back and tied the score at 14-14 after a 3:02 drive but on the RiverHawks' kickoff, Richardson returned the ball 84 yards to the NSU 11-yard-line and then Tyler Bowden scampered 11 yards on the one-play touchdown drive, breaking the deadlock and putting Washburn up 21-14 at halftime.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 24-ranked Washburn University volleyball finished off its regular season with a four-set win on the road over Arkansas-Fort Smith in the first-ever conference battle between the two teams.
Former Cair Paravel star Taryn Pridgett (18) tied for team-high honors with 15 kills as Washburn volleyball capped its regular season with a 3-1 road win over Arkansas-Fort Smith. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods will await their seeding in the MIAA Tournament after the KPI Rankings are calculated at the conclusion of all matches around the conference.
Washburn (20-6 overall, 11-5 MIAA) got out to a fast start, winning 25-16 in the first set. The second set went long, and ended with the Lions (14-14, 6-10) evening up the match.
The visiting Ichabods jumped out to early leads in each of the next two sets, winning both, 25-18 and 25-22.
A kill by Jalyn Stevenson began the match and three points later Corinna McMullen served an ace, forcing a timeout by Arkansas-Fort Smith as the Lions trailed 4-0.
Shortly after, a 5-0 run ending with another ace, this time via Taylor Rottinghaus, made it a 10-2 set. Both sides traded points until the Lions got a rally going, winning four in a row to cut the lead to three at 18-15. The Ichabods finished out the set by winning seven of the final eight points, with Bella Limback delivering the final blow on a pass from Sydney Conner.
In the second set the Lions got off to a quicker start, jumping ahead 6-3. Washburn tied the set up at seven on a kill by Natalie Hedlund and each side traded the lead back and forth until a 6-1 run by the Ichabods created separation at 16-12. Arkansas-Fort Smith battled back, winning six of seven points to tie things up at 19.
Washburn was the first to reach set point after an ace from McMullen. The Ichabods reached set point twice, but each time the Lions had an answer. On Fort Smith's second time reaching set point they were able to put the set away with two straight kills, ending it at 30-28.
The Ichabod offense got right back on track in the third, starting the set with a kill by Dvorak which sparked a 6-0 run. On the defensive end Dvorak and Hedlund combined for a block to finish off a 4-0 stretch that left the score at 18-10. The Lions were able to pull within five but down the stretch the Washburn offense carried the way as they hit .552 as a team with 16 kills and no errors in the 25-18 victory.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
An eighth straight Rossville victory appeared highly unlikely on the road Friday night when the Bulldawgs trailed top seed and undefeated Jackson Heights 31-14 at the start of the fourth quarter and 38-21 with five and a half minutes remaining.
But three touchdowns over a span of just 1 minute, 27 seconds did the trick, with Rossville rallying for a dramatic 42-38 win to advance to next Friday's Class 1A sub-state (semifinal) round.
Rossville senior quarterback Tayson Horak passed for four TDs and ran for the game-winning score in Friday's 42-38 road win at Jackson Heights. [File photo/TSN]
Now 8-3 on the season, the Bulldawgs took their only lead of the night on a 6-yard run by senior quarterback Tayson Horak (Vincent Daniel kick) with 3:07 left and Rossville was able to keep the Cobras out of the end zone the rest of the way to close out the win.
Rossville will be on the road again next Friday, traveling to Centralia to face the 10-1 Panthers, a 46-14 winner over Pittsburg Colgan.
Jackson Heights (10-1) struck first against Rossville, just 18 seconds into the game, but a 4-yard Andre Johnson TD run (Daniel kick) knotted the score at 7-7 at the 7:21 mark of the opening quarter.
The Cobras took a 10-7 lead on a 25-yard field goal late in the first and scored back-to-back TDs to take a 24-7 lead with two minutes remaining in the first half.
Rossville junior Mahki Jackson (15) scored a pair of TDs in Friday's 42-38 come-from-behind playoff win at Jackson Heights. [File photo/TSN]
Rossville got back within 10 points on a 25-yard pass from Horak to Mahki Jackson (Daniel kick) with just 16 seconds left before the intermission but Jackson Heights scored the only touchdown of the third quarter late in the period to go back in front by 17.
Horak and Jackson hooked up again early in the fourth quarter, this time on a 35-yard TD (Daniel kick), but the Cobras answered with a 6-yard TD to go up 38-21 with 5:30 left.
That's when Rossville turned the tables in a big way.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The No. 10-ranked Washburn University men's basketball team had four players reach double figures as the team improved to 4-0 on the season in a 77-55 win over Rockhurst on Friday night in Kansas City, Mo.
Washburn senior Jacob Hanna scored 19 points Friday night as the Ichabods improved to 4-0 with a 77-55 road win over Rockhurst. [File photo/TSN]
With 4:30 to go in the opening half, the Ichabods turned a 26-24 lead into a 41-27 halftime advantage, closing the half on a 15-3 run capped by a Kade Cook dunk at the buzzer.
Washburn started the second half by scoring 10 of the first 14 points to build a 20-point lead and the Hawks got no closer than 14 the rest of the way.
The Ichabods scored eight straight points to go up 22 at 70-48 with 6:55 remaining,cruising to the 22-point win.
Former Great Lakes Valley Conference first-team selection Jacob Hanna scored a game-high 19 points back in familiar territory on 6 of 11 shooting while adding five rebounds.
Sophomore Brayden Shorter followed up his 26-point game on Tuesday with 16 points against Rockhurst, hitting four 3-pointers.
Senior Michael Keegan had 15 points with nine rebounds and five assists and sophomore Jack Bachelor scored 11 points with six rebounds and four assists.
Rockhurst was led by Jesse White who scored 18 for the Hawks.
Washburn shot a season-best 52 percent from the field, hitting 29 of 56 shots overall and going 8 of 23 from 3-point range. Washburn also held a 40-34 advantage on the glass and outscored the Hawks 40 to 14 in the paint while turning 11 Hawk turnovers into 17 points.
Washburn returns to action back on Tuesday when it will host Pittsburg State in a non-conference contest at 6 p.m. in Lee Arena.
WU women come up short in 88-83 loss to McKendree
Washburn fell behind early after a hot start by McKendree and was unable to bounce back, falling 88-83 in the first game of the Quincy Classic in Quincy, Ill.
The Ichabods will finish out the tournament against host Quincy at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
