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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
EDMOND, Okla. -- A 32-5 Central Oklahoma run in the first half was the difference as the No. 9-ranked Bronchos went on to post a 72-57 home MIAA win over Washburn's men Saturday at Hamilton Fieldhouse.
The Ichabods led 3-0 on a 3-pointer by Michael Keegan 14 seconds into the game and a layup by Andrew Orr with 16:27 to go in the first half gave WU (4-7, 1-4) a 10-8 lead but UCO (12-1, 6-1 MIAA) outscored the Ichabods 32-5 the remaining of the half to take a commanding 40-19 lead to the locker room at the half.
Washburn sophomore Levi Braun scored 17 points with five 3-pointers to lead the Ichabods in Saturday's 72-57 MIAA loss at Central Oklahoma. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn sophomores Michael Keegan (23) and Andrew Orr (24) scored 15 points apiece in the Ichabods' 72-57 MIAA loss at Central Missouri on Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
During the Central Oklahoma run the Ichabods went just two of 15 from the field while the Bronchos hit 11 of 19 shots.
Washburn outscored the Bronchos 38-32 in the second half while shooting 59 percent in the half but could not overcome the halftime deficit.
Hayden product Levi Braun came off the bench to lead the Ichabods with 17 points, hitting five of seven 3-pointers and six of nine shots from the field overall.
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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]](/images/aa-images/AubreeDeweyRex.jpg)
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.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Gabi Artis' focus these days is on developing as a college basketball player for Washburn University.
But the former Bishop Miege star will never forget her late high school coach, Terry English, and the things he did to help get her ready to take that next step.
Washburn freshman Gabi Artis, a three-time state champ at Bishop Miege, is coming off a career-high 11-point night in Thursday's 57-40 win over Bethany. [File photo/TSN]
English, who passed away on Oct. 11, was Artis' head coach during her first three high school seasons and served as an assistant coach during her senior season after Terry turned the head coaching reins over to his son, Jeff, for the 2021-2022 season.
Artis and English were part of three Class 4A titles at Miege while English was part of 23 state championships and compiled an amazing 910-168 career record. He had planed to return to the Miege bench as head coach this season before passing away at 72 years old after a stroke.
"It was heartbreaking,'' Artis said. "Honestly, I didn't believe it when they told me. He was going to come back to coach this year and it's still just settling with me. It was such a shock and it just broke my heart.''
Artis, who has made an immediate impact as a freshman for the Ichabods, credits English for helping her develop as a player and person.
"He helped me a lot -- basketball, personal,'' Artis said. "We were really close. I feel like our practices in high school were ran like college practices and I think it prepared me well.
"He was really tough on me in practices and he would be like, "Gabi, you're going to go play at Washburn, you need to do this,' and would coach me through everything and boost me up when I needed to be and bring me down when I needed to be.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Tyler Nelson, one of the most experienced players for a young Washburn University men's basketball team, had to sit and watch as the Ichabods endured a tough early-season stretch.
The 6-foot-3 junior guard missed the first five games with a Jones fracture in his foot and played limited minutes in the Ichabods' next three games while working his way back into game shape.
Washburn junior guard Tyler Nelson (14) celebrates a big play for the Ichabods in a 76-51 win over Missouri Western along with teammate Connor Deffebaugh (10). [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn junior Tyler Nelson scored 19 points with seven rebounds, six assists and six steals in the Ichabods' 76-51 MIAA romp past Missouri Western on Dec. 17. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
And now that the former Kansas City-Rockhurst, Mo. standout is finally close to full strength, Nelson is determined to do everything he can to help Brett Ballard's Ichabods reverse their fortunes after a 4-6 start to the 2022-2023 campaign.
"It's always frustrating going down with an injury and not being able to play out and compete with the guys,'' Nelson said. "That's always frustrating but the guys lift me up. We have good practices, good workouts so that just builds up my confidence so when I come back I'm just ready to hoop.
"We're all ready to hoop and it's always enjoyable to play the game I love.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Ten different Ichabods scored in the first half as Washburn University, returning from its holiday break, jumped out to a double-digit advantage on the way to a 57-40 non-conference victory over Bethany College Thursday night at Lee Arena.
Junior Aubree Dewey scored 12 points and freshman Gabi Artis a career-high 11 to lead a balanced Ichabod attack as Washburn improved to 5-5 on the season.
Washburn coach Lora Westling talks to her team during Thursday's 57-40 non-conference win over Bethany at Lee Arena. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Macy Doebele (30) drives to the basket Thursday night against Bethany in Washburn's 57-40 non-conference win. Doebele scored eight points as the Ichabods improved to 5-5. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn, which had been off since Dec. 17, returned to practice on Tuesday to get ready for Thursday's game, which wrapped up the Ichabods' non-conference schedule.
"I thought there were some bright spots,'' Washburn coach Lora Westling said. "We had a chance to work on some things that we needed to work on and shake some rust off, but some of our old demons were still lurking around -- our aggressiveness on offense and lack there of and how we turned the ball over too often.
"We've just got to continue to work on those things but credit to Bethany. They're a quality team and really well-coached and it was nice to get out and play.''
After surrendering the first basket of the game four seconds into the contest, the Ichabods shot 50 percent (7 of 14) from the field in the opening quarter while holding the Swedes to just 23.1 percent (3 of 13) en route to opening up a 15-7 advantage.
Artis opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer to push Washburn's lead to double figures and the Ichabods led by as many as 15 points en route to a 30-20 advantage at the break.
The Ichabods maintained a double-digit lead for the entire second half and held the Swedes to just five points in the third quarter.
Washburn closed out the third quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 41-25 lead into the final stanza.
Washburn remained in control in the fourth quarter and tallied nine of the final 11 points to cap the 17-point victory.
The Ichabods finished the evening shooting 42.1 percent (24 of 57) from the floor and limited the Swedes to 27.1 percent shooting (13 of 48).
Washburn made 3 of 10 attempts from 3-point range, with Artis hitting all three treys, while Bethany made just 1 of 9 from deep.
The Ichabod bench contributed 30 of the 57 total points, led by Artis' 11 points.
R'Manie Pulling led the Swedes, who played the game as an exhibition, with 12 points.
Washburn will return to MIAA action on Saturday afternoon at Central Oklahoma, with the Ichabod women playing at 1:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 3:30.
WASHBURN WOMEN 57, BETHANY 40
Bethany 7 13 5 15 -- 40
Washburn 15 15 11 16 -- 57
BETHANY (9-5)
Dunn 0-2 4-4 4, Unruh 0-2 3-4 3, Garrett 1-5 0-0 2, Weathers 2-6 1-1 5, Reiner 1-5 0-0 2, Pulling 5-15 2-3 12, Lopez 0-1 1-2 1, Green 0-2 1-2 1, Gleason 3-3 0-0 6, Becker 0-3 0-0 0, Noll 0-2 0-0 0, Aeschliman 1-2 1-2 4, Breshears 0-0 0-0 0, Toerber 0-0 0-0 0, McGuire 0-0 0-0 0, Ballard 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-48 13-18 40.
WASHBURN (5-5)
Chapman 3-5 0-1 6, Gamble 2-3 0-0 4, Dewey 5-11 2-4 12, Schieferecke 0-4 1-2 1, Figueroa 2-7 0-0 4, Nwidadah 1-2 1-4 3, Doebele 4-6 0-0 8, Artis 3-9 2-2 11, Davison 2-4 0-0 4, Cassaday 2-4 0-0 4, Newfarmer 0-0 0-0 0, Sanders 0-0 0-0 0, Broadie 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-57 6-13 57.
3-point shots – Bethany 1-9 (Aeschliman 1-1, Pulling 0-3, Unruh 0-2, Noll 0-2, Green 0-1), Washburn 3-10 (Artis 3-6, Figueroa 0-2, Davison 0-2). Rebounds – Bethany 31 (Unruh 5, Lopez 5), Washburn 43 (Figueroa 8, Artis 7). Assists – Bethany 8 (Dunn 2, Pulling 2), Washburn 9 (Gamble 2, Figueroa 2, Cassaday 2). Turnovers – Bethany 18, Washburn 17. Total fouls – Bethany 17, Washburn 20. Fouled out – Green. Technical fouls – none.
