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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's men's basketball team gave itself a chance in Wednesday's MIAA opener against Fort Hays State, but couldn't get over the hump in a 68-58 loss at Lee Arena.
After trailing by 11 points with 55-44 with 6:16 remaining, the Ichabods battled back to within three points (57-54) on a 3-pointer from Isaiah Thorne with three minutes left and were still within four (62-58) inside the final minute before the Tigers scored the final six points.
"Our defense has been pretty solid in all these games and has kept us in it,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "We've got to find a way to score the ball.
"We're just not generating enough easy baskets at the rim and then our 3-point shooting in the real games so far has been brutal. We've got to knock down some shots.''
Washburn, which fell to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in the MIAA, outscored the Tigers 45-44 from the field but Fort Hays State connected on 24 of 34 free throws to outscore the Ichabods, who were 13 of 19, by a decisive 11 points at the line.
The Ichabods jumped out to a 6-0 lead and would go on to lead 14-10 before the Tigers (5-0, 1-0 MIAA) used a 7-0 run to take a 17-14 lead.
After Washburn regained the lead at 20-17 with 8:33 to play in the opening half, the Tigers used an 11-3 run to push their lead to 28-23 and took a 36-29 advantage at halftime.
The Ichabods cut Fort Hays State's lead to 41-38 with a 9-3 run before the Tigers eventually stretched their advantage to double digits.
Fort Hays State finished the game with an 11-4 spurt, hitting nine of 11 free throws down the stretch to snap Washburn's six-game winning streak over the Tigers.
Freshman Andrew Orr scored a career-high 14 points for Washburn while hitting all seven of his field goal attempts and Orr added six rebounds and two blocks.
Freshman Michael Keegan had 13 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two assists while Thorne had a career-high six assists to go with seven points.
Washburn was still without All-America point guard Tyler Geiman as well as Jonny Clausing and Tyler Nelson against the Tigers.
The Tigers were led by Nyjee Wright with 15 points and Jared Vitztum with 14.
Washburn finished 21 of 52 from the field, hitting 3 of 14 shots from 3-point range.
The Tigers were 19 of 53 from the field and were six of 23 on 3s.
The Tigers had a 38 to 31 rebounding advantage, turning 12 offensive rebounds into 11 second-chance points.
The Ichabods return to action on Saturday hosting Nebraska-Kearney at 3 p.m. in Lee Arena.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn's struggling women's basketball team showed some glimpses of the team Ichabod coach Ron McHenry has been looking for in Wednesday night's MIAA opener.
But there weren't enough of those glimpses, or for long enough periods, to give the Ichabods a chance for an upset against Division II's No. 1-ranked team, with Fort Hays State pulling away in the second half for a 72-50 victory at Lee Arena.
"That's kind of been what we've done all year,'' McHenry said. "We've had moments of pretty good basketball, just not a long enough period of it to find that winning way versus how to give away the game or just not get in a game.''
Fort Hays State, which improved to 6-0 overall and 1-0 in the conference, jumped out to 5-0 and 14-2 leads at the start of the game, but Washburn (1-5, 0-1) clawed back to within 17-12 at the end of the opening quarter and was still within single digits through most of the second quarter before the Tigers scored the final three points for a 36-24 halftime advantage.
The Tigers proceeded to open up a 40-24 lead early in the second half and led 55-36 at the start of the fourth quarter before leading by as much as 25 points midway through the final period.
Washburn struggled through a 34-percent shooting night from the field (17-50) and hit just 3 of 15 3-point attempts (20 percent) while Fort Hays State shot 45.3 percent (24 of 53) and hit 7 of 15 3s (46.7 percent).
"It's just kind of a battle right now for sure,'' McHenry said.
Four players cracked double figures for the Tigers, led by Olivia Hollenbeck with 13 points, while Lauren West added 12 and Katie Wagner and Megan Earney 11 apiece.
West and Earney both canned 3-pointers while Wagner grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.
Seniors Hunter Bentley and Nuria Barrientos scored nine points apiece for Washburn while Macy Doebele added seven points and Barrientos led the Ichabods with five rebounds.
Former Shawnee Heights standout guard Alie Fulks, a freshman, saw 9:13 of playing time for Washburn and scored the first points of her college career on a 3-pointer.
Washburn will be back at home Saturday to host Nebraska-Kearney in a 1 p.m. MIAA contest.
FORT HAYS STATE WOMEN 72, WASHBURN 50
Fort Hays State 17 19 19 17 -- 72
Washburn 12 12 12 14 -- 50
FORT HAYS STATE (6-0, 1-0)
Hollenbeck 5-7 3-3 13, West 4-10 1-1 12, Wagner 3-11 5-6 11, Randall 3-7 2-2 9, Bergmann 2-4 3-3 7, Dilsaver 0-1 0-0 0, Sallach 3-7 1-2 7, Thompson 1-2 0-0 2, Ruddle 0-0 0-0 0, Earney 3-4 2-2 11. Totals 24-53 17-19 72.
WASHBURN (1-5, 0-1)
Cassaday 0-1 0-0 0, Gamble 2-5 0-0 5, Glatczak 0-1 0-0 0, Bentley 3-8 3-3 9, Barrientos 3-6 3-3 9, Doebele 1-6 5-6 7, Dewey 1-4 1-3 3, Sanchez 2-4 0-0 4, Oliver 1-4 0-2 2, Chapman 2-4 1-2 5, Fulks 1-3 0-0 3, Willey 1-4 0-0 3, Broadie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-50 13-19 50.
3-point goals -- Fort Hays State 7-15 (Earney 3-4, West 3-7, Randall 1-3, Wagnewr 0-1 ), Washburn 3-14 (Gamble 1-2, Fulks 1-2, Willey 1-2, Bentley 0-4, Dewey 0-2, Doebele 0-1, Sanchez 0-1, Barrientos 0-1). Rebounds — Fort Hays State 34 (Wagner 7), Washburn 30 (Doebele 5, Dewey 5). Assists -- Fort Hays State 14 (Randall 3, Earney 3), Washburn 7 (Oliver 3). Turnovers -- Fort Hays State 9, Washburn 12. Total fouls -- Fort Hays State 19, Washburn 17. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls -- none.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 6-ranked Washburn University volleyball will open its 16th NCAA Tournament appearance Thursday night in Warrensburg, Mo., with the fifth-seeded Ichabods taking on No. 10-ranked and fourth-seeded Winona State in a Central Region quarterfinal match.
Washburn will take a 26-5 record into the 7:30 p.m. match while Winona State is 28-4.
No. 1 seeded and top-ranked Central Missouri will host the eight-team Central Region tournament, with the quarterfinal matches contested on Thursday followed by the semifinals on Friday and the championship match at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
"We can play with anybody in the country and that's the way we feel,'' Washburn coach Chris Herron said. "We feel that way and all these kids feel that way.''
Thursday's quarterfinal will mark the first-ever match between Washburn and Winona State.
"I think it's kind of exciting that we're playing somebody we haven't played,'' Herron said when the tournament pairings were announced. "That's really cool for us and I know our kids will be excited about not playing somebody for the third or fourth time.''
Senior Genna Berg leads Washburn with 385 kills heading into the NCAA Central Region tournament at Warrensburg, Mo. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Ichabods have been idle since dropping a 3-1 decision to No. 4 Northwest Missouri in an MIAA tournament semifinal, while Winona State is coming off a loss in the NSIC tournament championship match.
WU has played 10 matches against teams ranked in the Top 25 this season and has gone 5-5. Six of those matches were against opponents ranked in the Top 10.
Washburn has played 30 matches in the NCAA Tournament and has an overall record of 15-15.
Seven of the eight teams in this year's Central Region tournament are ranked in the Top 15 nationally.
Washburn has won the NCAA regional title twice, first in 2007 against Truman State and then in 2018 against Concordia-St. Paul.
There are 10 current Ichabod players who were on the 2018 roster. Current assistant coach Shayla Conner was also on the 2018 squad.
Washburn had a program-best eight players receive All-MIAA honors this season, including tying a program-best with five first-team selections.
Former Shawnee Heights state champ Faith Rottinghaus is a three-time first-team All-MIAA selection for Washburn's volleyball team, which will play Winona State on Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Central Region tournament. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Genna Berg, Faith Rottinghaus and Allison Maxwell were all named to the first team for the third time in their careers. Allison Sadler earned her second first-team honor and Kelsey Gordon was a first-time first team selection.
Sydney Fitzgibbons earned second-team All-MIAA recognition while Taylor Antonowich and Jalyn Stevenson received honorable mention.
As a team, the Ichabods lead the MIAA in eight of 12 statistical categories and is ranked in the top-three nationally in kills per set (15.12 kills/set - first in D-II), assists per set (13.70 assists/set - second in D-II), and hitting percentage (.296 percent - third in D-II).
The Ichabods also hold their opponents to a conference-low .140 hitting percentage as well as the lowest in opponent assists (9.7 assists/set), kills (10.7 kills/set), service aces (0.9 aces/set), and blocks (1.4 blocks/set).
Maxwell is the only player in the MIAA and one of six players in the nation who are currently hitting above .400 as she has a .438 attacking percentage.
Berg leads the team with 385 kills and is second in the MIAA with 3.67 kills per set while Maxwell has 329 kills and is second in the conference with 1.10 blocks per set.
Rottinghaus averages 6.55 digs per set (third in Division II) and has 688 total digs (fifth in Division II).
Sadler has recorded a team-best nine double-doubles. She is third in the league with 10.68 assists per set and is second on the team with 2.35 digs per set.
Berg is now seventh on Washburn's all-time kills list with 1,500 in her career.
Herron has posted a record of 557-112 at WU while coaching the Ichabods in all 16 of their NCAA Tournament appearances.
NSIC player of the year Megan Flom leads Winona State with 440 total kills while hitting .419. She also has a team-best 114 blocks, which includes 26 solo stops.
Bre Maloney earned a place on the NSIC first team as she averages 11.22 assists per set.
An Ichabod win on Thursday would place them in the regional semifinal match on Friday against the winner of the Central Missouri/Arkansas Tech quarterfinal.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's women's basketball team faces a tough test in Wednesday's MIAA opener, with No. 1-ranked Fort Hays State visiting Lee Arena for a 5:30 p.m. contest.
Washburn is 1-4 on the season and fighting a three-game losing streak while Fort Hays State is 5-0.
Through four games, the Ichabods have a 38.6 field goal percentage and average 58.2 points and 40.2 rebounds.
The Ichabods have had a higher field goal percentage than their opponents in four of their five games and WU has also led or tied in rebounds in all but one game.
Ron McHenry's Washburn University women's basketball team will be looking to bounce back from a 1-4 start when No. 1-ranked Fort Hays State visits Lee Arena Wednesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn has struggled at the free throw line to start the season, making 29 of 59 attempts (49.2 percent).
Senior Huner Bentley averages a team-high 10.6 points for Washburn and has gone 8 of 10 from the free throw line while Mackenzie Gamble and Macy Doebele are both averaging 8 points.
Bentley needs 46 more points to hit 1,300 in her career and is 57 points away from moving up to No. 11 on Washburn's career scoring list.
Abby Oliver averages 7.2 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Ichabods while Aubree Dewey leads the team with 15 assists.
The Tigers' 2020-21 season ended with a 72-68 loss in the NCAA Tournament semifinals against No. 20 Central Missouri.
Fort Hays State averages 77.4 points and has a 44.2 field goal percentage.
Second-year freshman Katie Wagner averaging a double-double with 20.4 points and 12.6 rebounds per game while shooting 55.4 percent from the field. She also is the team leader in assists with 16.
Olivia Hollenbeck is averaging 13.0 points for Fort Hays State while Lauren West chips in 12.4 points per game and has made a team-best nine 3-pointers.
Washburn holds a 47-37 series advantage over Fort Hays State, but has lost 10 of the last 11 meetings.
Washburn wraps up its five-game homestand on Saturday, hosting Nebraska-Kearney at 1 p.m.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University's men's basketball team, picked second in both MIAA preseason polls, will open its conference season Wednesday night, hosting unbeaten Fort Hays State at Lee Arena (7:30 p.m. tipoff).
The Ichabods are 3-3 on the season after wrapping up their non-conference schedule with a 79-69 win over Benedictine College last Saturday.
Fort Hays State is 4-0 on the season with wins over Arkansas Tech, Southwestern Oklahoma State, Central Christian and Manhattan Christian.
The Ichabods hold a 98-70 series advantage over the Tigers and have won the last six in a row.
Washburn is 23-9 in MIAA openers and 4-0 in conference openers under coach Brett Ballard.
Junior guard Jalen Lewis leads Washburn with a 15.8 scoring average entering Wednesday's MIAA opener against Fort Hays State at Lee Arena. [File photograph]
Junior guard Jalen Lewis leads Washburn with a 15.8-point scoring average and in minutes played at 30.5 per game, while freshman Michael Keegan is averaging 11.3 points and 4.2 rebounds and recorded career-highs of 17 points and eight rebounds against Benedictine.
Connor Deffebaugh also scored a career-high 17 points against the Ravens and had six rebounds and three assists.
Washburn has played all but two minutes this season without All-America guard Tyler Geiman (ankle), but Geiman could be back in the near future. WU has also been without post Jonny Clausing and guard Tyler Nelson.
Geiman ranks ninth on Washburn's career scoring list with 1,394 in 116 career games while Lewis is No. 4 in made 3-pointers with 210.
Fort Hays State is coming off an 83-34 victory over Manhattan Christian.
All-MIAA returner Jared Vitzum averages 11.3 points and 11 rebounds for Fort Hays State while Kaleb Hammeke averages 10.8 points and Nyjee Wright 10.3.
Washburn will also be at home Saturday, hosting Nebraska-Kearney.
