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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

After ending 2025 with three straight double-digit victories, Washburn University women's basketball will tip off 2026 on Saturday with a 1 p.m. home Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association contest against longtime rival Emporia State in the season's first edition of the Turnpike Tussle.

Washburn will ride a three-game win streak into Saturday's Turnpike Tussle matchup with Emporia State in Lee Arena. [File photo/TSN]

Washburn is 9-3 on the season and 2-1 in the MIAA while Emporia State enters the game 7-5 overall and 1-2 in the MIAA after a 70-61 road loss to Central Missouri on Thursday.

The Ichabods got a holiday break after a 78-49 win over Cameron on Dec. 20 before returning to practice on Monday.

"I've been very pleased,'' Washburn coach Lora Westling said. "This group has some goals in mind and they came back ready to go and we've had really good practices. They've been excited to be here and that makes it fun.''

Westling got her first taste of the Washburn-Emporia State rivalry as a standout for the Ichabods from 2001-05 and said the Turnpike Tussle continues to be very important. 

"We're getting some of our new kids aware of what this game means to everybody in this community,'' Westling said. "We love this rivalry game. It's mattered since when the two schools started and it certainly mattered when I played here and it matters a lot as a coach.

"It's fun to have rivalries in college sports and it's one thing Division II still has and does really well.''

Senior Payton Sterk leads the Ichabods with a 12.6 scoring average with 22 3-pointers while also registering 1.8 steals. Sterk ranks seventh in the MIAA in steals and eighth in total 3-pointers made.

Senior Gabi Giovannetti is scoring 12.3 points per game on 43.3 percent shooting and a team-high 40.7% from deep with 22 3-pointers. Giovannetti also leads the team with 1.9 steals per game to go with 3.9 rebounds per game. The former Bishop Miege star is fourth in the MIAA in steals and ranks ninth in 3-pointers per game.

Senior Yiibari Nwidadah is averaging 11.9 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds despite missing one game and playing limited minutes the past two games after suffering an injury (concussion protocol) against Central Missouri. Nwidadah is shooting 56.7% from the floor. 

Newcomer Britany Kogbara, a junior, has given Washburn a big lift, averaging 8.9 points in just 16.9 minutes per game while shooting 57.1% from the floor and averaging 3.8 rebounds. 

Kaitlyn Sanders averages a team-high 18.3 points on 45.9% shooting from the floor for Emporia State while also dishing out a team-high 3.4 assists per game and averaging 1.5 steals, which is tied for the team lead.

Emporia native Gracie Gilpin is averaging 12.6 points for the Hornets while hitting a team-high 30 3-pointers.

Former Silver Lake star Makenzie McDaniel has come off the bench in all 12 games for the Hornets and is averaging 4.4 points and 3.7 rebounds.

MJ Baker is in her first season leading the Lady Hornet and has won 334 games as a collegiate coach. Baker came to Emporia State after an eight-year run at Eastern Florida State College, where she went 183-58 with three conference championships and three trips to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament.

Prior to Eastern Florida, Baker spent three seasons at Broward College, where she posted a 65-20 record with two conference championships.

"They play hard,'' Westling said of the Hornets. "Coach Baker's had great teams when she was in junior college and I don't know her well, but in my interactions with her she's really energetic and a really good person, so no surprise her teams are going to play with great energy, they seem connected and I think that's a great reflection on what she's doing there and we're excited for the challenge.''