By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Entering the weekend at 1-5 on the year Washburn women’s basketball was looking for answers as they wrapped up the first week of MIAA play against No. 21 Nebraska-Kearney.
And like it has all season the basket closed in the second half and leads slipped away late, with the Lopers taking a 49-43 victory Saturday at Lee Arena.
“It’s just so hard because we are trying to catch a win, and the bottom line is there are no moral victories,” said Washburn coach Ron McHenry.
Washburn got off to a fast start offensively, scoring nine in the first three and a half minutes to take a lead, led by five points from freshman Mackenzie Gamble. Five turnovers in the quarter for the Ichabods derailed the fast start as they stumbled into a 16-11 deficit after 10 minutes.
Washburn senior Hunter Bentley works around a Nebraska-Kearney defender in Saturday's 49-43 Ichabod loss to the Lopers. [Photo by Kyle Manthe/TSN]
The defense from both sides was strong to start the second quarter but Washburn’s was able to break free late, going on a 7-0 run over three possessions. It was capped off with the second and-one basket of the quarter by senior Hunter Bentley, giving the Ichabods a lead. They would carry it into halftime, leading 27-26.
“Our defense and our offense are much better when we are pressuring up and being able to get in transition because that is what we are good at,” Bentley said.
Offensive struggles overcame Washburn in the third quarter, as the Ichabods shot less than 30 percent. More than half of the offensive production came from two post baskets by sophomore Abby Oliver. Even though the Ichabods held the Lopers to just 10 points in the quarter it was enough for UNK to take the lead.
“Against teams like that you got to be real efficient, we are working hard offensively, I think we killed the ball a little bit out there, rather than moving the ball and playing,” McHenry said.
Washburn’s defense was strong to begin the fourth quarter, holding Nebraska-Kearney scoreless for the first 4:23. It allowed the Ichabods to take a 37-36 lead on a free throw by Bentley with just under eight to play.
The Lopers responded quickly with a 4-0 run and grew the lead to as many as six points before senior Nuria Barrientos scored three in a row, leaving the Ichabods down three with 31.4 left.
That was as close as they got the rest of the way as Nebraska-Kearney iced the game with free throws and Washburn was unable to convert on offense, leading to the six-point loss.
“Offensively we struggled a little bit, obviously that’s an understatement, but defensively we fought hard,” McHenry said.
Bentley led the team with nine points and five rebounds while Barrientos added seven points and five rebounds. Sophomore Macy Doebele accounted for eighty percent of the team's assists, finishing with four.
“Towards the end, we weren’t getting stops, they were getting a bunch of offensive rebounds so you can’t get out and run,” Bentley said. “Playing pretty well for just about 30 minutes is always a positive for us, so being able to carry that into the next game and hopefully get that to 35, 40 minutes is going to be really good for us.”
Next up the Ichabods will hit the road, traveling to Central Oklahoma next Thursday.
NEBRASKA-KEARNEY WOMEN 49, WASHBURN 43
Nebraska-Kearney 16 10 10 13 -- 49
Washburn 11 16 7 9-- 43
KEARNEY (7-1 2-0)
Backes 2-10 0-0 5, McCool 5-11 1-2 11, Simental 4-10 4-5 14, Holt 2-4 1-2 5, Law 0-3 2-4 2, Moore 1-3 2-2 4, Burns 0-1 0-0 0, Carlson 3-6 2-3 8, Moes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-48 12-18 49.
WASHBURN (1-6 0-2)
Gamble 3-7 0-0 7, Dewey 1-3 3-4 5, Oliver 2-7 1-2 5, Bentley 3-7 3-4 9, Doebele 1-4 0-2 2, Sanchez 2-4 0-0 4, Cassaday 2-5 0-0 4, Glatczak 0-1 0-0 0, Barrientos 3-7 1-2 7, Fulks 0-1 0-0 0.
3-point shots – Kearney 3-20 (Backes 1-5, McCool 0-1, Simental 2-8, Holt 0-1, Law 0-3, Moore 0-1, Burns 0-1). Washburn 1-10 (Gamble 1-5, Oliver 0-1, Bentley 0-1, Doebele 0-1, Sanchez 0-1, Glatczak 0-1). Rebounds – Kearney 36 (McCool 11), Washburn 30 (Bentley, Barrientos 5). Assists – Kearney 4 (Backes, McCool, Simental, Holt 1), Washburn 5 (Doebele 4). Turnovers – Kearney 11, Washburn 12. Total fouls – Kearney 18, Washburn 17. Fouled out – Holt. Technical fouls – none.
