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A four-game road trip gets underway for Washburn University women's basketball on Wednesday with a 5:30 p.m. MIAA contest against Missouri Western in St. Joseph, Mo.

 

Senior Yibari Nwidadah recorded a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds in last Saturday's win over Emporia State. [File photo/TSN]
 

Washburn, 10-3 overall and 3-1 in the conference, will take a four-game winning streak into the Missouri Western game after rolling to an 86-59 win over Emporia State on Saturday in Lee Arena.

 

"I think we're definitely up for the challenge,'' said sophomore point guard Brooke Gomez, who leads the Ichabods with 3.3 assists per game, ranking sixth in the MIAA in assists per game and seventh in assist to turnover ratio. "I think us playing at home and getting good wins at home has really put us in a good spot to start these away trips very good.

 

"Our starting five is mostly veterans, so I think we're all prepared and ready to go play hard.''

 

Buoyed by its current winning streak, Lora Westling feels like the Ichabods are getting to the point where they are confident they can win every time out.

 

"I think we've been a long time for this feeling and I don't know if we're there yet, where everybody's like, 'Oh yeah, it's automatic,' but we're certainly close and I feel like our leadership is getting there with consistency,'' Westling said. "And our new players are kind of figuring out where they're going to thrive and get a lot of credit and praise and really add value for us.

 

"It's kind of a calming competitiveness around our program right now, which is exactly what you want as a coach.'' 

 

Senior Payton Sterk scored a game-high 21 points with five 3-pointers against the Hornets while senior Yibari Nwidadah had a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. 

 

Senior Gabi Giovannetti added nine points on three 3-pointers shooting with seven rebounds, a steal and block while senior Aniah Wayne also had nine points off the bench.  

 

Missouri Western enters the matchup 4-9 on the year and 0-4 in the MIAA after falling 87-56 on the road to No. 6 Fort Hays State last time out.

 

Sterk is leading the Ichabods with a 13.2 scoring average while drilling a team-high 27 3-pointers. Sterk ranks third in the MIAA in 3-point percentage and is sixth in the conference in 3-pointers made.

 

Nwidadah is averaging 12.6 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds while also shooting a team-high 57.4 percent from the floor. Nwidadah leads the MIAA and ranks 18th nationally in field goal percentage.

 

Giovannetti scored 12.1 points and is second on the team with 25 3-pointers while also recording a team-high 1.8 steals per game.

 

Mia Morel leads Missouri Western with a 13.0-point scoring average while Ana Olivera Dias averages 12.6 points and leads the Griffons with 4.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game. 

 

Nakiya Harris averages 11.8 points with a team-high 8.8 rebounds per game while Lindsey Kelderman has hit a team-high 25 3-pointers.

 

Washburn has a 58-48 lead in the all-time series with Western and the Ichabods are 24-30 against Missouri Western in St. Joseph.

 

Washburn stays on the road, facing Northwest Missouri State at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday in Maryville, Mo.