By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
On Thursday, Washburn University women's basketball needed a last-second shot from senior Aubree Dewey to escape with a two-point win over two-win Central Oklahoma.
Playing another two-win team on Saturday, Lora Westling's Ichabods rode a 28-point third quarter to pull away for an 84-58 MIAA win over Newman in Lee Arena.
"We have a lot of respect for them,'' Westling said. "That's a young team and it wasn't a fluke that they beat Emporia. When young kids get confident on the right night they're dangerous so we just wanted to make sure we kept their confidence low and made some good adjustments.
"I thought our players did a great job of that after halftime and then we did a much better job of coming out ready to play in the third.''
Washburn improved to 10-3 overall and 5-2 in the MIAA, with the Ichabods now within a win of equaling last season's win total, with WU not posting win No. 10 until Feb. 14 a year ago.
Washburn led Newman (2-12, 1-7) by a 19-14 margin at the end of the first quarter and was up by just three points at halftime (31-28).
The second half was all Washburn, however, with the Ichabods using a 28-13 third quarter for a 59-41 advantage and capped its 53-point second half with a 25-17 fourth quarter to clinch a 26-point victory.
Eight Ichabods scored six or more points, led by sophomore Yibari Nwidadah with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Dewey finished with 14 points and seven rebounds while senior Mackenzie Gamble scored 12 points with three 3-pointers.
"This group is having fun, they want to keep getting better, they're not bored and I think they're still enjoying the work part of it so as long as we can keep getting better with our young kids our ceiling is a lot higher than it is now,'' Westling said.
Monica Redondo and Jaeden McMillin led Newman with 11 points apiece.
Washburn will go on the road Wednesday, traveling to Central Missouri for a 5:30 p.m. MIAA contest.
WASHBURN WOMEN 84, NEWMAN 58
Newman 14 14 13 17 -- 58
Washburn 19 12 28 25-- 84
NEWMAN (2-12, 1-7)
Lioukina 3-10 2-2 8, Williams 2-7 0-0 6, Josey 3-9 2-2 9, Perez 3-4 1-1 8, Beck 1-8 1-2 3, Redondo 3-5 4-4 11, McMillin 3-5 4-4 11, Wylie 1-5 0-0 2, Carlson 0-4 0-0 0, Hughes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-57 14-15 58.
WASHBURN (10-3, 5-2)
Amekporfor 0-0 0-0 0, Nwidadah 6-12 3-6 15, Gamble 4-8 1-1 12, Dewey 4-11 5-8 14, Wayne 3-10 0-0 9, Giovannetti 2-7 0-0 6, Snyder 0-0 0-0 0, Schieferecke 2-5 2-2 7, Davison 3-6 2-2 8, McKenzie 2-3 0-0 4, Boyd 4-9 1-4 9. Totals 30-71 14-23 84.
3-point goals -- Newman 6-20 (Williams 2-5, Josey 1-2, Perez 1-1, Redondo 1-3, McMillin 1-1, Beck 0-4, Carlson 0-4), Washburn 10-24 (Gamble 3-6, Wayne 3-9, Giovannetti 2-4, Dewey 1-2, Schieferecke 1-2, Davison 0-1). Rebounds -- Newman 36 (Wylie 7), Washburn 48 (Nwidadah 8, Boyd 8). Assists -- Newman 9 (Redondo 3), Washburn 12 (Dewey 3). Turnovers -- Newman 15, Washburn 7. Total fouls -- Newman 21, Washburn 16. Fouled out -- Lioukina, Wylie. Technical fouls -- Boyd.