By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball shot 84.6 percent and scored 25 points in the first quarter and held on the rest of the way for a 71-60 MIAA road win over Northwest Missouri State on Wednesday night.
Junior Yibari Nwidadah scored a game-high 25 points in Wednesday's 71-60 MIAA road win at Northwest Missouri. [File photo/TSN]
Junior Gabi Giovannetti scored 14 points and went 8 of 9 at the free throw line in WU's 71-60 win over Northwest Missouri. [File photo/TSN]
Wednesday's win was Washburn's third straight, dating back to a 66-61 overtime loss to the Bearcats on Jan. 11 in Lee Arena.
After the first two points of the game went to the Bearcats (9-10 overall, 2-7 MIAA) the Ichabod (11-8, 5-4) offense began to churn, pushing the lead to double digits after a Yibari Nwidadah basket that made it 17-6.
They continued on what would be a 10-0 run after Gabi Giovannetti got a layup to go to make the score 21-6 at the 2:36 mark in the quarter.
Amaya Davison ended the opening frame with a driving basket to give Washburn a 25-10 advantage.
Northwest Missouri was able to chip away at the lead at the free throw line to start the second quarter. They shot 6-7 from the line in the 10-minute period and brought the deficit back to single digits after a make at the line.
The Ichabods continued shooting efficiently, going 6-13 in the quarter. On the other end the Bearcats were able to hang around because of extra opportunities, grabbing seven offensive boards in the first half.
The Washburn lead got as low as six before Nia McKenzie made it 41-33 heading to the break with a last second basket.
Washburn was able to boost its lead to 13 at the 3:25 mark of the third quarter after layups from Nwidadah and Madelyn Amekporfor.
The Ichabods again shot 50.0 percent in the quarter, and after a 5-2 push by the Bearcats in the final two minutes, led by 10 going into the fourth.
In the fourth quarter the Ichabod defense held the home team scoreless over the final 2:49 of the game to close out the 11-point win.
Washburn shot 27-48 (56.3 percent) in the game, a high mark in any game under coach Lora Westling. They were just 1-7 from beyond the arc, a season low in makes and attempts, but it didn't affect the final score.
Northwest Missouri finished 22-57 (38.6) and was 5-17 from 3-point range.
Rebounding went in the Ichabods' favor by a small margin, 31-29, but points in the paint favored the visiting team, 52-30. The Washburn bench added 14 points while the Bearcat reserves did not score a single point.
Nwidadah stayed consistent, scoring a game-high 25 points on 10-14 shooting and added a block. Giovannetti scored 14 on 3-4 shooting and went 8-9 from the line. McKenzie chipped in four points and grabbed a team-high seven boards off the bench.
Caely Kesten led Northwest Missouri with 23 points on 8-16 shooting.
The Ichabods continue their road swing on Saturday against Missouri Western at 1:30 p.m.
