By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn closed out the month of November with a double-digit victory in Saturday's final game of the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic, knocking off Texas A&M-Kingsville, 62-48.
Senior Gabi Giovannetti scored a game-high 20 points on Saturday as Washburn improved to 4-2 with a 62-48 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville. [File photo/TSN]
Next up is Washburn's MIAA conference opener at 5:30 p.m. next Thursday against Nebraska-Kearney in Lee Arena.
For a second straight game Washburn (4-2) got out to a quick start, leading 9-5 with 4:08 left in the first quarter after Aniah Wayne came off the bench to knock down a 3-pointer.
The Javelinas (0-4) went on a 10-2 run from that point to go in front and lead 15-13 after one.
Payton Sterk put the Ichabods back in front hitting a trey to begin the second quarter. It was the start of a 15-2 run that took up much of the second quarter.
The final 11 points of the run came from Gabi Giovannetti, with her second connection from deep putting Washburn up 28-17. Kingsville scored the final five points of the quarter to cut its halftime deficit to 28-22.
The Ichabods established the paint early in the third quarter with back-to-back buckets by Yibari Nwidadah that started an 8-0 start to the half.
Sterk moved the offense to the outside, knocking down 3-pointers on three straight possessions to balloon the Washburn lead to 17 with 4:32 left in the third. A 5-0 run to end the quarter for a Washburn offense that shot 8 of 16 in the frame put the Ichabods in front 52-31 with 10 to play.
Midway through the fourth another 3-pointer by Sterk made it a 25-point game with the Ichabods in front. 61-36. The Javelinas picked up the pace in the final five minutes but never got closer than the 14-point final score.
Offensively, the Ichabods shot 40.4 percent from the field but were 11 of 20 (55.0 percent) from behind the 3-point arc, both season-highs. On the defensive side, Washburn held Kingsville to 15 of 39 shooting overall with just a 3 of 13 effort from deep. It was a fourth straight game that WU held its opponent to under 50 points in regulation.
The Ichabods had a 33-27 advantage on the glass and led 21-10 in assists. The Javelina out-scored Washburn 27-11 in bench scoring while the Ichabods led 13-4 in fastbreak scoring.
Giovannetti scored a game-high 20 points on 7 of 14 shooting with four 3-pointers while Sterk heated up in the second half to finish with 18 points on 6 of 11 shooting and 6 of 9 from 3-point range with two steals.
Nwidadah had 11 points to go along with six rebounds and Brooke Gomez tied a career-high with seven assists and added two steals.
Justine Aguilar led Texas A&M-Kingsville with eight points while 11 Javelinas scored.
