By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball returns to Lee Arena for a three-game homestand, beginning with a rematch against Fort Hays State at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Washburn women's basketball will be looking to bounce back from a six-point loss to Missouri Western when the Ichabods host No. 8-ranked Fort Hays State on Thursday. [File photo/TSN]
Washburn is 11-9 on the year overall and 5-5 in the MIAA after suffering a 62-56 road loss at Missouri Western last Saturday while Fort Hays State, 16-2, 7-2, won its third straight game last time out, defeating Central Oklahoma 81-72 on the road on Saturday.
And while Lora Westling's Ichabods know they face a tough test against the No. 8-ranked Tigers, WU is determined to give FHSU a much tougher battle than it did in an 83-53 MIAA loss at Hays back on Dec. 7 when the hosts raced out to a 48-12 halftime lead.
WU played without junior star Yibari Nwidadah due to concussion protocol in that game while sophomore starter Madelyn Amekporfor was limited after just coming out of protocol.
"We're going to have our full lineup, which wasn't the case the first time,'' Westling said. "We were kind of scrambling that week, and that's not to take anything away from them, it was just that we were trying things that we hadn't tried yet early in the season.
"We have to defend better, we have to keep people out of foul trouble and we have to be solid because that's what Hays is. They're very, very solid.''
Amekporfor said she and her teammates are definitely fired up to get another shot at the Tigers.
"I was limited minutes that game and I was kind of half what I had been the whole season, so I didn't really get to do as much as I wanted to and have as much of an impact,'' Amekporfor said. "But I know that we're going into (Thursday's) game all healthy and all ready to go, so I think that will be a much different game than it was the first time.
"We're a much better, stronger team than we were the first time.''
WU also gained a little bit extra motivation from the fact that they didn't feel like they played well last Saturday against Western, a loss that snapped the Ichabods' three-game win streak.
"We played pretty poorly Saturday,'' Westling said. "Getting into the film we didn't execute the things we wanted to do, didn't defend things we knew were coming and just weren't as focused as we needed to be and had way too many unforced turnovers.
"We know progress isn't a straight line and you're going to have some of those dips and we definitely had a dip Saturday, but we've had a good response and I feel like we're ready for this week's challenge.''
Thursday's contest against Fort Hays State will be the 89th all-time meeting between the two teams. Washburn leads the all-time series with Fort Hays State 47-41 but the Tigers have won the last nine games.
Nwidadah is averaging Washburn team-highs of 17.0 points and 7.5 rebounds while leading the nation with a 65.8-percent field goal percentage. The junior has started all 18 games she has played in logging 27.1 minutes per game. She has shot at or above 50.0 percent in all but two games and has four double-doubles. The Olathe North product has the best field goal percentage in the nation while ranking third in the MIAA in scoring average and seventh in rebounding. She has scored 15-plus points in 12 games this year.
With 196 career offensive rebounds Nwidadah is seventh in program history. She needs 21 offensive boards to move up to sixth. In overall rebounds she is 15th in Washburn history with 526. Her career field goal percentage of .582 is the second best in program history. In scoring she ranks 38th with 811 career points.
Junior Payton Sterk is second on the team with a 15.2 scoring average while starting all 20 contests and playing a team-high 30.3 minutes per game. She is shooting 44.8 percent from the floor and a team-high 39.8 percent from 3-point range while drilling a team-high 43 3s. She has 15-plus points in 10 games this year and ranks fifth in the MIAA in total points, third in 3-point percentage and fifth in total 3-pointers.
Gabi Giovannetti is third on the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game and ranks second on the team with 31 made treys. The junior has scored in double figures in four straight games, a season-long streak. Among MIAA players Giovannetti is 11th in total 3-pointers.
Amekporfor is averaging 7.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and a team-high 1.3 steals.
Olivia Hollenbeck leads Fort Hays State's offensive attack with a 16.8 scoring average on 62.0 percent shooting. She has started all 18 games and is averaging 6.3 rebounds. She is second in the MIAA and fourth in the nation in field goal percentage.
Katie DeGarmo is averaging 15.9 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds while dishing out 3.0 assists per game and averaging 1.7 steals. She has started all 18 games and plays 30.1 minutes a game.
Brooke Loewe leads the passing attack for the Tigers with 7.3 assists per game. She also chips in 7.4 points and leads the MIAA and is second in the nation in total assists.
Washburn stays at home on Saturday, hosting Nebraska-Kearney in a 1 p.m. contest.
