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WU women ride 30-point third quarter to come-from-behind win over Jets
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball used a 30-point third quarter to overcome a halftime deficit and top Newman 77-66 on Saturday afternoon in a foul-plagued contest in Lee Arena.
Junior Yibari Nwidadah led Washburn with 22 points and 8 rebounds in the Ichabods' 77-66 MIAA win over Newman on Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Gabi Giovannetti had 18 points and went 8 of 8 from the free throw line in Washburn's 77-66 win over Newman on Saturday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Ichabods and Jets combined for 50 total fouls and 63 free throws, with four players, including three for Newman, fouling out.
"Obviously, they had the intention of being physical with us and we caught that early and any time you see that early in a game you know it's going to be hard to stay on your rhythm and stay in anything comfortable,'' WU coach Lora Westling said.
"And so credit to them, they kept us from getting comfortable all night, but I think we had enough weapons and obviously a dominant inside presence (with junior Yibari Nwidadah) that kind of helped us trudge through the mud a little bit.''
WU junior standout Gabi Giovannetti said finding a way to get Saturday's win was very important for the Ichabods, who won three of four games in their just concluded homestand, with the only loss coming in overtime.
"It was very momentum-building for us to get this win and we knew that,'' Giovannetti said. "We came in kind of flat, but we really locked in after halftime and realized what we needed to do.
"We needed to give it to Yibari obviously on offense and then lock in on defense and not them shoot any more 3s and then maximize their fouls on the offense that they were giving us.''
Ramsey comes up big late as No. 3-ranked Hayden tops No. 5 Manhattan, 54-47
By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Beating ranked Class 6A teams has become a familiar thing for the Hayden Lady Wildcats, ranked No. 3 in Class 4A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
After beating defending Class 6A champion Shawnee Mission South in their 2024 finale and then topping 6A runnerup Washburn Rural, the Wildcats knocked off No. 5 Manhattan 54-47 in an instant classic Friday night at Hayden.
Senior Millie Ramsey scored 8 of her 13 points in the closing minutes as Hayden took a 54-47 Centennial League victory over Manhattan. [File photo/TSN]
The Lady Wildcats, who are off to a 9-0 start after placing third in 3A last year, would start off up 12-8 at the end of the first quarter and would go into halftime with a 30-24 lead.
But Hayden would cool off at the end the third quarter, allowing the Indians to come back and tie it up at 40 going into the fourth quarter.
The Centennial League rivals would trade punches until Hayden senior Millie Ramsey would deliver the knockout punch with 4:10 left in the game.
Ramsey would hit the biggest shot of the night with a 3 pointer to tie it up at 46 before hitting another 3-pointer on the next possession to put Hayden up 49-46 with 2:20 left.
Ramsey then put the icing on the cake with a layup to put the Wildcats up 51-46 with 1:15 left in the game, followed by two Brylee Meier free throws and the Cats would survive a hard fought game against the Lady Indians.
Senior Brylee scored a game-high 16 points as Hayden took a 54-47 Centennial League victory over Manhattan. [File photo/TSN]
The Wildcats who got another good scoring night from senior Meier, who would lead all scorers with 16 points.
“She carries us through times when our offense is stagnant with her ability to shoot the ball,'' Hayden coach Carvel Reynoldson said of Meier. "And when times are tough, she’s been a tremendous leader for us. The comments she makes on the bench during a time out are perfectly in sync with the message.”
“I felt like going into the game I knew I was going to have to be a big leader for the team,'' Meier said. "I just had to make sure we had energy in times where everyone was tired and staying positive when shots weren’t falling.”
Hayden boys rally falls short in 45-42 loss to Manhattan
By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Considering the start, you would think Friday's Centennial League boys game at Hayden was going to be all Manhattan.
The Indians would go on a 11-0 run to start the game before the Wildcats finally got on the board with 3:55 left in the first quarter Hayden would get on the board and Manhattan went up 25-8 in the second quarter.
Hayden sophomore Carter Compton scored 14 points with a pair of 3-pointers in Friday's 45-42 loss to Manhattan. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden junior Connor Hanika scored 14 points in Friday's 45-42 home Centennial League loss to Manhattan. [File photo/TSN]
But the Wildcats kept fighting and gave itself a chance down the stretch before dropping a 45-42 decision to the Indians at the Bueltel Activity Center.
“Unfortunately, too often we start games too passive,'' Hayden coach Dwayne Anthony said. "I’m not surprised when they bunker down and start executing and then we make it a game per se. I was disappointed tonight with how long it took to do that and with all the talk that we’ve had that, we need to start games with that same intensity.”
The Wildcats used an 8-0 run to cut its halftime deficit to 25-16 and would come out of halftime scratching and clawing and would end the third quarter still down by 9 (35-26) before sophomore Carter Compton, whose family just moved to Topeka, would score 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Wildcats grab their first lead of the game with only 5:13 left.
But Manhattan would get a 3-pointer and then two free throws in the final 2 minutes to escape the hard-fought game with the 3-point win.
