By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After a blistering start Wednesday night Washburn saw its four-game winning streak snapped, with the Ichabods falling 75-67 at Missouri Western.
Yibari Nwidadah scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in Wednesday's 75-67 MIAA road loss at Missouri Western. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods return to action on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. facing Northwest Missouri in Maryville, Mo.
The game opened quickly for Washburn (10-4 overall, 3-2 MIAA) with a 7-2 run in the first 72 seconds after senior Payton Sterk hit a jumper.
The Griffons (5-9, 1-4) battled back and would go in front 9-7 before extending the lead to eight points after a 9-0 run.
The Ichabods answered with a run of their own in a high-scoring first quarter as sophomore Brooke Gomez and senior Aniah Wayne both knocked down 3-pointers before going in front on a 3-pointer by senior Gabi Giovannetti. Shooting 52.6 percent from the floor and 4-7 from deep the Ichabods led 28-26 after the first quarter.
After scores from Sterk and senior Yibari Nwidadah to open the second quarter Washburn remained in front by two, but the next 10 points came from Missouri Western to go in front by eight.
The Ichabods went into the break trailing by six at 44-38 after Nwidadah scored the final six points of the half for Washburn in a quarter that saw them shoot 2-10 from the field.
The Griffon offense stayed hot out of halftime, pushing the lead into double figures and up to as high as 15 points at 55-40 at the 6:02 mark.
Washburn worked to chip away at the lead, with Nwidadah getting it into single digits on a layup with 1:01 left in the third quarter. Missouri Western pushed it's advantage back out to 11 and led 63-52 going into the fourth.
Twice early in the fourth the Ichabods shrunk the deficit back down to nine but both times the Griffons answered with baskets.
Washburn got to the line and shot 9-10 in the final frame but were held to just 3-13 shooting in the quarter and 0-4 from deep. The Ichabods scored the final six points of the game to cut its final deficit to eight.
Slow second and fourth quarters left the Ichabods shooting 37.0% for the game and 5-15 from deep, while they were efficient at the line, hitting 22 of 24 attempts. Missouri Western's offense registered a 50.9% shooting clip overall and went 8-24 from 3-point range.
Washburn turned the ball over 26 times to 21 for the home squad. Eight assists for the Ichabods were doubled by 16 from Missouri Western.
Nwidadah posted her second straight double-double, finishing with a game-high 23 points on 7-10 shooting along with grabbing 13 rebounds.
Aniah Wayne had nine points off the bench for the Ichabods while Madelyn Amekporfor and Brooke Gomez had eight points apiece.
Five players scored in double figures for the Griffons, led by 16 each from Nakiya Harris and Ana Oliveira Dias.
