The No. 2 ranked Washburn Ichabods turned a two-point first-half deficit into a dominant 28-point victory Thursday night in Lee Arena, defeating Nebraska-Kearney 92-64.
Marcus Glock came off the bench to tie for game-high scoring honors with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, in Washburn's 92-64 win over Nebraska-Kearney. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Bryson Smith scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds in Washburn's 92-64 win over Nebraska-Kearney Thursday night. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
The Ichabods improved to 9-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play after erasing a 41-39 halftime deficit with a 53-23 second half.
Nebraska-Kearney (4-4, 0-1) controlled much of the first half, building its largest lead of seven points at the 14:59 mark.
Washburn responded with a 9-0 run midway through the period, highlighted by Marcus Glock's 3-pointer and Bryson Smith's transition basket, to briefly take the lead.
The Lopers regained momentum late in the half behind Clayton Moore and Kendrick Gilbert, who combined for 17 first-half points, and went into the break ahead by two.
But the second half was all Washburn.
The Ichabods opened the half with a 7-0 spurt to reclaim the lead and then delivered the knockout blow with an 11-0 run.
"We've still got to get off to better starts,'' Washburn coach Brett Ballard said. "We dig ourselves a hole again and we need to be better the first five and we just didn't rebound the ball in that first half. We had 10 rebounds as a team and they had six offensive rebounds to our one in the first half.
"The second half I thought we were much better rebounding the ball and I thought our depth really paid off. We wore them down and the last 15 minutes of the game we kind of forced them into some tough shots and offensively we were able to get into the paint and to the rim more.''
Washburn's relentless pace produced 26 fast-break points and 54 points in the paint for the game. The Ichabods also dominated the glass, grabbing 40 rebounds to UNK's 33, and converted nine offensive boards into 16 second-chance points.
Soiphomore Glock came off the bench to lead Washburn with 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting, including three 3-pointers, while senior Bryson Smith also had15 points and added six rebounds.
"I'd say the biggest thing is to just come in and bring energy and play as hard as I can for the minutes that I'm in,'' Glock said. "My teammates did a great job of finding me today and I was lucky enough for them to go in.''
Sophomore Dillon Claussen contributed 13 points, four rebounds, and two blocks while sophomore Tyson Ruud, who had fought through injuries the previous two years, came off the bench to record his first double-double with 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
"It feels amazing,'' Ruud said. "I feel like I'm in a good spot physically and mentally right now and I'm playing with tons of gratitude out there and I'm just happy to be on the floor after a long two years.''
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball rode a fourth-quarter comeback to knock off Nebraska Kearney 71-65 Thursday night in Lee Arena in the Ichabods' MIAA opener.
![Senior Yibari Nwidadah (right) celebrates a big basket late in the game in Washburn's come-from-behind 71-65 MIAA win over Nebraska-Kearney. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]](/images/YibariNwidadah2025UNK-2.JPG)
Senior Yibari Nwidadah (32) celebrates a big basket late in the game in Washburn's come-from-behind 71-65 MIAA win over Nebraska-Kearney. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
While happy overall with the Ichabods' start to the season, Washburn coach Lora Westling has lamented the Ichabods' penchant for making things tougher than they need to be at times.
That bugaboo showed up again Thursday night, with the Ichabods trailing much of the game, but Washburn played its best when it needed it the most, taking control down the stretch.
"We've just got to settle in earlier and that's been a struggle,'' Westling said. "They'll respond and we'll put up a fight, we're not going to get kicked down, but we'd like to be a little more aggressive to start the fight.
"But I was really proud of our team down the stretch and I thought we got some big plays and especially some big stops. Our seniors didn't quit, they showed great resilience, and that's why you love to have seniors on your team.''
"We do definitely make it harder than we need to,'' WU senior Payton Sterk said. "but I think we do make it count when it's important and I think we were really good at dialing in our energy and really focusing in that second half and that's what won the game.''
The Ichabods (5-2 overall, 1-0 MIAA) jumped out to an early 7-0 lead while holding the Lopers (4-5, 0-1) scoreless until the 6:22 mark.
A hoop from Britany Kogbara made it 11-4 Washburn with 3:37 left in the opening quarter, but Nebraska Kearney finished the quarter on an 11-3 run, including the final seven points to lead 15-14.
Early in the second quarter Madelyn Amekporfor scored to put Washburn back in front, but the Lopers scored the next eight points as they held the Ichabods to 27.8-percent shooting from the floor in the quarter and Kearney held a 33-26 lead at the break.
The deficit for Washburn reached nine points midway through the third quarter, but a bucket by senior Yibari Nwidadah started a 7-0 run to pull the Ichabods within two.
Nebraska-Kearney led 49-47 going into the fourth stanza, but Washburn finally broke through to tie the game at 53 on a Kogbara basket.
Payton Sterk drove for a layup to put the Ichabods in front 58-56 with 5:48 to go.
The Lopers rallied to go back up by four, but Washburn answered with six in a row, the final four from senior Gabi Giovannetti.
An old fashioned three-point play by Nwidadah in the final minute put the Ichabods in front for good and the Ichabods held on to win, 71-65.
- Details
By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
No. 6 seed Washburn started hot and stayed hot Thursday morning to pull off a 3-0 sweep over No. 3 seed Wayne State College in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Central Regional in Kearney, Neb.
No. 6 seed Washburn advanced to the second round of the NCAA volleyball tournament with a 3-0 sweep over No. 3 seed Wayne State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
The Ichabods will face No. 2 seed Concordia-St. Paul in the regional semifinals at 4 p.m. on Friday.
Friday marked the second straight season that Washburn defeated the region's No. 3 seed as the No. 6 seed in the tournament.
Washburn (27-4) won the opening set, 25-16. The Ichabods kept rolling in a 25-14 second-set win before closing out the match with a come-from-behind 25-22 win over the Wildcats (27-5).
From point one the Ichabods led, quickly building a 5-1 lead after Keilah Rivers slashed a kill. Wayne State battled to tie the set at 11, but Washburn responded by winning six of the next eight points to go in front 17-13 after a Brynne Topolski kill. Another kill by Topolski started what would become an 8-1 run to end the first set.
The momentum carried over into the second set with Washburn in front 8-1 after an ace by Rivers. A 5-0 run shortly after put the lead into double-figures at 13-3. Autumn Gibbs served an ace that made it 18-7 as the Ichabods continued to roll. Brooklyn Morrisey finished off the set at 25-14 with a kill on a dish by Sydney Conner.
The Wildcats found some life early in the third set, jumping out to a 7-3 lead that grew to 13-6 after four straight points. Kills by Emery Keebaugh and Austin Broadie started a 5-0 rally for the Ichabods but the Ichabods were met by four points in a row from Wayne State.
Washburn trailed by as many as six more than midway through the set but would battle all the way back and tie things up at 20 after Keebaugh slashed another kill. From that point it was all Washburn as they finished the match on a 5-2 run with back-to-back kills by Broadie to move on.
