By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn University women's basketball makes its return to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 5 seed in the Central Region, where the Ichabods will square off with the No. 4 seed Central Missouri for a fourth time this season and the second straight game at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Mankato, Minn.
Washburn is back in the NCAA Tournament field for the 18th time in program history and the first time since the 2012-2013 season.
Washburn women's basketball celebrates its MIAA Tournament championship with a team dogpile after Sunday's 53-44 win over top seed Central Missouri. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Friday's Washburn-Central Missouri game is a rematch of Sunday's MIAA Tournament championship game, won by the Ichabods, 53-44.
And while playing the Jennies again in just five days is not a ideal situation, Washburn junior Madelyn Amekporfor said the Ichabods will be trying to duplicate the performance they put together on Sunday.
"I think when we played them on Sunday in the championship, that was one of the best defensive games we've had all year and it was fun honestly, playing together, playing for each other,'' Amekporfor said. "It was so fun, so I know that it's not ideal but we're excited for that challenge and excited to go out and do it again and hopefully execute our game plan even better than we did on Sunday because I know we're ready for it.''
Washburn, now 24-7, won its 10th MIAA Tournament championship in program history.
Central Missouri heads to the NCAA Tournament with a 25-6 record overall after going 17-2 inside the MIAA. The Jennies' loss to Washburn snapped a 13-game UCM winning streak.
Sunday's win came after the Jennies had topped Washburn twice in the regular season and Amekporfor knows Friday will be another battle.
"We definitely know what's at stake and we're wanting to succeed so much for our seniors because they've done so much for this program,'' Amekporfor said. "They just give it their all every day, so I know making it to the national tournament was big for them, big for us and big for our program.
"I think UCM is going to be a great first game for us just because we have our heads up from this weekend and we know what we have to do to beat them. We know we have to execute and give it our all, so I think we're very confident now.''
Washburn coach Lora Westling said the Ichabods' goals this weekend would be the same no matter who they drew in the regional.
"We've told our players it doesn't matter who you play, it's about you and how well you execute and perform, how ready you can be for the day at hand,'' Westling said. "That's no different if its Central Missouri or whoever else we would have gotten lined up with. The approach is no different.
"I think that's what we've been focusing on is just it's business as usual for how we're preparing.''
The Ichabods are 26-16 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 23-12 in the Central Region Tournament. Washburn is 9-3 in the opening round game of the regional.
The NCAA Central Region Tournament will be held between Friday and Sunday in the Taylor Center. The championship game is set for 7 p.m. on Monday, March 16.
With a win on Friday, the Ichabods would face the winner of the quarterfinal game between No. 1 seed Minnesota State and No. 8 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday.
MIAA Tournament MVP Yibari Nwidadah is averaging 11.8 points and 7.5 rebounds for Washburn while also shooting 57.3 percent from the floor. The senior has scored in double figures in 18 games with eight double-doubles.
Nwidadah is third in the MIAA in offensive rebounds per game and ninth among conference players in rebounds per game.
Senior Payton Sterk leads the Ichabods with a 12.2 scoring average and a team-best 88.4 percent at the free throw line. Sterk has started every game while playing a team-high 31.8 minutes per game, most on the team, and also coming away with 1.5 steals per game.
Sterk has hit a team-high 53 triples and has scored 14-plus points in 12 games this season. The senior ranks eighth in the MIAA in total 3-pointers and 13th in points.
Senior Gabi Giovannetti has started all 31 games for Washburn, scoring 11.4 points per game while hitting 42 3-pointers. She also averages 4.1 rebounds and a team-high 1.6 steals.
Amekporfor has played in every game with 30 starts, averaging 6.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals.
Holding opponents to 57.1 points per game, Washburn leads the MIAA in scoring defense.
Westling has a 66-53 record at Washburn and is 140-131 mark at the Division II level. This week's Central Region appearance is the third of Westling's coaching career, with the Ichabod coach also leading Western Colorado to back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths.
Washburn rallied from a nine-point deficit to knock off UCM in the MIAA Tournament championship game as all-tournament pick Giovannetti led the Ichabods with 17 points, eight rebounds and two steals while going 10-10 at the free throw line.
Sterk added 12 points and five rebounds.
Reese Schaaf is scoring a team-high 19.1 points on a team-high 52.9 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from 3-point range with 40 3-pointers while grabbing a team-best 9.9 rebounds per game.
