UNK Women Fall In MIAA Quarters
Junior center Yiibari Nwidadah posted a double double and junior guard Gabi Giovannetti added a season-high 21 points to help Washburn down Nebraska Kearney, 78-65, in a MIAA Tournament quarterfinals game Friday night in Kansas City.
The fifth-seeded Ichabods (18-12) take the rubber match with the fourth-seeded Lopers (20-9) to advance to Saturday's semifinal game against 8th-ranked and top-seed Pittsburg State (27-3).
UNK is now on the "bubble" as the NCAA Tournament selection show airs Sunday at 9:30 p.m. Central. The Blue & Gold was eighth in Wednesday's rankings; ninth-ranked Harding (Ark.) plays Northwestern Oklahoma State in a Great American Conf. (GAC) Tournament semifinal game Saturday afternoon. Second-seeded HU (23-6) bested Southern Arkansas on Thursday to advance.
"It may be a pipe dream to sneak into the tournament, but our resume is as good as anyone that's in the seven, eight and nine spots. We have a couple of signature wins (Northern State, Missouri Western and Fort Hays) and if we're given that opportunity, we'd lace them back up. If it doesn't go our way, we'll hang them up and get ready for next year," said UNK head coach Drew Johnson.
Sophomore Brinly Christensen (Lincoln SW) swished home threes at the end of the first quarter and the start of the second to give UNK a 19-14 lead. The Lopers fell behind 6-1 early on but held WU to 30% shooting to lead by two at the end of one. However, the 'Bods dominated about an eight-minute stretch of the second and third quarters to build a 40-24 advantage. UNK made just 3 of 17 shots (18%) in the second quarter and then was 7 of 21 (33%) in the third. Giovannetti had seven points in the second with Nwidadah grabbing five boards. She then had 11 points in the third with a Loper spurt making a game of it.
The 17-7 stretch featured a trapping defense and threes from junior guard Jillian Aschoff (Lincoln Pius) and graduate Meg Burns (Ankeny, Ia.). Senior Samantha Moore (Mullen) made another to make it an eight-point hole, 52-44, at the end of three but WU kept UNK at bay by going 24 of 29 at the line and finding Nwidadh for post buckets.
"Credit to Washburn; they've been a tough out all year and are hot. They are a well-coached team and have a couple of players that can really go get it," said Johnson.
A second-team All-MIAA pick, Nwidadah went 9 of 13 from the field and 10 of 12 at the line to tally 28. Normally a 57% free throw shooter, she pulled down 15 rebounds (five offensive) and blocked a shot in 33 minutes. While UNK limited MIAA Co-Newcomer of the Year Payton Sterk (three points), Giovannetti picked up the slack by going 8 of 11 from the field and 4 of 4 at the line.
"Hard fought game and when you get down by 16 in the middle of the third quarter it becomes really, really challenging. So much credit goes to our players for how hard they fought; basically, had to scramble and trap for 15, 16 straight minutes to try and get ourselves back into it. We cut it to six, but you're gassed by the end of that," said Johnson.
Before fouling out late, sophomore reserve post Bailee Sobczak (Rapid City, SD) made 7 of 10 shots to score 15. She also grabbed five rebounds, four on the offensive end to give her 99 on the season. Next, Aschoff had 15 points, six assists and three steals with Moore at 12 points and three dimes. Finally, Burns had 11 thanks to three treys; she's up to 856 career points on 171 threes.