The Ichabods win their fifth straight home game in a massive defensive battle Saturday afternoon.

The women’s team pulled out an 82-75 win over the Pittsburg State Gorillas, bringing the Ichabods to 13-9 in MIAA standings.

The Gorillas started strong scoring the first four points and opening with a lead of 7-14. A Hunter Bentley three-point shot opened the scoring for the Ichabods.

Shelbe Piggie put a fire under the Ichabod offense with a three-point shot that started a 15-0 run ending the first quarter with the Ichabods up 26-19.

The Ichabods opened their lead up to 11 but the Gorillas rallied late in the second quarter. The Gorillas made an impressive 6-0 run in the last few minutes of the half.

The half ended 43-40, Ichabods. 

Senior guard Alexis McAfee was key – keeping the momentum in the Ichabods favor during the second half.

“We know they are a very offensive minded team. So just coming in knowing that we had to get stops and if they were going to score 40 in another half… we weren’t going to win,” said McAfee. “We had to come in and get a lot of defensive stops to swing the tide.”

The Gorillas came out strong in the second half, but Hunter Bentley stole the ball to allow McAfee to score the first points of the half. This led to a 10-2 scoring run but the Gorillas came back with their own 12-5 run to close out the third quarter.

The score was 63-57 going into the fourth quarter.

“When they’re physical, we just have to play through it. You know, you have to be physical right back,” said Bentley. 

The fourth quarter was a battle between the Ichabods and the Gorillas. Both teams opened the quarter trading three-point shots. Shelbe Piggie led off, then the Gorillas made one. Then Hunter Bentley and Reagan Phelan made the next two three-point shots.

The final score came down to Washburn Ichabods 82-75.

Bentley led the Ichabods with a season-high 22 points scored, with Piggie, Phelan and McAfee coming in with 13 points each.

“You know, we’ve been fighting this thing for a while and the kids are in a great frame of mind,” said Head Coach Ron McHenry. “They’re in right place and they need to be able to compete in this league. And so, they really did a good job fighting their way back to that.”

The Ichabods are on the road next week against Northeastern State and the New Rogers State. 

Edited by Adam White, Jada Johnson, Wesley Tabor