Winning is something that has always happened in Washburn’s basketball programs. Years of past left the upcoming teams with records to relish and break. This season, the women’s team is expecting to see even more success as new leaders rise to the occasion. One of these athletes is sophomore guard Hunter Bently.

Bentley grew up on the Missouri side of Kansas City, but attended high school in Kansas at Bishop Miege. While playing basketball for Bishop Miege, she helped lead the Stags to four consecutive Class 4A-1 state titles, kept a 94-6 record and was a member of the 1,000-point club. Her senior year she was the Kansas City Star’s Player of the Year.

Bentley is the daughter of Holly and Hal Bentley. Hal works as the VP of Sales at Lockpath, Inc., a software company in the Kansas City area. Bentley’s mother is a seventh and eight grade math and science teacher.

The name pattern of H’s starts with the parents of the Bentley family and continues down to their children starting with Hunter’s older sister, Hope, who is currently a senior at TCU. Hunter is the middle child and rounding out the Bentley children is Hunter’s younger brother, Hudson, who is a senior at Bishop Miege.

Bentley is currently working on a political science degree that she hopes will lead her to some traveling opportunities later in life.

“I think it would be really cool to work in an embassy in another country and get to live somewhere else for a couple years,” Bentley said.

She hasn’t decided on what exact country she would like to live and work in but is leaning toward somewhere in Europe, so she can visit other countries while she is there.

The life of a college athlete is a busy one and they often don’t have much extra time on their hands. Bentley enjoys watching comedy movies whenever she can.

Although weight lifting is a required part of the basketball team’s training, Bentley said that she and her fellow teammates enjoy their workouts.

“Me and my friends, we like to lift sometimes outside of basketball and just hangout with my friends as a team. Anything that we can do together is always fun,” Bently said.

With a busy life focused around basketball, Bentley hasn’t had much time to think about what she would put on her bucket list. If she were to create one she could certainly cross off zip lining in Hawaii, saying that it was one of the coolest experiences she’s had in her life.

Leadership is key to any team’s success and it doesn’t always have to come from the seniors. Bentley is only a sophomore but is helping lead the Ichabods to success.

“Being only a freshman, this great group of girls has taught me so much already. Because of their great personalities, I believe this group has a great shot of doing something special together this year,” said freshman guard Katie Glatczak.

Bentley and her team have high hopes for this season of winning the MIAA and NCAA championship and putting their own stamp on Washburn women’s basketball history. The Ichabods will be back in action to take on Missouri Southern State on the road starting at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 23.