After being on the wrong end of a three game losing streak, starting the season 12-1, the Ichabods looked to rebound against Missouri Southern State Jan. 17 to stop their slide behind in the conference rankings.

{{tncms-inline content=”<p><span>“We have been a lot crisper at practice, we just do not want to lose anymore, we want to change." -Alexis McAfee</span></p>” id=”de701eba-ce46-45de-a3a5-e3a30af33dd5″ style-type=”quote” title=”McAfee Pull Quote” type=”relcontent”}}

Washburn started out the gates very slow on the offensive side, the first half was characteristic of the losing skid the Ichabods had suffered the last three games.

Fortunately, sophomore Reagan Phelan came to buck the trend. In the first half, Phelan locked down 10 points for Washburn.

“I know we needed some scoring so I just tried to be aggressive and help my team. We definitely played a lot better in the second half,” Phelan said.

The second half effort was much better from the Ichabods and from Phelan herself, as Phelan ended with a career high 32 points.

{{tncms-inline alignment=”left” content=”<p>Reagan Phelan</p> <p>32 Points (Career High)</p> <p>8-17 Field Goals</p> <p>4-5 Three Point Field Goals</p> <p>39 Minutes</p>” id=”ad3979bd-a290-4a33-9e33-9b22e93c1362″ style-type=”bio” title=”Performance of the Week” type=”relcontent” width=”half”}}

Phelan fueled the Ichabods in this game, pushing the offense forward outpacing any true effort from the Lions to retaliate back. While the Lions would stay relatively close in the whole game, Phelan always had answers to keep the Ichabods on the front end.

“We have been a lot crisper at practice, we just do not want to lose anymore, we want to change,” sophomore Alexis McAfee said.

Washburn ended with a win, breaking the three-game losing streak and beating out the Lions with a 85-74 score. Washburn then traveled to Pittsburg, Kan. to take on the Gorillas of Pittsburg State University.

The Ichabods faced off against the Gorillas Jan 20. at John Lance Arena looking to add on to their victory against Missouri Southern State earlier in the week.

This game started off completely different than the match against the Lions the game before. The Ichabods came out firing on all cylinders on offense, having a 10 point lead at one point during the game.

Unfortunately, this margin would not last long as the Gorillas would close the gap down the stretch, erasing the lead and ending the half with a three-pointer to set the halftime score at 38-35 with the Gorillas up front.

{{tncms-inline alignment=”left” content=”<p><span>Reagan Phelan has become the first Ichabod to score above 30 since Ebonie Williams netted 34 on Feb. 8, 2012.</span></p>” id=”9ac601e8-c7a6-4fb9-b579-79d5920a4a7a” style-type=”question” title=”Did You Know?” type=”relcontent” width=”half”}}

The progress and momentum the Ichabods set in the first half was completely erased, and it would show after halftime.

The game took a turn for the worse from there as the Gorillas began breaking away with a monumental lead and the Ichabod offense would freeze with barely any effort to take the game back.

The match would keep slipping away and the Ichabods ended with another conference loss by an 18 point margin. The Gorillas won 77-59, continuing a head scratching series of games for this women’s basketball team that started out so well in the season.

{{tncms-inline content=”<p>Washburn v. Southwest Baptist</p> <p>Wednesday, January 24th</p> <p>5:30 p.m.</p> <p>Lee Arena</p>” id=”97a78033-0dbf-4f72-b293-84bfd69bc011″ style-type=”fact” title=”Up Next…” type=”relcontent”}}

Up next for the Ichabods is a homestand against Southwest Baptist Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 5:30 p.m. The Ichabods will look to right the ship against the Bearcats as they enter conference limbo in the middle of the rankings.