Basketball season starts up this week officially as the men’s team takes on East Central University in the Southwestern Oklahoma State Basketball Classic Nov. 11, and the women’s team takes on Minot State University Nov. 11 to kick off their first four games at home.

On the exhibition record, both of the Washburn basketball teams have lost all of their exhibition games. The men’s team lost to the University of Kansas 92-74, Kansas State University 78-63 and Oklahoma University 84-64. While the women’s team lost to Kansas State University 66-31, and the University of Kansas 81-57.

The highlight player for the men’s team is Cameron Wiggins, a junior point guard that became a starter last season. Wiggins is known for his three pointers and even scored a three pointer starting out the game against Kansas State. While he didn’t beat the team average for rebounds, having only three rebounds, he did contribute to the 45-44 end game rebound victory against the University of Kansas. Although it is a minor victory, it does highlight one of the team’s strengths, especially since junior forward Brady Skeens put up seven rebounds in each game, beating out all but two of the University of Kansas’ players for rebounds.

The women’s team managed to outrebound both of their opponents, Kansas State and Kansas University. Washburn’s women’s team grabbed 41-36 in rebounds against Kansas State and 42-37 against Kansas University, with both of the games having greater loss deficits than the men’s team, the skill of the team shows despite their division-one opponents. The biggest players to note are Jharian Bowen, Alyxis Bowens, Felisha Gibbs, and Reagan Phelan who all scored 10 points in each of the games. Rebounds played a key part in the players earning these point. While they may have been beaten in points, they have a lot of room for growth as the season begins.

Exhibition games don’t count toward the team’s record, instead they provide an opportunity to practice against higher division players before their actual season begins and the games count for the conference.

The men’s basketball team will be away for the weekend while they are in the Southwestern Oklahoma State Basketball Classic, but you can catch the women’s team at Lee Arena as they take on Minot State Nov. 11, University of Mary Nov. 12 and University of Saint Mary Nov. 14.