Women’s basketball players score high

Lauren Pierce

Washburn women’s basketball (2-0) dominated in an 88-78 win against the Minot State Beavers (0-2) Saturday, Nov. 14 in South Dakota. Four Ichabods scored in the double digits: Erika Lane (25), Julie Ravn (15), Felisha Gibbs (12) and Erin Dohnalek (11).

Washburn fell behind 3-9 in the first three minutes of the first quarter. The Ichabods recovered to a 2-point deficit, 10-12, when Alyxis Bowen, a junior forward, made a layup with a little less than half of the first quarter to go. With just 32 seconds to go, Lane hit a 3-pointer that set the score 17-19.

Washburn tied the score 19-19 during the opening seconds of the second quarter. Gibbs made a layup that put the team ahead 21-19 with 9:14 left in the first half. Minot State took the lead briefly before Gibbs hit back-to-back shots to tie the score 27-27. With 4:55 left, Dohnalek hit her first 3-pointer of the game that opened a two-minute scoring run with shots made by Ravn, Lane, Dohnalek and Cindy Demosthene. The Ichabods outscored the Beavers through the rest of the quarter for a score of 45-34 at halftime.

The Ichabods came out strong in the third quarter in which they reached a 22-point lead, 60-38, when Lane hit another 3-pointer at 4:25. The Beavers, however, unleashed some power between the late third and early fourth quarter. The opponents went on a scoring streak to put them behind the Ichabods by just seven points, 60-67.

Dohnalek hit a layup with 7:11 left in the fourth. Minot State pushed ahead to cut the Ichabod’s lead to 69-68 at 5:44.

Within 19 seconds, Washburn hit four shots to recover. The game remained tense when Minot State lessened the Ichabods’ lead back to two points for a score of 77-75 at 2:27.

A final scoring run was opened up at 2:23 when Ravn hit her final 3-pointer of the night. Within the last minute, Washburn gained a 10-point lead for a final score of 88-78.

“I think this season we will shock the MIAA with how strong we are,” said Bowen. “We have a lot to prove, but it will not be hard for us to achieve a winning season this year.”

The Washburn women’s basketball team will host Newman University at Lee Arena on Wednesday Nov. 18. The game will begin at 7 p.m.